The 'junior guys' you refer to are not fresh out of flying school, cadets or 2nd officers, but experienced and seasoned pilots.
Fully understand, White Knight, however...as some of these same guys, who joined as First Officers, were no doubt Captains elsewhere and, as the old axiom goes, never ever
ever give up your Captains seat and move to the right....
unless (and this is a big if) the company is fully prepared to honor any contractural agreements.
Sadly EK appears not to do so, and this should positively come as no surprise, as those in charge in the sand pit, never ever keep their word.
I believe I mentiond this over five years ago here on these august forums, yet my advice was ignored.
So, now I can truly say....
I told you so.
But hey, what do I know...after working in the middle east for over thirty years?
A middle east leopard does
not change his spots.
Never has, never will.
To think otherwise is naive in the extreme.