I have not met any pilot in EZY yet who sees themselves with this outfit untill their retirement. The simple reason: flying full time for 30 years for easyJet will kill you!
The 6 on, 3 off roster is just too much. Most of the guys are knackered all the time.
If the company would change it to 5 on, 4 off or 4 on, 4 off that would allow crews to properly recover from flying 4 sector days. And the airline would still be able to get maximum hours out its work force. With the new European rules regarding maximum work hours looming (max 2000 hours per year), they will have to change their ways anyway.
Another reason for the fact that pilots want to go elsewhere is not because of pay (which is reasonable) but the very poor travel privileges for its employees. Even though flights are leaving with 10 or more empty seats, employees very often have to pay full fare to get on. A proper standby system for a nominal price would greatly enhance morale and would be a great retention tool as well. (A big money saver in fact!)
At the moment staff travel is viewed as a perk and not as part of standard terms and conditions. Succesful LowCost airlines, one of which easyJet tries to emulate, all provide superb travel privileges for example SouthWest, Jet Blue and even Ryanair.
CEO ray Webster said last year " I you want better staff travel, go join an airline that provides it" .
Well, a lot of guys are starting to do just that. With the job market starting to improve, easyJet might find itself being a training school that produces experienced jet pilots who are welcomed with open arms at Virgin, Brittania, Dragonair and the likes.
Lastly, the culture of blame and the lack of trust between the management and its pilots could be the third reason for people to leave.
When something goes wrong let's say a go-around is initiated due to a poorly executed visual approach, the response would not be: Good decision to go-around, guys!
Instead the response would be: Why did you do visual in the first place? At any one time some 7 or 8 pilots are suspended due to all kinds of disciplinaries. This is not good for morale and causes people to look elsewhere.
I hope the company will improve its self. If not, it will never become the employer of choice.
The orange future could be great but I think Ray Webster would be wise to change things if he wants to make the easyJet the best airline to work for.
