So what is the best number of hours to fly a year? Yes 10 is a bit low (recency etc), and I'm sure you'll agree 900 is too high (fatigue etc), is there really an optimum number of hours to fly in one year?
I'll bet that if you look somebody's done research on it somewhere.
NATO define a minimum of 180 hours per year for full combat effectiveness in military pilots, so that's probably a good minimum to work with.
Of-course, the other issue here, not really mentioned, is financial. Medicals, sim checks, insurance etc. all cost money and have to be done per calendar year, not per flying hours. So, the less hours per year a pilot flies (even if paid pro-rata) the more expensive they become to their employer. I assume that BA doesn't want to set a precedent that could make employing aircrew massively more expensive than it is already.
G