You should go to the hiring roadshows that the ME carriers are always doing in Europe and see what happens. Also you should seriously read up on what the GCC countries are like and get an idea of what its like being there. Then, go there for a weekend. A guy at one of my interviews studied his tail off then decided he hated the Middle east in general; he probably could have avoided all that trouble by just taking a vacation there first.
Do as much research as you can based on what YOU want in an airline, country, etc because once you send an application in you may get an interview invite the very next day, ask me how I know.....
I don't feel like I have an authoritative answer for you as for which carrier is best BUT I have met pilots for EK, QR, EY, AND GF and for the most part they all have the same complaints. I did turn down a job at GF because of the unrest.
Last edited by pilotcpb; 9th Jan 2012 at 23:30.