For those who are wondering what is happening, we have today received an offer that is being presented as a 3.5% pay rise overall backdated to last October plus a guaranteed 2.5% this coming October. In addition, significant concessions have been won - particularly for the French and German crews who were going to get zero pay rise with a pay cut some time down the line. There has also been a loss of sector pay and loyalty bonus in return for a significantly increased basic salary divided into 5 incremental bands between £69000 and £85650. A Captain with between 1 and 4 year's service, for example, will receive a rise from a basic of £66938 to £79162 - but the sector pay of £21.44 (taxable at 0.78) will reduce to £7.80 non-taxable. There is also a somewhat vague increase in pension which the company are calling 'the most generous in the industry'. Depending on your interpretation of what is being offered, it is between 3.2-6.4% based on recovery of employer's NI contributions. I have a number of questions on it myself, but that is the headline offer.
Slightly more disconcerting is that at the moment a 'figure war' is raging among the pilots over whether or not it is a pay rise! I will leave it to better brains than mine to work it out but my gut feeling is that it probably is!