This old chestnut is one of the most often talked about subjects amongst the boys in the land of sand - after the declining US$ and the merits of depegging, salary package, roster instability, housing, leave etc blah blah...
Urban myth has many theories floating around as to why its not happened yet.
Among them is the one that the powers that be have decided that they need ALL the employees gulf based so that the $$ we earn get recirculated back into the local economy. Personally I dont think this holds up, as a percentage of the GDP of the GCC countries, the airlines employees salaries and packages must be 2/3rds of **** all!
Another, and one thats more plausible to me, is that the contracts and work practices that exist in the Gulf would leak like a seive and not stand up to scrutiny should the employee be outbased and therefore subject to the labour laws of the country in question. The potential is there to open up a can of worms for the company.
However, in the current climate of expanding fleets and the ever reducing supply of experienced crew, I think the first Gulf airline that gets into outbasing will be onto a winner and will suddenly find they have a incredibly large pool of pilots willing to steer their shiny machines around.
My opinion only, but I reckon it has to happen at some stage. The only other way is to offer a package that outsrips the competition, and they are very reluctant to spark off a package war with the neighbours. So it comes down to a lesser evil, pay more spondoolies (and possibly more and more and...) or get the infidels out of ones hair and let them stay wherever, paying them only for what they are employed to do ie fly the plane.
It may have to involve setting up another company from which the crew are hired from, or some other form of isolating the parent company from labour issues. Or even surprise surprise, implementing labour practices that comply!! But what the hell, surely thats is a better option than perpetual crew shortages and the disruptions that follow, or parked up airframes that still have that brand new smell.
ah, gotta go...that'll be crew control on the phone with another roster change!!!