The Emirates thing might not be a bad general idea, as organizations in that part of the world are loaded up with expat labor. It's always funny to see the white western stews in the Gulf Air costumes.

I once thought of trying to get in the industry, but realized I wasn't really a "people person" and couldn't take the 50-66% pay cut from what I was doing. So I developed the MR-building skills (which was quite a different story to do with the tools available in the mid-90s) and kept hacking at it as an "outsider."

It could be that fuel will cause ticket costs to become less and less affordable. The airlines will shrink and possibly try to consolidate, and maybe the free-trip perks that come with some travel jobs would thus become more valuable, like they used to be. For now, though, at least in the U.S., you might hear some grumbling from people who can fly free or near-free as standby, but have had problems getting on planes.