Two of the Five FO's I flew with last week are on their way to EK, just waiting on references. The other Three would be interested if they had the hours and they had friends on their way there, so as long as their mates report back with good tales from their paradise the "domino effect" may happen.
For the tread drifters - we at FR brief what we are going to do. It has kept us safe for our 1000 plus flights a day.
Taking a visual approach to the opposite runway un-briefed to save a couple of minutes is plain stupid as has been proven over the years. So what, you land a few minutes early and then sit waiting for your stand to clear. Have seen plenty of them while taxiing to the hold over the years into places with perfect weather - only to watch them perform a go around - panic in their voices - very professional.
You have to use common sense in your approach to maintaining your flying skills. Practice on good days, when the safety of your passengers are not at stake. This is what airmanship is all about.
There's at lot more information about the exact numbers leaving on
REPAWEB
It's a lot safer to be on REPAWEB than a Macho pilot making a visual approach. Ryanair profits were dented by over a cooool mill trying to close the site down and lost - of course.