Get this 12 month probationary thing out of your heads. All employees are placed on a probationary period anyway. This can always be extended. You don't need to put someone on a temporary contract, employed by a third party to give them a probationary period. Its absolute nonsense.
The simple fact is if easyJet wanted to employ people on a permanent contract and offer them a salary equivalent to flying 750 hrs a year, they would.
To demonstrate how much nonsense these arrangements are, consider this;
Year 1 you are employed as a First Officer by CTC on £67 (there is a sliding scale of pay against factored hrs - I have over 7000hrs so would receive the highest hourly rate). We were told to expect a minimum of 750hrs = £50,250 gross income although easyJet will not guarantee ANY minimum income.
Year 2 you are employed as a Second Officer by easyJet on a set £38,000 gross income.
So in year 2 after successfully serving your "probationary period" your reward is demotion and a £12k pay cut.
Before any of you say this is incorrect, these arrangements are exactly how it was described at the assessment day.
Incidentally I know someone who flys for easy on a flexi-contract. In August (one of the busiest times of the year) they completed 60hrs of flying. In the unlikely event that you did this every month, with no holidays, sickness etc, thats 720hrs a year and not the "expect a minimum of 750hrs" we were told.
The simple fact is if easyJet were so confident about using people for 750 hrs per year and being able to employ them after 12 months, they would simply employ them. If things didn't work out during the first 6 months, they would extend the probationary period. If things still didn't work out after 12 months, they would say goodbye.
I am pretty bored of this thread now and think I'll call it a day. Good luck to you all in your endeavours. Things are starting to move in our industry and regardless of what people might say on here, there are plenty of companies who value experience and will pay a decent salary without you having to get yourself into all sorts of debt & anxiety about whether this months salary payment will be enough to cover your outgoings.