Of course QATAR have just announced that they intend to recruit pilots and base them in North America ( DC) and Asia to reduce the cost base to recruit and retain them.
This came from Ali Bakar the CEO and his words were :" this will be game over for our competitors recruitment programme' unless they copy the model. We can increase productivity, reduce total employee costs and make everyone stay in the outfit longer. It is far cheaper to retain than train pilots. The narrow perception that airlines keep pilots locally based to retain salaries within the local economy is flawed and non-sensical. It is just that no one sees it yet but us" Reuters /AAP...
Can you provide a link for this quote. I've looked but have been unable to find it. If true, I do think he's correct in that it will give them a recruiting advantage over the other Gulf carriers.