There is no doubt that the ultimate aim of the people who run these airlines is to eventually reduce the salaries of pilots to the level of those people employed on ground duties. Anyone who thinks that pilots who joined the low cost airlines only get what they deserve should think again. These airlines have forced everyone in the industry to become more efficient but as usual the British employer sees it as an opportunity to screw the workers as well.
Their plan, in which they have largely succeeded, is to take the decision making process away from the pilot and as aircraft are now fully automated and very reliable, pilots generally do not have to demonstrate their skills, so why should they be paid so much money? It is against this background that Balpa have a fight on their hands and every pilot wanting a long term future should get behind this dispute.
easyjet have succeeded in turning what should be a good job into a tiresome ordeal for most of the people who fly the line. The main reason for the discontent really stems not from the high hours worked but from the numbers of roster changes given at short notice (especially changing a contactable before days off to a long four sector day with a late finish) . Everything else becomes more irritating when you are messed about in this way.
People whose lives are disrupted in this way deserve a premium payment just for turning up! The offer from the company in this case is actually an insult.