Lufthansa, Air France - KLM, British Airways, Iberia, Swiss, etc. That's all Airlines which offer lifelong careers in their home countries.
None of them have Expat Captains on special Expat Contracts.
You're talking about stuff like Emirates, Qatar, SIA, Gulf Air, Etihad etc.
Majulah.....Of course the airlines that you mention do not hire direct entry expat Captains, they have there own local recruiting and training schools and generally have had enough people coming through the production lines to to fulfil their requirements. SIA, for example, have expanded so vigorously over the years that their own training setup, good that it is, have never been able to keep up with the demand and have almost always relied on a "top up" from outside and believe me I know that they have always appreciated the "foreigners" in more ways than one, despite the comments of a few on these forums. I would also say that over the years SIA has been a good employer, albeit sometimes a "wee bit" business like and heartless and the country a good place to live a normal life and bring up a family under normal conditions. However anyone moving off his own turf has to accept that when economical conditions deteriorate due to sars, bird flu, bankers screwing up etc, the inevitable will happen.
As for salaries and conditions......if they are not attractive enough people won't come and the airlines expansion plans limited. Don't blame the expat for for taking advantage of market conditions......
As previously mentioned SIA, imho, has generally been a good employer and I for one would be sorry to see the current situation being used as a platform to incite local/expat relationships......
Sorry to drone on but the fridge is out of beer and the time change is keeping me up.......