It’s important for everyone to realise that we may be standing at the precipice of a once in a generation opportunity to actually achieve some improvements in pay and conditions. Other threads indicate that the group is staring at a pretty small and disinterested pool of candidates (did someone say 10 applicants to jq following the latest ad?), the usual demographic problem and, of course, fierce competition from the US and elsewhere. Add to this expansion plans and other AOCs running close to capacity and dare I say we might be in the midst of a pilot shortage? (Maybe only technically so, but the advantage is as good as it gets).
For anyone new to the company I really really suggest reaching out to the union reps (whether or not you are a member- they certainly won’t make any hard sale about recruitment) or experienced crew. All big employers front load agreements with signing bonuses and, as you’d imagine , they reveal all you need to know about how good the underlying proposed agreement is. Although we have good negotiating conditions, there is a very real risk of losing lifestyle and pay here, and it doesn’t matter how much you dig flying a jet, if we don’t do something now, after a year or two your sick leave balance will be the most interesting part of your payslip- that’s a promise.