Just make sure that you know what this FRI means before you get carried away by the £££. You'll spend the 5 years return of service in a ground appointment!
We recognise the requirement to retain Career Stream Aircrew and welcome the intention that those taking the FRI should occupy Flying-Related posts.
For "Flying-Related", read "Ground Appointment"!
If you don't get further promotion and therefore decide to leave at the end of those 5 years, you'll find it much more difficult to enter the airlines aged 45ish with no recent flying experience.
Moreover, anyone hoping to get the new FRI in a couple of years time should remember what happened to the NCA FRI and not bank too heavily on getting it this time round.
Overall, the PA spine have a much better deal if you're on the new pension scheme as well. I think that's why the AFPRB said:
In recommending the FRI, we request annual updates on proposed work on pension arrangements between the Professional Aviator Pay Spine and the Career Stream, developing sustainable experience profiles, improving numbers through the training pipeline and a cost benefit analysis.
That's a terribly written sentence and I'm not quite sure what it means, but I think it hints that the AFPRB realise that making flying pay pensionable for everyone is the correct, long-term answer.