Alas, there are many ways to make up the shortfall of type-rated pilots if it is required. One of those ways would be for easyJet to use another 'pay-for-line-training' enterprise like the now-abandoned (by easyJet) ATP scheme. In essence, you persuade likely people to undergo the easyJet selection and invite them to pay for the rating and line training. That way you overcome the limitation of the previous scheme of the odd person getting there who would not have passed easyJet selection. It is an extremely cynical way of saving money but I am sure you could generate a bit of interest. In the current climate, however, anyone paying for line training would need to be acutely aware of the likely lack of genuine employment opportunities anywhere in the world for the next year or so.
If ever there was a time to support BALPA, this is it. We need a cast-iron agreement with the company over this issue. As may soon be discovered, it is in everyone's interests to work with the pilots rather against them. At any company your staff can be your greatest asset or your worst enemy - it always pays to look after your staff rather than stuff them at every opportunity. The other big danger facing us is that the company may elect to use CTC pilots as contract captains over the summer like last year, since they cannot get agreement over 'seasonality'. The tragedy of this is that the easyJet pilots are happy to work with our managers to make this the best and most efficient company around. The company has to grasp, however, that no pilot is going to negotiate away his/her future to pay for a few management bonuses. When we have a fuel-hedging disaster on the scale we have, it is amazing to me that there is any discussion whatsoever on saving a few quid on winter captains. Instead of a round of resignations in key jobs, which is what I would have expected, we have an in-yer-face confrontation over pennies while serious pounds are flooding down the plug hole. I don't know what you have to do to get sacked as a manager/director at easyJet, but apparenly losing tens of millions of pounds on speculative deals is not one of them.
Our recent results show that easyJet has a great model and is doing so much right. A short-sighted money-grab by a few ill-intentioned individuals will only serve to undermine what is an excellent company offering a great future to all employees and not just a few.