Captain smithy,
Well the truth is that flybe offer a better service to Inverness community. They offer three flights a day to London gatwick and flybe also serve main hubs from Inverness like Manchester, Birmingham and even Amsterdam hence that is why they have two aircrafts based in Inverness.
The concept of flybe's business model is to have more frequencies using a smaller aircraft. Inverness is a very good example of this. Flybe already pulled out of Aberdeen cause of competition... Will it happen again to inverness if easyjet start putting more pressure on flybe by adding more routes from gatwick with cheaper price? This is my concern!
Well as you mentioned before flybe price is expensive comparing to Easyjet whilst pilots salary is GBP 20,000 yearly lower than easyjet. Not to mention a better type rating and a better progression of getting a command.
As an airline pilot with flybe - I can't see any progression. I am looking at a 20year to get my command on the Emb fleet...
I hope the management cooperate with us rather telling us to join easyjet instead.