Thanks for the info Yeoman. Given that Thomson and TUI Nordic have a reverse cyclic peak, it would seem inevitable then that there would be a more even distribution of work over the year, but would unfortunately also suggest that there will be a pilot surplus resulting in the inevitable "synergies".
Like you say it's probably in the top 3 airlines in the UK, but only if you can stay in long enough to feel safe from redundancy. If it wasn't for the elephant in the room of more cost cutting I would be jumping at the chance to join, but given what happened in 2010 and this management's track record, I'm starting to err away from accepting the offer.