I hear this a lot, and as for me I am a product of the way seniority works in my home country, and therefore am a lifer at EK, and so along with many others must keep hope alive that it will get better, or at least not degrade to unsustainable levels.
I suppose someone in my position has to hope that enough others leave, so that it force management to improve the terms for those that must stay. If I were to go home from now the bottom line is my "lifetime earnings" and therefore retirement savings would be a fraction of what it would be if I simply suck it up and stay. It might be momentarily satisfying to throw in the towel and slam the door behind myself, but that momentary satisfaction would soon be replaced by the hard reality that financially and from a professional satisfaction point of view, the place I'm at right now is simply the best it will get for someone in my position.
I'd guess there are many others here in the same position, and I think that this conclusion is bourne out by the fact that the oft cited exodus of pilots - if indeed there really is one - has not yet resulted in either cancelled flights, parked airplanes, nor any improvement in renumeration.
Unfortunately, should I elect to go home now, I'd be at the bottom of a very large seniority list, starting over at Year Zero pay, minimal leave, a huge tax bill, and topped off with a 15 year upgrade in one of the "good" bases, or perhaps 5-10 years upgrade in one of the most expensive, and therefore undesirable bases in the country and perhaps the world.
Add to that the fact that at any of my home airlines, there are literally thousands of pilots who are both SENIOR to me, and YOUNGER than me, and my chances of advancing beyond F.O. at home, and simultaneously holding a good base or equipment become vanishingly small.
The other choices, of moving to Chinese airlines that folks on here constantly gush about, is a non-starter for me, as I'd rather open an Ice Cream truck than live in China, or commute to there. And if any of you think that our Management here take advantage of contractual loopholes, just wait til you see the shenanigans the Chinese management have in store for you, and good luck with the never ending frustration of dealing with their beaurocratic culture!
So for those reasons above, the best we can do is try to make this place the best it can be by whatever means, in order to create a positive working environment for ourselves, and to have a happy outcome at retirement time.
So I, as I suspect many of us are, do hope that many pilots here can find their "greener pastures" -and soon- so that the true shortage of pilots arises here and the contract here gets increased.
Perhaps I should open up a CV writing service and interview preparation consultancy to help this process along, and also make a little extra on the side?
