QR with A.B.? Seriously?
Never forget how scrappy QR a few years back in terms of roster and lifestyle was(I was there!), then they had to make the "package" nicer to attract more pilots because most likely they lost more(even a lot at outstations during layover^^) then they could bring in.
EK was top at this time. Now it seems sides changed a bit and I am sure that can happen again within a blink of an eye.
QR might be the smaller "pain" at the moment, but said A.B. is still at the controls over there and he does not like pilots(never did, still remember the only yearly pilotsmeeting I ever attended how arrogant he approached us - after he kept us waiting for 2 hours. Then he entered the room like the queen of saba, not one word about being sorry about the delay).
Maybe next year EK or the other, "unspeakable" airline here will be the one with the best package. Lifestyle will be crappy with all of them.
Sorry, there is no way really to sugarcoat it differently. It's just the way the ME "ticks".
Goatliner being the one with the best package, who would ever thought that would happen?! So there might be light at the end of the tunnel for the EK guys. Hoping enough pilots leave, then they are forced to do something.