Interesting reading:

Etihad, Emirates and Qatar Airways could suffer from pilot shortage | GulfNews.com

I'm pretty sure they'd be able to solve this problem through reverse-roster concept… what do you guys think?

They could always lower their minimums. I don't think so.

I think if they establish some US crew bases, they will be fine. I personally don't even look at overseas airlines because I don't want to live outside the US.

Nonsense......! They have thousands of applications on file. The last time that they opened the DEC window (according to a friend that works in the training department) they got thousands of applications for 50 slots. As long as there are operators like Ryan Air out there, these airlines will have plenty of qualified and experienced applicants. If reverse rosters will be in their future (and that is a big "IF") it will be from bases in Europe where the majority of the pilots working in the region come from.

The article is mistitled. In fact the author and one interviewee surmise just what is stated above - those airlines will recruit and hire from other regions. They already are, of course, but the demand will increase. Mr. Davidson, VP of Flt Ops for Porter, is essentially asking how European and North American operators will stop the exodus without improving their own terms and working conditions for pilots. The implied push seems to be for lower certification standards. Big surprise.

In China there is an endless supply of First Officers to choose from within its 1.3 Billion population and huge orders of mostly narrowbody aircraft. Most airlines hire college graduates who can pass the CAAC medical. This is no easy feat as 50% fail. Those who pass go from zero hour to fully rated PP, CPL, ME, Instrument pilots in 1 year while training in the states. They then proceed back to China and complete 3-4 months of intensive B-737 NG simulator training and then 3 months of observation flights from the jumpseat. After 1.5 years they will finally touch the controls as a qualified FO and begin their line training and initial check out. After 4 years they will upgrade to captain. The only real need in China now is for qualified time on type Captains. There are a few exceptions for highly qualified narrowbody Captains to move onto bigger equipment and a few First Officer contracts although they are rare and becoming almost nonexistent. The Middle East is now tapping into the Indian and other high population countries and will fill their cockpits via a cadet scheme similar to what the Chinese are doing. In the end there is no shortage of pilots it will just involve more training costs and opening up new avenues to gain new pilots. The old traditional method of the military and the Regionals to fill the cockpits won't work in these fast growing markets. All types of recruitment and training will take place and the HR specialist will become the sought after skill to have or an Instructor in a training school/scheme. Interesting times require different approaches but ultimately there are thousands of young, energetic and eager pilots ready to jumpstart their aviation careers.

Gotta agree with the above. No way. All they'd have to do is open up some crew bases in large US or western European cities and they'll have all the pilots they want. Positive space pilots to those large US or European cities and they'll have guys beating down their doors for years.

I think the above statement is key. There is no shortage of applicants, but good, high quality applicants is a different matter!

In addition, thrown in the 50 tons or some secret MTOW requirements but don't publish and have most RJ guys scratch their heads what went wrong.

Even with that EK is still very selective on who they hire.
In a group of 32 applicants, they might hire 3.