If Emirates wants to schedule pilots to JFK with a crew of three and if the pilots are that upset about it then all that it would take is for one of the three pilots to call SOS while in JFK and tell doctor that he/she is sick. For best results call the SOS line 4 hours prior to pick up in the hotel lobby. The two other guys, assuming EK were smart enough to put 2 captains on the original flight, will be limited to flying to Istanbul at best or possibly Athens. Once there they will be able to sit back and enjoy the rest of the flight home in Business Class which will be flown by a set of pilots EK would have to position from DXB.Of course thats assuming that EK can find an open seat on the continuing flight to DXB. Could be that the same two pilots would get a night off in the enroute alternate city or maybe EK would offload a paying passenger and his/her bags in order to get the crew home. Either way a pain the the @r$e for EK.
On the other hand if EK used 1 CA and 2 FOs for this money saving 3 pilot exercise then they would be well and truely knackered if the CA took ill. I would imagine that a couple of cancellations or enroute diversions due to staff shortages every month would sort the 3 pilot issue out.
Of course doing that would require a moderately sized pair of minerals and I am not in a position to say whether or no EK pilots have any. Certainly the EK pilots need to change the way they are getting shafted by management. The EK pilots can change the way they are being treated, they just have to take initative. Drop enough pebbles in a pool and you will get a big enough wave.
