those shares made up for the disparity in conditions compared with those enjoyed by flight deck crews (and the rest of the staff) in other companies.
Disparity? Only in your favour guys! When FR started up the take-home salary was double what I was making in a comparable post with an established airline, and that was after being there for over 10 years. And wannabes were joining FR and getting jet commands in 12 to 24 months...the kind of promotion that took a decade elsewhere.
As I recall, the shares were used to buy you off when O'Leary heard mutterings about a union. The pilots who were already in situ took the bribe, dropped the union talk quick time, and abandoned those who had raised the union banner, standing by in shameful silence as the local group leader was publicly executed by O'Leary.
Those who accepted the shares bribery sold out the future of every pilot who joined afterward.
The options became exercisable during 2003 although only 100,000 were cashed in during that financial year. Could be that the staff (incl senior mgt) were waiting to see if the share price went through the roof...
Hmmm...perhaps they didn't feel they needed the money, because they were doing just fine on the generous salary already? Or perhaps they were just being a bit too greedy?
....perhaps the rules do not allow the the shares to be exercised so easily.
Are you speaking from first hand knowledge or just guessing?
The FR pilots failure to stand up to O'Leary in the past has dragged them down and severely undermined the value of our profession. If they had formed a union early on and stood firm we would see a completely different face on this industry today...one where the largest and most succesful low cost carrier had a strong pilot workforce that shared fully in the success of the company, and set a positive standard for other operators.
Instead they've set an example of greed and impotence to airline managements throughout europe.
Excuse me if I don't shed a tear now the chickens are coming home to roost.