I think EK Airbus FOs are even more screwed than before due to this 350 cancellation.
330/340 upgrade prospects are grim on a dying fleet.
Yes, 330/340 FOs can go to the right seat of the 380, but it means resetting the upgrade Hobbs meter to 0-0-0-0-0 and re-starting the slow climb to 2,500 hrs on type for 380 command.
And I doubt 330/340 FOs will get to transition to 777. Upgrades slowed down on Boeing recently so enough 777 FOs to go around. And fat chance of 330/340 FOs going directly to left seat of the Boeing considering 777 captains with ZERO prior Airbus time are now coming directly to the left seat of the 380. Good luck going from Airbus to Boeing.
I think current 380 FOs will suffer a huge setback along with their main fleet brethren. All those 330/340 captains will likely transition to 380 skippers as the 330s & 340s are retired. There are hundreds of them and they’re all senior to most current FOs on the 380.
And yes, upgrade really does matter. FOs sweat out hours of economy class staff travel when Business is full, while Boeing guys years junior to them are traveling first class. Even teenage children of Boeing skippers years junior go first class ahead of you. Money-wise, Boeing skippers years junior to Airbus FOs are making a good 20,000+ $/Euro per year more. And unlike Bus FOs, those Boeing skippers years junior have a world of high-paying direct entry captain jobs available should they decide they want to move on. With zero current PIC the Bus FOs are qualified for little more than hiring in as most junior FO on some other seniority list in the world to start the same climb all over again.
Magic