STS: you have a very rose tinted, and over optimistic view of the resolve of pilots as a work force group. Pilots would not vote with their feet once the economy recovers if their T&Cs didn't recover in line. Had I been offered a job with Jet Two I would have haggled hard to make sure that I got the full time contract because I would bet a penny to a pound of the stuff from the golden rocking horse that it would have been very unlikely that there would be any offers to move from part time to full time at the end of the season.
I think that 1.6VS has some sort of chip on his shoulder, and I'm not sure what his agenda is or where it came from, but in essence he has a point.
From what I learnt of Jet Two it seemed to be a company worth working for, and I couldn't give two hoots whether they worked out of a jumble of portacabins or Westminster Palace. They pay a reasonable salary, and they pay on time, and there seem to be lots of other good reasons to work for them, but I feel that no company can hold you to ransom hiding behind the "it's the economy" excuse without some quid pro quo for later on.
You cannot pay part time employees a pro rata salary: it has to be proportionally higher than the full time rate. To take the current example if you ask someone to work from March till October (8 months, 75% of the year) you need to pay them more than 75% of the salary. You leave them high and dry after 8 months with not opportunity to get part time or temporary employment in the remaining 3 months (assuming that both the employer, and employee expect to come together again for the next season). I would have expected to have been offered around 85% or 90% of the salary for 75% of the roster. That way the company has a reasonably good chance of getting someone back who has been trained to their SOPs, and reduces their training cost for the next season in that they wouldn't have to get a new entrant to the company needing company conversion training.
If I had been offered part time, and not full time would I have taken it? Probably not. What would I have done instead? Left aviation. Fortunately I have been offered full time contract with another airline on better salary than Jet Two could manage.