Dare I say that the B727 days were during the intial start up of a small and not terribly desirable airline. It is true that DEC's have periodically been hired in small numbers, with no affect on upgrades of qualified F/O's until about 2004. Every since then, EK has always had suitable and qualified F/O's able to upgrade, and the company even admitted the policy was based on money/costs. Dumb but true.
Nowadays, every single pilot on the planet who is considering EK, should realize that the DEC policy will certainly make their years at EK less enjoyable.
In answer to your question, yes the DEC course takes less time and costs the company less money in the short term, as compared to upgrading an F/O. But subsequents costs increase because we get a corresponding decrease in the best F/O's applying and DEC's have a higher rate of issues with respect to flight safety and personal issues. The long term affects cannot even be measured.
Even if you disagree with me, it is impossible to deny that the DEC policy is in direct contradiction to the written policy in our FOM. So why the deception? Because EK thinks pilots are stupid and won't comprehend the negatives until they pack up their families and move here......by then it is too late.
I personally know 3 pilots who have been sacked in the last 12 days and in each instance it was an unreasonable response from managment. THINK ABOUT THAT, after you arrive here and your DEC Captain knows less about the aircraft and the operation than you do!