The good news is that there will be between 100 and 200 FOs taken on by easyJet this year - the final numbers being determined by the availability or not of our new 'roster optimizing' software. Alas, the bad news is that every single one of them will be on temporary contracts. Although things are dire outside, I still have doubts if we can find that many A320-rated pilots willing to take temporary work. The only way I can see of achieving this is to promise candidates at the interview that 'every effort will be made to offer you a permanent contract after the summer' - and then sack them all at the end of September as we had always planned! Anyone taking a temporary contract with easyJet over the summer should have no doubt whatsoever that they will not be offered a job over next winter.
The truth is that easyJet's announcement today of their Q1 results is fantastic news (see
easyJet.com - Quarter 1 2009 Interim Management statement) in the current climate. I therefore stand by my oft-stated view that easyJet is still a great place to work, and right now is one of the few stable places to be in a very unstable industry.