Sarah - That is hard to tell. What you can say is that if there is a choice between working for easyJet or Vueling then there is probably little or no choice. Notwithstanding the comments by others earlier, it is a hard balance for easyJet to have - they do not want to disadvantage their current crews but there are some clear advantages in recruiting locally in terms of making an impact.
The root of the issue is that there are simply insufficient 'high quality' pilots around to meet our recruitment targets next year, bearing in mind the fact that everyone else wants the same pilots as well. Before everyone starts jumping up and down about the term 'high quality', what that means in practice is type-rated on the A320/B737NG, or at least with significant jet experience. The managers, for better or worse, are concerned that they would not get enough pilots applying if they have to spend a long time away from their home country. I would imagine this will be a blueprint for future expansion in and around Eruope. Interesting enough, I am not aware of us currently employing any Spanish pilots, although we have loads of cabin crew. (I do know we offered one a job recently but he has not yet started.) That is clearly about to change and most people would agree that is a good thing, bearing in mind how much of our business is related to Spain, plus the fact we will now have a Spanish base in Madrid. I would fully expect us to be inundated with applications from many suitable pilots - which is the general plan as far as can be seen.
Last edited by Norman Stanley Fletcher; 1st Sep 2006 at 07:28.