Easy - Pay Rise

[Norman Stanley Fletcher]

Simon - thank you for your excellent and balanced contribution to the debate. It can be clearly seen the value that BALPA is bringing to the discussion and the absolute necessity of being a member in the current climate.

Regarding the issue of DECs (I was once one of them!), there is no issue when there are no FOs to promote which was the case when I joined. That is absolutely not the case now and is unlikely to be again unless virtually every FO in easyJet resigns. These guys are amassing hours at an enormous rate and become eligible for command very quickly.

I do, however, wish to challenge BALPA to close this loophole very quickly. We must be totally clear about this - there is simply no such thing as someone who is 'too good to turn down'. Are these people astronauts, brain surgeons, theoretical physicists as well as being the most talented pilots on the planet or what?

We should not, for a single minute, accept the argument that we need DECs for TREs, TRIs etc. We have literally hundreds of Airbus captains at easyJet, many of whom would make excellent Trainers. Training jobs are never advertised and the company has a clear responsibility to 'home grow' its own trainers. Only after internal advertising has failed to produce suitable candidates can pilot jobs be offered externally. Every single case should be subject to agreement with the union and only then should it be agreed to go externally. BALPA will never stand in the way of a genuine requirement. The company has proven itself complete untrustworthy over the issue of DECs and there must be an independent verification of the genuine need before such positions can be agreed.

I am acutely aware that right now BALPA is having to fight multiple battles on all fronts and I am 100% in support of their efforts. However, they must not give in over this issue. DECs must become a thing of the past unless every single case is agreed with the union first. The prime job of BALPA is to protect the interests of its members - half of which will be FOs. No FO at easyJet should ever be disadvantaged at the expense of an external candidate. This is an absolute at every decent airline in the world and it must become an absolute here.