Cancel2LateLunches - I think it is a bit harsh to blame people like Robert G Mugabe for the situation at easyJet. It does not sound like you did too much yourself to help - you just looked after No 1 and left. You were under no moral obligation to stay, and I am sure everyone wishes you well, but you are certainly not in a position to berate others within the Company. Also, you simply have no idea what someone is like to fly with, and to insult them like that is quite wrong IMHO. Doug the Head and I have clashed on numerous occasions over easyJet Ts & Cs, and we do not agree on much. I do, however, agree that the flexicrew issue now has to take centre stage and be fought with every ounce of energy we have.
I am a long term pilot at easyJet and was fortunate to start in the 'good times', and thereby never faced the shameful iniquity of the flexicrew contract. I too have a stable roster, despite being Gatwick-based, although this week is proving to be an exception! The harsh reality is that the plethora of different contracts mean that you cannot say, "Life at easyJet is .....". It depends entirely on your own personal circumstances. You cannot blame someone for being happy with a good contract, but nor can you blame them for hating a bad one. We are still way better than Ryanair, but that is hardly the criteria to use. The curse of easyJet is the flexicrew deal - the truth is that we have failed corporately to fight it thus far.
The Company want 'flexibility' before they will give put a single permanent UK contract on the table. They have one big bargaining chip - the flexicrew contract, and they are going to use that to negotiate more 'flexible' terms among the permanent contract pilot community. In reality, that means some resurrection of 5/4 and other elements of Merlin. In a nutshell, they will trade 'flexibility' for permanent contracts when the BALPA/management negotiations recommence in September. Frankly, if I was a manager, I would be dangling that same carrot too. There are so may possible permutations of outcomes that it is almost not helpful to speculate on the results. We have to decide now, however, just how hard we will fight to get our flexicrew colleagues permanent contracts. I am willing to make some compromises on flexibility to achieve that, but I am also prepared to play hard ball and fight very hard indeed. 'EasyJet pilots for easyJet cockpits' is the number one issue for me and I will do my bit to achieve it.