Stanstead, Not only do I have mates in Ryanair, I work there too. Your mate that's an LTC will be employed on a Ryanair contract, we are talking Brookfield here. The rates for Brookfield are much higher. the month off has no bearing on anything, we all have time off. The figures to keep in mind are the hourly rate, and the max hours you can fly in 12 months.
Recently the F/O's have been flying less than 900 hours a year, but I think with all the new aircraft comming and lots of promotions, they will probably be flying 900 a year again soon.