SinBin, why aren't you trying the sandpit? As one of Thomson's junior pilots I too find myself looking for work. I've had offers to stay in UK on a poor deal, summer contract only or go to a permanent position somewhere hot on a new plane and do something different. I'm under no illusion that hot and dusty = nirvana but it's better than being bent over and royally shafted by CTC and easyjet. Plenty of your fellow ex-BMI'ers heading to Qatar.
As an outsider looking at some of the previous posts, if the situation turns worse here, how easy is it for the company to walk away from that "promise". You'll have nowhere to go. Did it mention as well where the permanent position was? Was it to remain as flexicrew with CTC on a "permanent" attachment to easyJet rather like a brookfield contract with RYR? One where you'll have no real security - it's far easier to lay off a contractor for a season.
You might not be a PTF but you're doing your bit to aid and abet the drop to the bottom in UK aviation.
Read the article in the latest edition of The Log about Colgan Air and look at what pass for Ts and Cs in the US.
Wind this flexiscrew stuff on a few years.
Most work in the UK industry gets done in summer. Large numbers of pilots only hired for the summer. Said pilots unlikely to get work for winter - therefore no winter ops experience. How ready would they be for any kind of career progression with that kind of background? It's pants and anyone with experience should be looking elsewhere (there's plenty of boeing or airbus work going globally).
HS