An Honest & Uncensored Debate About Jet2

[pilothouse]

Pilots that have problems with Jet2 seem to be the ones who don’t accept that it is basically a one-man train set. Most of reckon that he has a proven track record and - so far - we are trusting him to get it right. We have heard the stories but the general impression is of a friendly and capable individual and we are happy to let him run it his way. His commercial success should lead to rapidly moving careers and better pay and conditions.

Unfortunately, if you get on the wrong side of things there is nowhere to hide. In a large airline you can be a thorn in management’s side for decades and get BALPA to protect you, but not in Jet2. Leaving is about the only option and this is why there are some very bitter employees and ex-employees.

At first sight Jet2 comes across as an employer with the ethics of a Victorian mill owner, so how come most pilots seem happy?

1. From the start, everyone you encounter is warm and friendly. Then you discover that if you give a bit and get a reputation for being pleasant and flexible, they will bend over backwards to help you. But go in there and thump the table before you’ve established a track record and you may never recover the situation. Just like any normal non-flying job, really.

2. Jet2’s safety ethic has been well and truly hung, drawn and quartered in previous posts. The main problem is simply that the infrastructure has not grown to match the activity so we don’t get enough follow-up and certainly no glossy incident summaries. However, what we do get is a no-blame culture and this is worth a million flight safety magazines. We also have an onboard atmosphere that is far more conducive to flight safety than the us-and-them of some well-established airlines. There is no evidence that top management holds safety in disregard - for example, there is no pressure on fuel uplifts because they don’t want a pilot to fly with less fuel than he is comfortable with. However, there is obviously a view that an airline should be run first commercially, with safety dovetailing as required. Jet2 would not be the first airline to do it this way.

3. The aircraft are indeed old (about the same age as some of the 757’s and 767’s of Monarch, Britannia and MyTravel) but generally well-maintained, despite what you may read above. The spare aircraft are not sitting around tech! It is just that with cheap aircraft Jet2 can afford to have spare ones to protect the schedules.

4. The aircraft are a delight to fly and the “steam gauges” are not a problem. Jetavia, the displays you would seem to prefer were in fact a factor in the Kegworth disaster. Are memories really that short?

5. The routes and their timings are about as perfect as you will get, though Manchester does get a considerably better deal than Leeds. Elsewhere in Jet2, maybe in Scotland, some pilots would seem to hardly notice going to work at all, in which case they are getting quite a good deal despite Jet2’s below-average salaries.

6. Consultation? There’s no BALPA or similar but if there is anything you don’t like you can simply pick up the phone. Recently I got a letter from the MD inviting me to reply to him personally if I had any comments about the forthcoming rostering improvements. And there’s a rep if I want to complain anonymously. Again, just like any normal non-flying job.

7. Interference? I've rarely had less interference from an employer, so I just get on with the job. Okay, the edict about the APU is irritating but there is a certain logic to it, and anyway I have sole discretion if I want to bend the rules.

8. SOP's. I can't imagine why anyone thinks that we try to avoid SOP's. They aren't very well presented but there are some gems that few other airlines have spotted. Everyone I fly with tries hard to follow them except maybe some of the contract guys but they will be leaving.

BUT! - despite the positives, Jet2 is far from perfect (where is?) and things will have to change if pilots are to be retained in the face of the ever-tightening jobs market. Pay, terms and conditions are indeed poor and few of us will hang around for ever just because it’s a very pleasant place to work.