I am cautiously optimistic that EZY upper management is listening to the main lifestyle issues that are being raised repeatedly on this thread and others.
Staff travel availability seems to get a bit better. This alone will prove a huge cost saving to the company. Why?
As flight and cabin crew can commute again to their work without spending their half their salary their desire to stay with easyJet will be greatly influenced. Retention, retention, retention!!!!
Ray, you will be a wise CEO if you keep your workers happy!
The second issue, work rosters, should really not be difficult to solve. I have spoken to guys who are on 75% or 50% rosters and they consistently have had higher productivity in terms of hours flown vs days worked. This simply means that by giving people more time off to properly rest and have a life (...) beyond flying, the company will get the same or even more productivity out of the work force. Sickness levels will probably go down aswell as fatique is a main cause for the body to become ill.
Upper management, I hope you will not only look at cost alone when entering the pay and conditions negotiations but instead look at return on investment !!
Retaining 40 more pilots and 100 more cabin crew this year due to keeping them happy with good staff travel and a good life style will save the company a huge sum of money!!
Going to a 5 on, 3 off or even 5 on, 4 off will only have a positive effect on the bottom line and more importantly, safety!!! as well.