The Flying Cokeman - thanks for that. The 189 figure in August is probably more correct than my 250-300. There are also some guys currently acting as captain who are about to be returned to the gene pool (about 10 I believe). Obviously each month that goes by, particularly during the summer when people are flying a lot, produces more and more qualified FOs. The exact figure changes but we can safely say it is going up all the time. Also, I agree about Ryanair - their figures March to March were indeed a loss. For better or worse from easyJet's perspective, Ryanair are forecasting a massive profit for the coming year covering this summer that has just finished and ending in March 2010. I am not really sure how that comes about as fundamentally their business model is not changing, but that is nonetheless what they are saying.
Akrapovic - my comments to you were specifically about base closures and reductions. There is one base closure (EMA which has 3 aircraft out of a total fleet of 165-ish) and the reductions in Luton etc are going to be significantly offset by expansions elsewhere. Love them or hate them, our management have decided that these aircraft can make way more money in continental Europe than they can in the UK. If you are one of those getting compulsory resettlement from the UK to elsewhere then clearly that is very unsatisfactory. Nonetheless, in terms of the questions being asked here 'base closures and reductions' suggest a reduction in easyJet's overall fleet, when in fact the exact opposite is happening. We are still expanding, albeit at a less aggressive rate than was originally planned.
As others have pointed out, there is indeed a shortage of FOs right now within easyJet - that is likely to increase rather than decrease due to the ending of summer contracts. Some work is rumoured to be being offered to some of the cadets over the winter but I have not yet met anyone who has been formally offered that deal. There are no doubt big bonuses to be made for the managers who balance the figures correctly. As our previous Director of Flight Operations discovered, there are also some very quick ways out of the company for those that get the figures wrong and force us into cancelling flights. I wait with interest to see where the dice falls in the coming weeks.