Hi DS,
Bergamo isn't expensive, with very nice hotels in the old town that do great aircrew deals. If you want to be at the airport, there's a very good B and B not far away at around €45 per night. Ciampino is another kettle of fish, rather more expensive, but not too bad. Sorry I don't have specifics at hand. Money wise, are you to be a contractor or on a permanent FR contract? If the former, your roster will be a bit all over the place to start with, but generally following 5/5 unless you're 'based' in which case 5/3 applies. Tax matters in this case are your own obligation. If the latter, its about 3-4 thousand € per month after tax, as I understand. Good luck.
Hi Max, good to see you still lurking. The post was removed because I regreted its tone. The strength of my argument doesn't require such embelishments. I'm not management and my views are my own, formed over a quarter century flying planes all over the world. I like flying for Ryanair, and think its a great deal and a great company. So, it seems, do many others. No one holds a gun to the heads of cadet pilots, forcing them to accept the probationary training contracts on offer. It is what it is, and either accepted or rejected on its merrits. Most juniors take the view that short term discomfort is worth long term reward, and so do I. What strikes me as the ultimate hypocrasy though, are those who accept the contract and then start squeeling like stuck pigs at the dreadful unfairness and abuse of it all.
One thing above all strikes me as certain, though, and I'd be interested to learn of the views of others on this. LCC's are here to stay. When the dust settles in our part of the world, there will probably be Ryanair, Easyjet and Air Berlin with entrenched market share. Their impact in Europe is profound, as will shortly be discovered in Asia. Traditional ideas about T's and C's, and especially productivity, are under examination by all carriers, legacy and start ups alike. This has inevitably brought and will continue to bring unionised airlines into conflict with management, and I hold the view that its precisely for this reason we need tell BALPA/REPA to take a hike. I still believe that BALPA/REPA have a hidden ajenda, that being to score a major LCC scalp, thereby protecting the 'fur lined' conditions of legacy carriers a bit longer, and for this reason I will never be in favour of pilot unionisation. I've seen with my own eyes just how beligerent, how destructive they can be. I work hard and have made seven thousand quid so far this month, and all that without a union. Some may see that as self interest, but then you have no idea at how my career started out, the low pay and dreadful conditions I had to endure when I was a junior. Unionisation creates fewer opportunities for pilots to commence their careers. Companies like Ryanair produce and employ, are out there kicking goals whilst the BA's, Cathay's and Air France's of this world are building fences ever more quickly and wondering at the lie of the land in another 5 years....10 years. I put this question to the wannabees out there. Would you rather jump aboard and start your career in the fast lane, with all the dweadfullness of that nasty Mr O'Leary, or would you prefer to keep throwing money in the direction of BALPA and wait for your turn to come up at BA or Virgin...oh, but you need hours for that, don't you.
