Non type rated easyjet recruitment?

[Alexander de Meerkat]

I think there may be a misunderstanding here, but I am not sure. For the benefit of those not familiar with the recently negotiated New Entrant Contract (NEC) deal, let me lay it out again as follows:

You will be taken on initially as flexicrew for one year on an hourly rate, before joining the Company proper as a bona fide easyJet employee. Thereafter you do one year a Second Officer on £38k and no allowances, two years as a First Officer on £44,901 + around £8,270 sector pay and then after 2 years in rank (4 years since you joined as flexicrew) you become a Senior First Officer on £55,120 + £8,270 sector pay. Those FO/SFO jobs can end up as 75% salaries depending on which base you go to, as not all bases can offer 100% contracts. All contracts will be get the usual loss of licence, pension contribution of 7% etc. It is only when you become an SFO that you will be guaranteed the 5/3/5/4 roster pattern instead of a random roster. Also the promotions to the different ranks have some total flying hours experience limits attached to them, which in the vast majority of cases would not be an issue.

Regarding FO bonuses, under the previous contract a loyalty bonus was given of 5% after 3 years of a permanent contract. Under the NEC, which new joiners will receive, that is no longer the case. Instead, if the company performs well, you will receive up to 10% 'performance bonus' upon completion of 2 years on a permanent contract - ie 3 years after you join the Company. It is a better deal than previously, but more dependent on easyJet's profitability.

Once you become a Captain, your basic salary is £90,012 (90% of that for the first 6 months) and your sector pay is £28.75 per sector (the Company assumes 480 sectors a year) making the total sector pay around £13,800. In addition you get a 'loyalty bonus' of 5% of basic after 2 years, 10% after 5 years and 15% after 10 years. Those years are backdated to the day you join as an SO, so if it took you 8 years to become a Captain you would kick in straight away to the 10% loyalty bonus. Again, the Company pays 7% of basic + loyalty pay into your pension fund each year. In addition there are various performance payments of 2 weeks salary depending on Company success - for a Captain that is capped at £3k and has been paid the last 2 years and probably this year too. Finally, if you become a Training Captain, there are various 'levels', all of which are pensionable (i.e. your 7% includes your Training Captain uplift). You get 12.5% for a Line Trainer, 15% for a TRI, 17.5% for a TRE and 20% for an Airborne Base Trainer.

So that is the basic deal. Now onto the allegations of different contracts being offered out depending on how good your are at interview. I am very aware of the 75% contract deal, although in practice it will be 100% for most people. That is what was agreed with BALPA and is in keeping with the terms of the New Entrant Contract (NEC) and is part of the deal for a period of time. At no point, however, was there any agreement regarding 'not being good enough to get a permanent contract' so you get some sort of naff CTC flexicrew deal. My initial feeling on this is that some more experienced pilots may have been offered a higher place on the NEC scale than others. In practice that means that some pilots may be allowed to join at, say, the second year which would give them a straight £38k a years as Second Officers. Others, by virtue of experience, may be eligible to join as, say, First Officers and so on. That does not mean there are multiple contracts on offer – it means that you can join higher on the NEC scale, which I would have no problem with in principle. I will be happy to accept if I am wrong, but at this stage I do not believe I am. It would turn into a very big deal indeed were there to be some variation on what has been agreed at the highest levels between BALPA and the Company. As I say, I will check and find out, but I think my explanation is more probable at this point.