Superced - you managed a whole sentence this time. Congratulations.
Binder - since the dawn of the airline industry, trainers have had to teach basic handling skills to low-houred pilots. The same could be said of British Airways guys and the numerous other airlines who take on cadets. There is, however, the wider issue of the limited employment practices we have used for the past few years. My own view is that we have made a huge mistake taking such high quantities of cadets rather than employing some genuinely experienced people from a wider variety of backgrounds. Specifically we should have taken turboprop and military pilots - neither groups of which we have touched for some years now.
Starbear - the 50% for 6 months has been the case for many years now (at least 7 but maybe longer). In recent times, the temporary contracts on offer have been different in that you get 100% from the start plus an additional £2k/month for 5 months. Many captains have done very well on that scheme and are now nearly all on permanent contracts having missed out on the 90% bit at the beginning.
Regarding the issue of returning from the desert to the UK, the issue is that few companies are currently recruiting experienced pilots. Therefore the way back to the UK that existed a few years ago is simply not there. That is no reflection on the quality of the individuals - we have some great ex-Emirates guys working for us. It is merely stating the reality of the situation right now. That may of course change, but right now the situation is not good for a return to Blighty.
EasyJet is not for everyone. There are nonethelss significant numbers of pilots who like working there despite the ups and downs of our summer programme this year. I look in Flight International every week like we all do, but I just do not see a host of fantastic jobs out there that would be better than the one I already have.