I have to agree with Nils Taurus Excretus on this one.
My previous posts, both this forum and the easyJet forum, reflect this attitude.
easyJet have not been faithful to the Southwest business model - in fact one wonders just how flexible a business model can be before it disappears up its own posterior.
In so far as Stelios is concerned he did indeed put people first and realised the importance of this policy (someone please tell me that he is alive and well - he seems to have vanished since stepping down as Chairman). I remember him stating publically that his pilots would be amongst the best trained and highest paid in the industry - for the very reasons set out by SouthWest. Now we are all starting to wake up and discover this was only a dream.
For the first time (as far as I am aware) pilots are leaving the company through dissatisfaction. easyJet was a great airline when Stelios was in command. It is only a good airline, like many others, in my view now. What it will be like in 12 months when the new pay deal has been ratified is anyone's guess. If crew food is discontinued (for example) and our terms and conditions eroded maybe we should all turn around (with BALPA's backing) and simply refuse to accept the new terms and conditions. It is our right - a contract is a contract and if one party (easyJet) modify those terms and conditions then no employee is under any obligation to accept them. The men in grey suits might suddenly become aware that pilots are not simply numbers on paper but pretty important in the operation of an airline! - in fact b****y indispensable! Lack of suitably qualified and motivated pilots in the right numbers will be the one constraining factor in the future expansion of easyJet. Management can not afford to disaffect the pilot workforce - and particularly not at this important time in the airline's development. They will rue the day if they do!
Stelios had the vision and determination to rise above the mêlee and strike out on his own. Ray Webster may be the business brains behind the venture but he lacks the flair and imagination so crucially brought to the airline by Stelios - as with so many partnerships it is the synergy of both individuals which ensure success - take one facet away?!. It may be a gross error in judgement for the company and the city to have agreed to him stepping down before the easyJet/GO merger. He was a steadying influence and would have been seen to be leading the company at a critical stage. (I appreciate that other factors are involved here)
I dislike the term 'bean counter' but the company does appear to have been taken over by that breed of dull, unimaginative, men in grey suits who, it seems to me, probably think the 'missionary position' is a clerical job vacancy in Africa!