They have to keep finding ways to keep cost down and employee costs is one of the few that they can control, by not paying people on standby, but having them available is a massive save and remember here that we are not talking about sector or duty pay, we are talking about zero cost to cover lines of flying.
How long i wonder will it be before you get to bid for blocks of hours that you buy, this would be F/o only keen to get that first 1500 hours on a jet, lets face it for FR people leaving is an absolute godsend, it keeps EMT ltd in business.
Still better than serving burgers, well at least the one's made from horse meat