It is amazing that, in a market which would seem to be more pilot orientated than has been the case for many years, companies can still use and abuse their crews to the extent that they seem to do. The inevitable conclusion must be that in reality the pilot supply market is still pretty well fixed in favour of the airlines.
Presumably any pilots who form a Flybe intake from today's little excercise in Birmingham, will join up under a contract which will predate and thus presumably escape any future wake up call? It would be in the company's best interests to bond as many potential employees as it can. By the same token, it should take inexperienced boys and girls whose financial situation will be so precarious that they will not be able to contemplate flying the Flybe coop until perhaps the market forces have changed again, presenting pilots with another downturn?
