TP- You miss my point. I don't think basings would be for those of you already there. Basings would be used to attract new guys, not keep those already there. 5% attrition is manageable if you're able to hire like crazy. Basings would allow that. Emirates needs most of their pilots in Dubai. The cold hard fact is that a lot of guys there don't have anywhere else to go.
Icarus- Virgin has 500+, QF has 2000+, Jetstar, National Jet, Jitconnict, ANZ, expats, etc. On the salary that I mentioned, with reasonable promotional opportunities, a hell of a lot of very disilusioned QF guys would certainly be interested- many out of pure spite. 500 may be a bit off the mark but I reckon it would be close to that. TT