Wouldn't it be nice if the pre-ops people stopped messing with rosters and we got seniority based bidding. After ten years here most guys have had enough and, for a variety of reasons, would prefer to live at home. If the airline doubles it's size everyone in the company now will be senior and get the benefit. It would work for pseudo-bases as you'd get what you want as long as they stopped screwing with it. The managers could then offer bases to new joiners at a rate less than the cost of employing a pilot based in Dubai and give pilots the choice of staying on the current terms or leaving on a reduced package. New based pilots would have limited bidding and less benefits than Dubai staff.
To all those who will now say 'it's Dubai based, love it or piss off' and those that say 'it's great I'll stay here till retirement', good for you. I'm in my tenth year here, that doesn't leave many guys ahead of me and most of them would love to continue working for EK but need more flexible arrangements when it comes to where they live. Think of sick and old parents and family, secondary education, university and many others.