Good responses, thanks for the info.
Every airline has pros and cons. Your experience is largely 'what you make of it' as they say - the biggest challenge always being in how to deal with the negatives. At my airline we have one big positive - which is a fast command, but that's about it. The negatives - the aircraft are getting old, no plans for expansion or new aircraft orders on the horizon, and not much variety in our destinations. Small housing allowance, not much of a medical plan or any proper retirement benefits don't make it much of a career airline. The other 'negative' of the fast command here is once you get it, you are now limited to mostly 320 contract positions worldwide, and the option of joining a big airline like EK, EY, etc. becomes less attractive (as you have now lost a few years of seniority and have to start as F/O all over again - unless of course you go as DEC at EY, but that's another story). I'm not saying a 320 command position is something to be looked down upon, only that personally it would be nice to have the option of progressing to other equipment, other routes, etc.
Etihad on the other hand has a lot of aircraft orders, the option to be CCQ'd on a different aircraft type, or to possibly bid for a fleet transfer, which despite not appearing to be running efficiently at the moment, hopefully will improve with time. At least something to look forward to. As for the DEC issue, I know F/Os at Emirates must have been disappointed to say the least while EK was running that scheme and thank goodness it came to an end. Hopefully the same will happen at Etihad with time. (No disrespect to the DECs btw, as someone said earlier they also have to feed their families; I'm speaking strictly from an F/O point-of-view).
It seems as if at my company we are dealing with a management that is resistant to change, reluctant to think outside the box or to be innovative, while you guys at Etihad deal with a management that applies changes constantly, maybe sometimes with no real direction. Unfortunately I doubt we'll ever see a perfect medium anywhere.
Of course, EK looks attractive and I'll have to wait another 2 years to have the minimums, but if I don't get the job or something else happens, I still believe Etihad would be a very good option despite its drawbacks. I was also curious about that other airline down the street (what's it called? Goat Airways?) but from what I understand it's best to steer clear from there.