Spider Man
You say "25 years of continuous permanent employment"....
Did you not read the previous bit about 2 rounds of redundancies in the last 8 years?
I can tell you, from bitter experience, that it is a fortunate FO in Virgin who has even 5 years of "continuous permanent employment" at Virgin, before a redundancy scare of some kind.
All well and good if an airline expands, but if it is relatively stagnant then you are pretty much at risk for a long, long time.
I agree. Better avoided if you have other options - or are a current Captain.