Outside looking in.
I come to Dubai with another airline 2-3 times a year. I get to BBQ with my EK friends when I am here. This is what I have observed over the past 8 year I have been BBQing with my EK buddies. When they first arrived they were very happy they got excellent bonus checks, the work hours were reasonable, and upgrade was fairly swift. The attitude of these pilots has changed dramatically over the years, particularly the last few months. They all agree they made more money as FO's there first year here than they do as captains now. (Realized, and adjusted for cost of living, and they all have kids.) I have also noted, what fleet you are on makes a huge difference to your quality of life. Small bus guys are turn around kings with 8-9 days off a month. (Yes, I did see the schedules.) One of my buddies had not been out of the Middle East or India for 5 months. 777 guys get 50% more days off with about 10-35% of their time in the rack. This being said, they are flying max hours as opposed to max days on like the 330/340 guys. They all fly on the back of the clock more in two months than I do all year. Life at EK now looks much like life at Qatar 6 years ago. Life at Qatar, now is where I expect to see EK in 4-5 years. All my friends moved from far abroad and noted that it took about 2 years to become neutral on the cost of moving, selling cars and houses etc. This is with kids and moving into a villa. So if you have kids 5-7 years is reasonable amount of time you would need to spend at EK to make this move worth your while. I would also look at the current FO $ and assume that will be your Captain pay in 7 years. People talk of things improving globally, but I do not see that happening here. I think we are moving into a "gun for hire" 3 year contract world. My honest opinion is if you are young and single, and have no hope of command at your current airline than EK is an option. If you have kids I would not go to EK as FO's with kids appear to be struggling with the package vs. the cost of living. EK is no longer a career airline, it was, but outside looking in they are continuing on a downward slide as far as how they treat their pilots. Just ask an Airbus guy who was forced to take 25 plus days of worthless vacation. I hope this helps. Again this is my POV.