The company can threaten as much as their covered little heads would like. Recent consultation with an Emirati attorney specializing in labour law confirms that:
1. All contracts in the UAE must be written in Arabic and signed by both parties to be a legal and valid contract. Midex has never offered an contract in Arabic for any pilot to sign. Thus, no contract exists there and the company has no legal recourse to enforce anything.
2. The cost to the company for a residence visa and associated other forms is approximately 600 dirhams. If they attempt to collect any funds greater than this amount upon an employee leaving, they are incorrect and will be challenged in court.
3. "Training costs" are recoverable by the company ONLY in the event a separate, signed training contract was offered. To my knowledge, no pilot has such a separate contract and thus is not liable for training costs.
At least three pilots have left in the middle of the night this week. Wouldn't be surprised if several more are to come, especially considering the constant degradation of terms and conditions here and lack of concern of those higher up. Apparently the planes will continue to fly themselves once the crews are gone.