A primary reason for the change
Not a rumor nor heard it from my maid
The new requirements are aimed to attract certain applicants from certain airlines .. It benefits both EK And those airlines
To simplify it : Air Arabia - with a massive MPL program has reached a peak in training capability for the new comers
With massive numbers of highly trained FOs with excess of 1500 hours ( salary changes dramatically as you gain hours with the airlines) it was only smart to collaborate with EK
Many other low cost have tuned to the same method with EK / Unmentioned / QR