Interesting rumour
An interestting rumour this Virgin/Flybe thing and I for one hope there's some substance in it - especially if it gives us Flybe bods a chance to fly some heavy metal for a change.
If it doesn't then I'm not sure why Flybe would need to look to VIrgin for more command ready people - it has an ever growing pile of command ready F/O's waiting for the left seat. Word on the street at this end is that of the 720 pilots employed only 32 left the firm in the past 12 months due to the lack of opportunities in the outside world. Contrast this with when I joined 3 years ago when there were 20 or more a month leaving for greener pastures.
Re: Virgin I certainly see them as an aspirational airline to join although I'm not rose tinted about them. I spent enough time in the industry on the mgt side to know that he of the woolly pullies isn't quite the Mother Theresa the media likes to portray and certainly some of our Cabin Crew are ex Vs and say they're earning more as cabin crew at Flybe which I find astounding.
Anyway, I think all of us hope the industry starts to recover this year for all our sakes whether your tail is painted red, blue or orange.
Desk-pilot