:eek: what's going on in the orange world? 8 aircrafts and more than 300 staff to be moved.. Guess it will slow things in Easyland.. :sad:EasyJet Will Close Madrid Base as Profitability Suffers in Spain - Businessweek (http://mobile.businessweek.com/news/2012-06-20/easyjet-will-close-madrid-base-as-profitability-suffers-in-spain)

Latest news - easyJet plc (http://corporate.easyjet.com/media/latest-news/news-year-2012/20-06-2012-en.aspx)

easyJet today announced that after a thorough review of its Madrid operations it proposes to cease basing crew and aircraft at Madrid from Winter 2012/13. easyJet intends to continue to serve Spain but to do so differently by moving its aircraft to other easyJet bases around its European network which will deliver higher returns for the airline.
The Madrid base is delivering returns below all of easyJet’s other bases. This is due to a combination of over capacity in the Spanish airline market, leading to low revenue per passenger, combined with high airport charges which have more than doubled in the last two years and will be subject to further above inflation increases in the coming years.
easyJet remains committed to Spain, including Madrid, and will continue to fly to and from Spain out of its bases across Europe. While easyJet proposes to reduce its capacity to and from Madrid by around 20% in the next financial year, the reduction to and from Spain will be 7%. After the proposed changes easyJet expects to carry over 12 million passengers to and from Spain next year.
70% of passengers on easyJet’s Spanish flights start their journey from other parts of Europe and demand from these passengers remains strong. Madrid based customers will also continue to benefit from easyJet’s services after the proposed transfer as easyJet will operate to Madrid from many of Europe’s most popular cities. easyJet operates over 200 aircraft across 23 bases in the UK and mainland Europe.
The airline is now reviewing a range of options for its eight Madrid based aircraft and 310 crew. All of easyJet’s pilots and cabin crew in Madrid will be offered a job in the airline’s other bases and easyJet hopes to retain as many of its people as possible. easyJet will discuss the proposal with the easyJet European Works Council and the local employee representatives as appropriate.
Any restructuring costs arising out of this proposal will be accounted for in the current financial year. The market price of jet fuel has fallen since easyJet’s outlook statement set out in its Half Year Results statement of 9 May 2012. Assuming the current fuel price environment continues for the remainder of the year, the benefit from lower fuel prices should fully offset any restructuring costs. Consequently management expectations for profit before tax for the financial year ending 30 September 2012 remain unchanged.
easyJet expects its capacity to increase by around 5% in the year ending September 2012, compared to 2011, and to continue to grow in the next financial year. easyJet's strategy of low fares and our focus on making it easy for our customers, aligned with tight cost management and strictly managed allocation of capital, ensures that easyJet is well positioned to deliver good results for shareholders.

Sounds like prudent asset reallocation to me. Too bad for the pilots - Madrid is a fantastic place to be - great food, nightlife and beautiful women! :ok:

So, if charges are so high there, what of the blue & yellow brigade. . . . .?

Will madrid guys remain under spanish working contract or will they be offered a sh1t portugese or english contract??:oh::oh:
They might loose 35% income as well as their house and family in Spain.

No doubt MOL will find a solution to offer a madrid base to those people willing to pay for a B737-800 type rating with a crap contract.

No draft onto LIS contract. All employees will be offered jobs elsewhere.

Nobody in EZY is stupid enough to want to go to FR.

Stupid enough to commute on a 5453 roster with loss of salary, pension, etc.

BTW, do they do nice paella and cerbesa in liverpool or stansted?:)

Madrid was a very good deal, especially for the UK expats, that got even better after the Euro strengthened.

A vast leave quota that no ther base got and a mysterious "performance bonus" that no other base received.

Dortmund was too good to be true.

East Mids was too good to be true.

and now Madrid has become too good to be true.

Sad to see it go for the crews and good luck to my former mates and colleagues

Wonder if they'll have to re-join the company on a flexi-crew basis ;) - just kidding..!!

I'm sure the crews of MAD are all finding your light hearted jovial comments most amusing. :mad:

English food :yuk:


http://wtf.microsiervos.com/images/paella-inglesa.jpg

craggenmore - from your comments you obviously have no idea how and why our contract was structured the way it was, so butt out!

Iver, I've been in Madrid for 4 years, Nightlife ok, Food crap, women average, ATC USLESS, OPERATIONS USELESS, Long taxi, slow spanish striking aircraft, holds, slots - continuous sub standard service in what they all believe is a world beater of an airport.....Madrid airport is so inefficient it's no wonder easy want to leave!

VJW,

I guess one's perspective is relative.... If you lived where I live and you worked my flying job, sunny Madrid would be a big improvement. :eek: Every time I have visited Madrid I have enjoyed it - but I guess visiting is different than actually living there.

Hope you are able to find another pilot base that works better for you.

I'm afraid to say that I do not consider this a surprise.

Spain is in a hole, almost a death spiral if the Bond market is correct.

Unemployment is rampant, debt high and wealth diminishing.

easyJet pilots have been quick in the past to point out just how good a deal they are on at MAD.

The race to the bottom is on, and easyJet are contenders unfortunately.

I feel genuinely sorry for those displaced staff, but this is not really a surprise IMHO. The facts are: the cost base is too high for the customer base.

No doubt, easyJet will re-enter MAD with based aircraft and crews in a while. But, I'm certain the contracts will be much more like the LIS base contracts, as opposed to the current generosity of the MAD contracts. This would rebalance their ability to compete in the MAD market.

All this talk of contracts is very interesting but the real nail in the coffin for easy is airport charges at MAD and the countries economy.

ezydriver,

You are absolutely correct in that the main problem is, of course, the Spanish economy.

My observation is that in years to come, I imagine that easyJet may return to MAD. In those circumstances, I suspect they will be less generous towards the staff.

I hope everyone who is affected is, at the very least, ensured ongoing easyJet employment elsewhere within the network - I am optimistic that they will be.

I lived in Madrid for two very happy years. That was during the boom, and it was a fabulous place to live, the only downsides being the noise, traffic and pollution, but probably no worse than many other big cities, and the public transport was excellent and cheap, so were the taxis.

The boom is over, Spain is now bust and heading for the abyss. It's also awash with illegal immigrants although I suspect they will move on to greener pastures.

Very sad - socialism and the EU have ruined a great country.

Socialism and EU ruined the country?...
Did someone force you to come to EU mate?
........:D

VJW,
Food crap in MAD? But where did you eat? At McDonald's?

I wouldn't say the food is crap in Madrid because you can get excellent food there, but in general the further one gets from Madrid, the better the food is and Castillian fare is pretty bland. Fortunately Madrid is full of restaurants offering regional Spanish food and South American type steakhouses.

Madrid is a fantastic city. Always found the nightlife and food to be of a high standard, always enjoyed going there.

Barajas is an operational nightmare and depicts Spain's situation. Sh1t!

I will add that I feel for my EZY colleagues. EMA doesn't seem all that long ago.

MAD is extremely efficient. That is if you operate from T4. Taxi routes are short, no matter whether departing or landing north or south. MAD is decades ahead of LHR, AMS and JFK, to name a few.

Madrid has the best public transport system in the world and the food, entertainment and shopping is as good as it gets anywhere. Of course, all this is only my opinion.

If you find MAD efficient, that obviously shows that you haven't seen many airports.
It is, in my opinion, the worst airport to fly to. Not only that ATC is incompetent but they will also show you that they don't give a s**t and that controlling efficiently the traffic comes far after the will to create chaos.
Combine incompetence and adverse attitude and no doubt that a major bug is coming.
At an operational point of view, MAD is definitely the worst place to be.

Feel free to have an opinion. But if you think MAD is the worst, you have obviously not been to many airports either. Big airports scare you? Feel lost there? Stick to the regional ones, where you feel safe.

MAD doesn't even come close to touching AMS or CDG. Even FCO is better!

First of all when someone came up with the word inefficient they must have had MAD arrival ATC in mind. They don't have a clue what they are doing, although from your Spanish perspective it might be completely clear that they are just trying to put any Iberia they can find in front. They don't know what the definition is of EAT. Are unable to give EAT's and when you finally get an EAT they just vector people around for no reason for another 30 minutes beyond EAT.
And if you follow their instructions to the letter you end up going around because your too close, or they waste about 5 nm of spacing.

Secondly, MAD ground control have no idea what their airport even looks like. Countless mistakes while giving pushback clearances.

Thirdly, the shops in MAD are laughable compared to AMS.

Madrid decades ahead of LHR is the biggest load of bull I've ever read on prune.

Get some facts and come back with that comment. I'd guess LHR does 30% more traffic with 50% less runways. I'd also guess Madrid with 4 runways only does about 20% more the LGW with 1 runway. Not to mention, london has LGW, LTN, STN, and LCY to deal with, so please don't say Madrid is decades ahead of anyone.

This is getting somewhat off topic, but..

[QUOTE]MAD is extremely efficient/QUOTE]

[QUOTE]MAD is decades ahead of LHR, AMS and JFK, to name a few. /QUOTE]

is absolutely hilarious. MAD is by far the worst airport in Europe. If it had anywhere near the traffic levels of the three airports you've mentioned above, there would be complete meltdown and an unacceptable safety risk. Some would argue MAD with its current traffic levels represents an unacceptable risk. I've operated in and out of every major european hub and it is a complete nightmare, with the worst standard of ATC you will find anywhere, administered by the most highly paid ATCOs you will find anywhere, which I think neatly sums up Spain's predicament.

However, a lovely city, and I know a fair few ex ezy colleagues who were very happy there, I wish them all the best. At least from what I understand, the company are attempting to treat them properly on this occasion and avoiding the appalling treatment handed out to DTM and EMA crews in the recent past. Still a very difficult time. :(

MAD ATC are not obliged to give EATs when the delay is less than 20 minutes (see the Spanish AIP), no different to the London TMA is it :=. MAD Initial & Approach ATCO's (127.1 & 127.5) are as good as anywhere else in the EU, it's their colleagues before (and after) them that have given MAD such a bad reputation...but AENA know that, they did a Survey amongst the local pilot population a while ago. The results were never published, as far as I know.

As for easyJet closing the MAD base, well it's already been mentioned the decision has been forced on easyJet by AENA's massive increases in Airport charges, but do you know by how much? How about 11 euros per passenger in 2010 to over 28 euros per passenger in 2013 with annual increases of CPI + 5% up to 2016 :ugh:.
Madrid will look like a ghost town within the next 5 years....

Guys, those airport fees are bullsh1t. Easyjet is just closing MAD base but will continue to fly to MAD as well as to many other spanish airports. Easyjet is just closing down the MAD crew base in order to destroy forever the very well-paid spanish contracts, that IS the main idea.

310 staff member will go to the UK with a much much worse salary.
No doubt easyJet will send people to MAD in nightstop like in NCE , FCO or TLS, a crappy airport hotel and a 2 stripes FO and young captain both in flexicrew contract will definitely save a lot of cash. ;)

This closure has been in the pipeline for quite a wihle. As Mrs Mc Call mentioned, EZY tried to improve things there, but for all of us who fly in and out of MAD, we have to admit this is an absolute pain, a shitty waste of time on the taxiway, and we love to experience the obvious "sorry, you missed your slot" (a slot ? which slot ?? :confused:)

I much prefer working for a company that closes non profitable bases and who cares about their employees. Sure this is crap for people who enjoyed their lifestyle there, but at least they will be offered a job in one of the numerous other bases.

Don't forget the 8 aircraft will be sent to France (CDG), Italy (?), England (?) or Switzerland (BSL). Hopefully all the crew will find a good alternative solution to what is happening to them.

OK..... Lets address the points made here...BTW I am an easy Captain in Madrid ...

As far as easy pulling out of Madrid is concerned, anyone with even one eye here will tell you it was only a matter of time... The post made at the begining of this thread was spot on with the reasons for easy pulling out. If you live here you see how inefficient the country is. At every level in all aspects of life here, you can see mind blowing wastes of resources and money. To be really blunt, the last ten years has been like watching kids who have broken into a bank spending the money on sweets. Yes , they have built roads and houses etc, but drive around and you spend all your time avoiding accidents due to the mindless road planners who must have just left school constructing a road system that a chimp could have done better with. There are countless half built estates, or even just the roads for estates littered around the periphery of Madrid, built by greedy cowboys who were throwing them up with cheap european bank loans. The toxic debts from insane homeowners who took out massive loans (400-600,000 euros for a two bedroom box flat ) who were earning 25,000 euros a year and now cant pay, are only the tip of the iceberg. Private debt is the elephant in the cupboard, when that starts to surface, the counrty will go into melt down. If you live here you know about the amazing debts run up by local potato farmers who became mayors of their town and spent 160 million euros on follies like a water purification plant
for a town of 10,000 people, or the Arts centre for 100 million euros that never got finished and now lies empty.
Easy went to the government at the highest level and almost begged them to do something about the insane charges at Barajas or face this pull out. Unfortunately for everyone here, the Spanish mentality is that they are never wrong and that putting your head deeper into the sand will make the problem go away! You only have to listen to the idiots in the government trying to tell the rest of Europe that thay are not in trouble and that they are insulted that it is even suggested, to realise the game is up.

As regards Madrid airport... I'm sure the post about it being a world beater was posted by an IBERIA pilots granny, who believes the bull that her darling ,soon to be unemployed son, spins her. Anyone, even the plane spotters sat on the peri track, will tell you the truth. I dont need to repeat the observations already made, it's all true. That said, and controversially, the standard of ATC has improved immeasurably in the past six months. There are some pretty good people working there now, but its spoilt by the usless knobs that you still have there that could not get wet in a swimming pool. The ground situation is chaotic and you can spend 40 mins getting to the holding point due to not only incompetence, but bad design ( putting a holding point on a taxi way that everyone has to go past for another runway ).

As regards the closure of the base, this is very very sad. I'm not talking about the pilots so much here, but the cabin crew and office staff. Whilst it's true that the pilots have spent, in some cases, a lot of money moving here and have kids in schools etc, they will bounce back albeit worse off than before. We knew this was milk and honey and the sensible ones have been saving, not spending, for this day. However, I was in the meeting and went to work on the day of the announcement. The scences I witnessed amongst the local cabin crew were truly heart rending. For most of them, this was a good job amongst a world of unemployment that enabled them to not only live their lives but support family and friends less fortunate. They are devasted and face difficult decisions even with offers of jobs as they will not be in Spain. I have made good friends amongst them and am gutted for them.

I dont give a toss if some of what I've said offends, I've had a good time here and contributed significantly to the economy with my colleagues. Its due to the idiots in power in Spain, that now we are going. The effects will ripple out and Madrid will be all the worse for it.

Basic Service, good post. Sounds like one big mess.

Personally, I hate flying into Madrid.... I have only ever filed one MOR in 20 years and that was against their ATC. Things have since improved though.

I really feel sorry for those employed at the base, I wish them luck in the chaos which lies ahead...

Dear all.
I've been here before.
Trust me I'm a pilot.

Take a wild guess what will happen to the flexi crew across the network.
Flexi was only taken on for this kind of eventuality, now if anyone thinks that they will get enough hours to survive winter think again. Remember flexi contractors few years back and how they were dropped when the summer was over? Flexi crew, The Greatest Social Dumping Scheme EVER!
It's already been discussed about 5 weeks ago at one of management meetings, how many will be let off this winter ( from horses mouth ).
Mr WB ( the pilot hater) was really in his element ,did you know his wife is top management at Parc aviation?. Small wander there are so many parc flexis here, conflict of interst? Of course not!
Just why so few flexis apply elsware ( ie BA or Monarch) I will never know.

Now are we all in it together?
Have we taken everyone on board?
Another great CEO.

It's already been discussed about 5 weeks ago at one of management meetings, how many will be let off this winter ( from horses mouth )

Those taking type rating courses from about April onwards this year were doing so aware that they were only going to be flying for the summer and weren't being kept on over winter.

"Those taking type rating courses from about April onwards this year were doing so aware that they were only going to be flying for the summer and weren't being kept on over winter"

And what will they do after?

As I said

The Greatest Social Dumping Scheme Ever.

What will the others do , you know the ones who are not "aware", when they get rostered for 20h or less over winter. I've seen it in the past.
The whole thing is rotten.
BALPA, what bunch of jokers.

What will the others do , you know the ones who are not "aware", when they get rostered for 20h or less over winter.
Don't worry they've got the winter hours protection scheme, that barely covers any training loan repayments!!
The hours on flexi crew have been going down gradually for the last two years and I'd be surprised there is anyone who is not aware of how bad the winter can be given that most have just had a winter where some rosters have produced 1 standby for the month or a single 2 sector day.

Those taking type rating courses from about April onwards this year were doing so aware that they were only going to be flying for the summer and weren't being kept on over winter.

If that's true, then who is stupid - or rich - enough to go for a "deal" like that?

It's like with private economy, you need to be responsible.

I do hope though, that the f/o's and flexi in MAD all will have the offer to go elsewhere in the network, and as I understood it they will.

If that's true, then who is stupid - or rich - enough to go for a "deal" like that?


Arr, but you forget they have all been drip fed the line......." getting an airbus rating and some hours with EZY opens the doors..........airlines like BA, Virgin, emirates will be falling over each other to employ you" And yes, they truly believe it. Just have a look around the schools to see all the naive 19 y.o.s who genuinely believe BA and the likes are going to go down and recruit them. :ugh:

The weak are 'easy' pray.....pun intended. No one ever forced them to sign on the dotted.

Basic Service-a brilliant post- feel sad sad for the CC and office staff
The worst is yet to come in Spain I fear-how it will affect the uk is anyones guess!
Hope you get a job soon elsewhere:)

There were no flexi crew in Madrid, it is only in the UK and Germany now due to the various unions.

As for the dreams of the schools.. yes, it's stupid to think BA is going to want you, but don't forget that only a few years ago BA DID go down to the school and recruit people directly for the finished crop, as they had done for a number of years.
Sadly, the said schools still sell the product on this basis, even though its ancient history in aviation terms.

ROBMEDIUM, Yuk, you just made me feel quite ill :yuk: didn't realise the failed pilot was still employed & still unable to cure the chip on his shoulder against those still doing the job he can't.

Basic Service, very lucid & eloquent post about the country I still count as home. If you look at the massive amounts of money & destruction/delays/over-budget caused by the AVE (high speed train) to the centre of Girona , or the new Metro system in Malaga, you can see the absolutely blatant disregard for any common sense in public spending.
Oh, and there is also that lovely airport in Castellon , with it's lovely Bronze statue of the Top Mutt, shame no-one has ever operated a commercial flight there yet. . . . but, what the hell, imagine which percentage was "skimmed" off to enrich the accounts of some worthy politicians.

I heard just the other day that Norwegian are planning to bring forward their expansion, for Capts it seems 1000hr on the B737 with 500 Command is a must, but for FO's 500 on type ,"may" be replaced by "extensive experience on a similar type", maybe worth a go for those of you with good A319 hrs (if anyone under threat this Winter has actually managed to accumulate anything amouting to extensive experience.) & they have 100 A320NEOS on order if you really want to go back on the Bus later.

The only thing that works (most of the time) as intended in Spain , is the Sun.
Next big project is gas exploration just offshore from Malaga, it will be a miracle if they find anything worthwhile, and a miracle is what this country needs. . . .or perhaps a free Winter cruise to the Antartic on the new (Chinese :eek:) Titanic 2 for their politicians . . . . . .now there's an idea :D
Maybe they could persuade the King there are elephants to hunt up there, and send him along with them for good measure .

ROBMEDIUM - something of an irrational rant and a bit short on facts for a first couple of posts. Still, always best to start as you mean to go on.

Basic Service - a very good and moving post. I believe our CEO has done her very best in very difficult circumstances. I truly hope we have a base back in Spain soon, but if we do the contracts will look very different indeed to what we had up until now. EasyJet have been snookered by a combination of insane airport management, market over-capacity, Spanish government bureaucracy and unsupportable labour costs. For us to return to Spanish basing, every one of those issues would have to be addressed. The bottom line is that, just like any of our own households, money-in has to exceed money-out over a period of time - that was clearly not the case here.

I am particularly moved by the plight of our Cabin Crew but know the pilots will have massive upheaval too. If a highly-profitable company like easyJet cannot make a Barajas base work, then I do not expect many other companies can. As others have said, the great consolation is the offering of other jobs to all pilots and cabin crew affected.

Student 88 - where were you mid 2007..?

Were you spending months on end, out of base, doing the hard graft and helping set up the Madrid base which eventually turned into the cash-cow that it became for the expats. Everyone bar NONE, from all 19 bases back then that I flew with went there only for the extra leave, money and performance bonus that no other base received. Why fly 900 hours for £50k when you can fly 700 hours for 110 Euro..?

These same people will say good-bye and will return to the bases that they came from - REMEMBER, no pilot is losing their job over this closure. (Cabin Crew, please use the CC forum to discus.)

kick the tires - got the contract - 3 versions of it......but the best version was Captain GB's spreadsheet that made you fill in the blanks to see how much you made over a UK contract.

Easy to jump to conclusions , faild pilot , sitting on the left so not so badly failed.
Irritated , yes I am seeing all those new guys getting into the hole they can not possibly get out of for the next x years.
My point was that the flexi will be bumped off as a result , courtesy of easy, it has happened as before it will happen again. Quite a nasty scheme IMHO.
Proposal of £25000 plus peanuts for new joiners ( although rejected)etc , quite loughable really.
Well it is a bit of a rant I admit.

What makes you so disgusted with my post.

Regards

Have been here before, didn't quite match your number of posts;)

That said, and controversially, the standard of ATC has improved immeasurably in the past six months.

No. It has not. It is just the same. You just have become a little bit more familiar with the real world. The Brits just seem to get lost if there are no green lights to follow or stopping bars.

Svhar, MAD is not the real world buddy. It's a bad third world joke about complete incompetency!

Oh and I'm not British, and you are right that the taxi routes are simple. And you are right again that nothing has changed about that. It's just ATC that don't have a mental picture of their own airport/ airspace and are completely unable to provide a flow of traffic. In fact if they would just stop controlling all together, it would become safer, more efficient and easier.

Oh and Nightstop, I know about the 20 minute EAT rule. however the idiots in MAD think that is 20 minute holding and seem to think that being vectored all the way to Malaga and back does not constitute a delay in that respect.
And in low-vis it is just the biggest chaos you could ever imasending collegua was sent into a go-around at 6NM from the threshold because the previous has not yet reported clear of runway:ugh: to be subsequently vectored for another 15 minutes.
Shit ATC down from the highest FL to the gate and vice versa!

I don't care they get paid a lot of money, I wish them all the best with it!

ROBMEDIUM, I was referring to the charming :rolleyes: WB , not YOU Duh ! ! ! :ugh:

If they leave Europe even better. It is a rubbish company together with Ryan. I think sometimes they compete each other to see who can be the best flying rubbish. No comment about the crew... Dogs are more intelligent.

I think sometimes they compete each other to see who can be the best flying rubbish. No comment about the crew... Dogs are more intelligent.

WTF is your problem??!! This industry really does attract some arrogant bastards.... Amazed that people like you did not get washed out at some stage.... Or maybe you did?!

If they leave Europe even better. It is a rubbish company together with Ryan. I think sometimes they compete each other to see who can be the best flying rubbish. No comment about the crew... Dogs are more intelligent.

Easily deciphered as neither Easyjet or Ryanair wanted me. I knew no one in Alitalia that I could bribe and every other airline in Italy requires you to be the nephew of the DFO or sport a particular brand of sunglasses from Prada.

A deserving reply to your bullsh1t silvercare!

An Italian pilot slagging off EZY and FR crews? Both sets of crews slogging out 4 sectors days to some very marginal places 365 days a year and mostly without incident. And you say dogs are more intelligent?

Silvercare you are dog. Makes my blood run cold to think you could be operating an aircraft after reading shite like that.

Not claiming that I know much about the situation.


You close the base and then reopen it with cheaper conditions for pilots and other employees, saving a lot of money, then give yourself a nice fat bonus later. Nice way to get the pilots to accept a cheaper contract and collective agreement, to save the base.

What AENA is doing is unacceptable.
The increase in taxes shows AENA´s corrupt mismanagement ruining Spanish aviation.

A petition should be done as AENA´s management is pathetic and inept, they want to hurt airlines in Spain or is there a master plan at work here regarding Ryanair in Spain ?

Spain? Master plan? I'm guessing you haven't lived in Spain for very long? They make it up as they go along here.

Robertodo1234 - So let's get this straight - the Madrid base was making money, labour costs, airport charges, Spanish taxation and over-capacity were not issues to our management, and they just decided to close down Madrid because they could. If you feel better for believing that then you go ahead.

Sadly, every single one of these were issues which, when taken together, have made the Madrid operation uneconomical. The capitalisation involved in running 8 shiny new aircraft plus engineering and operational support costs are enormous and the margins are wafer-thin. For some reason you have chosen to believe that out of all these factors, labour costs were irrelevant and have taken deep offense at such a suggestion. Clearly they were not the only factor, but they were an added and unsupportable part of the many problems. Undoubtedly, historical exchange rates were a significant factor in labour costs, but the result was still the same - eroded margins when there was no fat in the system to absorb the pressures. On one level, the economics are complex - on another level they are frighteningly simple. Money-in must exceed money-out - that was not happening and that is why we are where we are.

ADM, having just had a long conversation with one of our colleagues in MAD I am truly shocked by what is happening in Spain and it is apparent (although not perhaps to Roberto1234) that the numbers just don't add up anymore.

As painful as it is for all involved, I can't help thinking that in a year or so's time they'll all be thankful they are no longer working there, great country though it is to visit - for now. God help them in 3 years' time, when property prices will have halved again. :eek:

AdM, fact is that even on say 50% salaries they would still close the base!

IT'S THE ECONOMY STUPID!

Salaries are a drop In an ocean of inefficient airport operations, general laziness (yes, you heard that right!!!), ever increasing airport fees/fuel costs, terrible ATC.

You just can't get over your own trainers salary being lower under the current exchange rate. You would protect trainers as this is supposedly the great career path you see in easyJet and our future jobs. (where most people just want to call it a day as normal line captain)
Unfortunately easyJet earns over 50% of its revenue in euro, it is no longer a UK airline per se. And with that the bottle line of easyJet has improved cause those euro's became more valuable as the exchange rate provided more pounds for the euro.