For Bowing
Hi Bowing,
Omanair have just hired 5 expat Captains on ATR42 as no locals wanted to go on the prop. They even had a few expats with experience on type, ready for upgrade but preferred the direct entry Captain option.
Omanair is constantly hiring only locals. Omani young guys in droves heading off to Philipines with $38,000 in their pockets and coming back 11 months later with CPLs ready to be hired. Estimate is there are around 300 of these currently in line to be hired and lots more to come. Also around 80-100 experienced Omani pilots abroad that are gradually coming in direct left seat.
So to answer your question about hiring expats as you can see they don't need to. Currently most expats are on the move and around two leaving every month. The roster is one of the worst if not the worst in the industry with mega mixes of night and day flights that tire even the fittest and healthiest of pilots. Even some locals are thinking of leaving.
Omanair have no reason to be worried as they have endless supply of locals. Let's face it in the end it is their airline and should be operated by their own people.
The plan is that by end of 2011 all expat FOs out, replaced by locals and expat Captains by 2014. They may bring in some contract guys for 6 months just to help as they finish their expansion. The company will end up with 30 aircraft and not more.
So if I were you I'd look elsewhere as the market right now is offering some great opportunities.