Having flown Low Cost, UK Charter and now for Virgin here are my thoughts..
It may disappoint some of you, but I really enjoy it. My quality of life has never been better, I get more days off at home and I've had some great, truly memorable trips. I don't miss the runs of earlies, the roster disruption, the 4 sector days or the 900 hours a year. In the last year, I have flown every trip exactly as per my roster. Not a single disrupted day.
Having been made redundant in my previous life, I know how some of you on here feel. I read the warnings, but I think it's worth the risk. Personally, I'm no more nervous at Virgin, than I was in low cost or charter. Plus, I now have a couple of wide-body ratings.
Yes, it's not perfect. However, a lot of the negative opinion on here comes from those who were made redundant. Well, we've been warned, time to move on. Plus, those who complain the most, have often never flown for another airline. Or, if they have, it was before the low cost boom. Times have changed. For me, Virgin is about as good as it gets.
Of course, we need to protect and improve upon what we have. Same as everywhere. Management will always try it on, so we need to stay united for the battles ahead.
As for the future of Virgin, I'm cautiously optimistic. In the next few years we could have the B789, new routes both domestic and long-haul, expansion and the A380.
Ok, I went too far with the A380..