To answer 'Paul from Dublin'......
EI will not be launching a west coast route in Oct. If they do launch a west coast route it would be for next Summer (April-ish start date)
The EI Winter schedule is already locked down. And 3 months notice is too soon to start a new route, winter launches wouldn't be the best time of the year anyway. I would hazard a guess that we will see an announcement 8-10 months in advance of any west coast route.
As for the pilots issue......I see it as EI mgmt reneging on a deal that they shook hands on. I would fully support the company not awarding increments if the company was doing badly and needed the sacrifice........but at present EI have not enough seats on their A330 for the demand, their A320 are mostly full and they have a higher profit margin than FR.