I left a 737 command in the low cost world to come to EK to live the dream. Unfortunately it's not been the dream I've been looking for so I've resigned and am heading home after 2 years with the company. Another couple of gentlemen from my previous company have resigned in the last couple of weeks, with no flying job as such to go home to.
I think Kempus post above is spot on though. Everybody's situation is different and I can see why some people enjoy EK. My previous airline seems to be deteriorating to the point that guys are desperate to get out, and with the European carriers struggling at the minute EK seems like a fair alternative.
The biggest challenge to EK is DXB. I wont exhaust this point as its being covered well before. Its essential though that you can make Dubai work otherwise EK could be painful. The advice that most give is come out and experience the place first hand. That's all well and good but you cant do that for a year or two, and unfortunately that's around how long it takes to really know if you can do 10+ years in this place. People sight a lack of hobbies and interests as a reason that Dubai doesn't work for them. I have many and I cant make it work, specially in the summer when the temp hits 40+ deg.
The other point which was made well above is how long do you intend on serving in EK? 10 years does seem to be around average here. The pro company guys will probably be quick to point out that we have guys that are sitting around 20 yrs +. This is true, but I think they forget the meaning of average. 10 years is a long time to spend in a foreign country, unless of course you cant stand your own home abode in which case furry muff. However you are a guest in DXB, you hold a residence visa not a green card. If you find yourself in soapy bubble you can have the carpet pulled from beneath you feet pretty quickly.
Once you've done your 10 years and have your lovely 777 Command, where are you going to take it? I have another 30 years of flying in me (unless EK keeping sending me on ULR's with 20hrs rest in the hotel, i'll be lucky to have 15 years of life left in me lol
). The usual suspects crop up of course, Turkish, Korean and contracting in China. And as pointed out so well by the company lads several folk that have left for these places are knocking on the door for their job back.
I know guys that are very happy here and I'm glad they've found a place they can hang their hat up. Not for me though, I'm very lucky to have got a legacy job back in the uk and I'm not passing up that opportunity. As safe as EK? probably not. But I think i'd have left Mainstream commercial aviation if I had to stay more years in EK anyway.
Interesting that BA keeps popping up in these threads. Many comments about, " I wouldn't go to BA now if they came knocking on my door". I find these comments amusing as the vast majority of guys that came to EK from my airline had failed the BA selection lol...
strange
Good luck...I hope it works out for you.