"There are many players on this forum who are only taking the 2 year view"
I think that's because if the deal is a vague promise of a perm contract in 2 years - the vague promise is completely worthless in aviation. By all means be an optimist, but also look at easys track record with doing the the right thing by its pilots ( maybe ask some of the flexi crew guys who went bankrupt).
"Try taking the 5yr+ view on Monarch, FlyBe and Virgin"
Monarch is about to recruit 70 ish FOs on perm contracts from day 1. That's a full salary deal with pension and health care not a watered down B scale.
I am all for easy widening it's recruitment paths , but also look at what others are offering.