As always, on this forum there are a wide range of opinions - some informed and others less so. I have never pretended that I have anything other than utter disdain for the current FO contracts. I have to say, however, that things are not all bad at easyJet - right now there are few other companies in Europe I would wish to work for. If you are fortunate enough to have commenced a career at an early age with your national flag carrier, then I say well done to you - assuming it does not go bankrupt underneath you then you are truly blessed. For anyone else, companies like easyJet are a godsend.
Let us look at what is actually happening right now at easyJet rather than the failings of the past. As a little aside, if you are an FO or Captain with days leave to sell back you can get some serious money right now - I myself have just finished 2 days' leave flying at £980/day + sector pay + my regular salary. I would suggest to you that this is a good deal. If you are a Captain, and you are willing to surrender your 5/3/5/4 rostering for random rostering from June - August inclusive, easyJet are offering an EXTRA £10,000(or £5,000 if you are an FO). Once again, I would suggest there are worse fates to befall you. I have also, along with everyone else at easyJet, just been given 2 weeks' salary worth of share options as a thanks from the company for all our hard work during the recent disruption - I am frankly extremely grateful.
Regarding FO contracts, which quite rightly have been the source of much angst in the pilot community, things are changing. We are offering permanent contracts to around 50 pilots in 'seniority' order assuming you have more than 750 hours on type - thereby provding permanent jobs to both redundant BMI pilots and CTC cadets who have been on temporary contracts for the last 2 years. Once again, I would invite contributions from others who know of other UK airlines offering such opportunities right now. I will quote from the latest p-mail internal news to state what else is happening to give a feel for what is happening at easyJet right now.
We were originally planning a total of 37 promotions to Captain for the summer 2010 programme. Operating additional aircraft and re-phasing of the flying programme together with increased attrition means that we have now increased this to just over 80 Commands with a smaller number operating in the LHS on a seasonal basis. We are now at maximum training capacity. All Command offers have been on the current Terms and Conditions with the exception of a potential FRV (Flexible Rostering Variation) period for 6 months over the Winter period (there is a payment attached to this period if FRV is undertaken). EasyJet have confirmed to pilot representatives that they do not plan to engage Contract Captains for the Summer providing we can achieve the necessary flexibility through the schemes that have proposed (not withstanding the small number of CTC Trainers that operate for us as part of the CTC training contract).
We have added a further 110 First Officers to the pilot establishment numbers for Summer compared to an initial requirement of 88. We are now at maximum training capacity for the summer. We have engaged both ab-initio pilots from CTC and Oxford as well as a significant number of experienced Airbus FO’s from Parc Aviation and CTC. We have offered a letter of intent to employ just under 50 First Officers that have a minimum of 750+ factored easyJet hours and will fly for us over the coming Summer months. These pilots will be employed from 01 November 2010. Tell me, all you nay-sayers, where in Europe there is another company who can even come close to all this?
Is this a perfect company to work for? Absolutely not. Are there tensions due to the pressures on training and the overall flying programme? Absolutely. Am I mighty glad to have these problems rather than wondering whether I will ever work as a pilot again? Absolutely. In short, we are one of the few genuinely successful and stable airlines in Europe who are continuing to recruit despite the dire state of the overall airline industry. I fly brand new Airbuses every day to a staggering range of destinations in a safety conscious environment. I am delighted to be here, and for all its faults there is nowhere else in the world I would rather work right now. I will continue to back BALPA 100% in making easyJet 'a great place to work', and to fight the worst excesses of our management, but please let us see that we are genuinely in as safe a place as I know of right now.