Nice words from C172s. It's all that for a visitor and for those living there a bit detached from the real world.
I always considered Oman a peaceful and beautiful country. There are better. Once you cross that mountain range and you go east or all the way south. Salalah has a different climate from the rest of the Gulf countries. The long coastline is a fantastic good reason for entertainment. It is still a "born free" mentality, safe, open space BBQs anywhere outside the big shots reserved areas.
However, the harmony is not so rosy. There are a little bit of tensions between the local Omanis, the one from Zanzibar and all the other from other countries who lived in Oman for 3 and more generations. The sharing is not so fair and square. The state of affairs will worsen once the present rule goes. Like all of us, we all expire one day. The Sultan does not have an heir apparent and he is also an old-timer. What will happen when he goes? There isn't right now any one being groomed to take over and the gap is there and widening.
Omanis do however have a fantastic advantage versus their neighbours. They already have many Omanis working in low-paid jobs while this is not seen in the same scale elsewhere. They are not the "pure" Omanis off course.
They are however better prepared to run their own destiny.
Oman Air has a big potential of growth. They have to serve the local community. Fly Omanis abroad and the Expats to their original countries for their deserved holidays. How much does this represent? Enough to grow the present fleet. The country is an emerging tourist destination. This will make the fleet grow bigger too. They can also make Oman a 2, 3 or more days tourist stop for through traffic.
The growth is there and guaranteed. They need to learn from the others' mistakes and manage the company rationally with a very strong defined credible policy to make it happen. I do however see the same initial signs I saw elsewhere. They are already reacting emotionally and losing the business focus, and consequently missing the point altogether. I hope I am redundantly wrong.
C172s mentions correctly the immense wealth they gained from being part of GF until recently. There are many other Omanis working with other (mainly Gulf) airlines and they are definitely and asset, but must not set their own recruitment packages. Oman Air will have to probe the job market, evaluate it set an objective and rational recruitment policy instead of falling in the trap of having to fall behind and react stupidly.
I do watch things from a short distance. I quite like going down there once a year to see friends, camping, and fishing, have good BBQs on the beach and sit around the fire for long friendly exchanges until falling sideways (sleep...).
Good luck Oman Air!