Very little has changed since '02, a lot of guys have been/are being recruited to staff the new aircraft. A lot of those around since '02ish will get commands as soon as they get the hours (3500 or more depending on the trivia) if they are willing to move up to Manch- this gives new joiners some hope of commands with future expansion. Not much of a retirement bulge to come though - a lot of youngish skippers, but then a steady filter out to the likes of Virgin helps.
Pension good as anywhere, better than BA, and pay industry standard on the tracker. The nights have got later, a few flights in at 0100ish and the mornings earlier, 0430 I think being the worst report but still a reasonable set up with a few of the new destinations being further away leading to working around 15 days a month plus standbys. We still have the 775 hour cap and a few (Summer only) overnights in Malaga and Faro plus the RAK's if operating from LHR.
In general few significant compaints!