I think the most immediate and damaging effect Emirates is having on local airlines at present is, the rapid employment of pilots.
I don't think SA airlines can keep up with training new crews to replace pilots leaving to earn real money.
I foresee a big crew shortage in the near future - not for lack of qualified pilots, but for the lack of resources to train replacements.
This will affect all the airlines, Comair, NTW, 1Time and EVEN SAA!!!
Rumour has it that 120 SAA pilots got interviews at the recent Emirates roadshow. How will you ever train enough replacements to fill that gap? I do of course realise that not all 120 will leave at the same time, but considering the fact that it takes on average 3 months to train a pilot to qualify him/her to fly on line - it will be a tall order I must say!!