To my knowledge, no emirates pilot has been stupid enough to exchange one set of clowns for another more incompetent bunch of clowns in 6 years.
Emirates is indeed in a meltdown, but they still have a better package than FZ. Profit share, better end of service benefit, staff travel & a provident fund..... just a few perks off the top of my head that we don't have or don't have to the same level.
An Emirates FO has a better basic salary than a captain at FZ. For a direct comparison, an FO at Emirates has a basic of around 27,000 AED. In contrast, an FO at FZ has a basic of 19,000 AED. End of service benefit for an FO at FZ after 10 years is 80,000 AED less. Factor into that the provident fund aspect at Emirates and this figure would be much more.
Staff travel for Emirates pilots blows FZ staff travel out of the water. FZ pilots can use Emirates staff travel, but an Emirates cleaner will have greater priority and you'll have to wait until just before boarding to see if you're lucky enough to get a seat....... very stressful, especially with children and going on vacation.
Trust me, compared to FZ, Emirates is a well oiled machine. FZ is years behind Emirates in many ways. FZ management have insisted on re-inventing the wheel and as such, things here at FZ are extremely frustrating.
In my honest opinion, a meltdown might not be too far off on the other side of the airport too. Pilot retention at FZ is appalling. The fact that so many European carriers have gone under, FZ has been underpinned by a steady influx of mainly non-rated guys and girls. This source of pilots has now dried up and FZ is finding pilot recruitment difficult...... especially for those of a decent calibre.
Would you leave Emirates for FZ...... I wouldn't.