Regardless if you participate in the pension scheme or not, you would get the higher of the two schemes (EOSG or Pension), however you must be employed at least 7 years to be fully vested to get the company contribution. And if after seven years of employment, if your pension is less than the EOSG (for whatever reason) , then you will receive your own contribution back and receive the ESOG benefit instead. The only question that lingers and I have never got an answer, does the company consider the pension balance minus the pilot's contribution when determining the greater of the EOSG and the pension?
Either way, you are guaranteed to receive the EOSG by law, and the market doesn't always go up.