I would guess from Frozenpilots post that he is on the Boeing fleet, as I'm not sure that I would agree that Glasgow and Newcastle are the number 2 and 3 bases in terms of size. Manchester is the biggest base, closely followed by Gatwick. If you are on the Airbus fleet you are more likely to end up down south as Airbus bases are Gatwick, Stansted, Bristol, Cardiff, East Mids and Manchester. Birmingham, Glasow and Newcastle are Boeing bases (+ Manchester and Gatwick)
I would guess that any new hires would be used initially to plug any outstanding gaps for next summer. As we speak about 50 contract staff from last summer who are being made permanent are being assigned bases based on their bid preferences. My best guess would be that after next summer you may be able move to a base of your choice. Certainly when I joined everyone was given first or second choice of base (although of course things may have changed!) They do certainly consider your preferences when assigning base.
I would say that during the summer you would expect to do 2 or 3 flights per week on the shorthaul routes, and expect another couple of standby's (where you have to be within 90 mins of reporting at crew room)
I agree with Frozenpilot that it is indeed a great place to work and T's and C's pretty good compared to most.
10-12 years to command is probably about right at the mo.
Any more questions pm me if you wish....