[QUOTE]Unfortunately Thomsonfly is no longer the 'career' airline that might have been the case with Britannia. Quite a few experienced, but low seniority FOs are leaving. My base has 2 Capts and 2 FOs on notice to leave.
If someone else can offer either a DEC or quick command then people may well take it. Recent moves have been to Emirates, Ryanair, GSM[?] and Corporate./QUOTE]
Depends really how you qualify a "career airline". I would say that an airline with decent salary, annual increments, very good pension contributions (15%), good sector pay, LOL insurance, private health insurance, etc, etc. is a pretty good career airline. There is also great opportunity to fly a variety of aircraft, following a structured career path. Certainly compared to a lot of companies nowadays that don't offer a lot of these benefits, TUIFly is a career airline in my opinion.
People seem to think more in the short term and are so desperate for a Command that they are prepared to leave an excellent company like TUIFly for smaller low cost operators like Ryanair and Jet2. Has it not always taken a while to work your way up the seniority list in a "career" airline to gain your Command? Is it really worth jumping ship to get your quick Command with someone like Ryanair, GSM or Jet2? You'll get a higher basic salary for a few years, but that's about it. Your pension will probably be halved and many other benefits probably don't exist.
I currently work for a LOCO and I know where I'd prefer to spend the next 30 years of my career, so I'll keep swimming in the hold pool for a while longer.