I and many others outside of Easy Jet follow with interest this thread, especially as Easy have advertised for experienced FO's and Captains to join them in recent weeks.
For the FO's that come from the established Charter outfits the only thing that Easy appears to offer is a short time to command. That may sound great, but what do they do after a few years once the novilty has worn off?
Many of the FOs in my company face this dilema! It seems that pilots at Easy really have a bit of a bum deal and I would be suprised if Easy really did attract many of the pilots it advertised for in 'Flight' the other week.
Consider this; in most of the charter companies that operate the airbus (and in particular mine) we dont appear to ever work as hard as you. Not even in the summer! Rarely do we do more than 4-5 days on in the summer. Followed by at least 2 days off. Standbys very often turn into a day at home. On average we work about 14 flights a month in the summer and MUCH less in the winter. Annually flying hours in the region of 700.
We do have night flights which most people hate, but not more than 2 in a week and rarely more than 6 in a month during the summer.
Added to this the employment package includes:
-15% Employer pension contributions (as apposed to 7% Easy)
-Sick pay 26 weeks in 12 months (12 weeks/year Easy)
-PHI (of 75% salary if unable to work) (Easy none)
-Private medical Insurance (Easy None)
-Full cost of medical covered (Easy up to £182)
-Licence renewal cost (Easy none)
-Holiday concessions of up to £1000/year (Easy none)
-Dry cleaning vouchers for our free uniform (Easy £16.67/month - but must buy uniform)
-Buisinss travel insurance while on duty (Easy ?)
-£3000/year of company sharesafter (Easy 5% bonus after 3 years as captain)
Some things Easy have are better but in the main they are worse for work you do. Captains salary is more in Easy for a few years because of the sector pay, but because of the salary scales that most of the other airlines have this advantage only lasts about 4 years - about the time it takes for the novilty of a quick command to wear off!