BL, no I most definitely am not proposing anything other than a temporary arrangement, but one which will outlast any BA proposed sabbatical. No company can tolerate its pilots being unavailable to them though still employed if they are now needed on the flight line. BA most definitely won't tolerate it and will simply recall them. The RAF needs to recognise that the real world (especially BA's world!) doesn't run to plan but to events, dear boy, events. It needs to have control of the situation from the get go, ie personal contracts that are temporary and which can be ended (albeit with some compensation) or extended (by mutual agreement) as required by the RAF. That means those pilots could close the training shortage gap for as long as it exists. BA pilots on sabbatical cannot be relied on to do anything of the sort.
Row back? Yer 'avin a larf aint'cher?