On face value we do indeed earn quite a lot as an SFO in Milan. It's more like 6000 euros net per month, which at the present exchange rate is about £5000.
That's due mainly to the exchange rate and the fact that we are taxed the square root of very little. Are 5 long 4 sector days in a row sustainable for your whole career? Maybe. Will the tax rates remain so low when Italy and Spain follow the likes of Greece and Ireland? Possibly. Will the Italian pension scheme remain unaltered for the next 30 years until I want draw on it? I wouldn't bet on it.
As a few people have started to point out, the business Market for just low cost short haul travel may have seen it's hay day. Aeroplanes bought at half Market rates, subsidies to operate into random European destinations. The next 5 years could see a very different situation developing.
For me the choice was simple, even with the option of an imminent command, did I want to work at easyJet for the rest of my career? I'm not deluding myself into believing everything at BA will smell of roses. However, they provide a depth and breadth to my future career that easyJet can't and it could be argued, don't want to offer.