I love twins,
I know what you mean regarding the contracts. But that is all dependant on where you get based.
Those who get Flexi (UK based) it's survivable with the loan on top.
When you get a Perm UK contract then you get a 75% contract, which is nice if you want the time off during winter. Each for their own. At the moment, I would rather work and get my hours up and see what opens up.
Don't get me wrong I'd love to return to the big orange, but I'd also like to experience LH as well. Unless they announce competition for NAS I am not sure if I would stick it out there for the entire duration of my career.
EU bases get straight Perm contracts but unless you get Italy or France the contract isn't great. Hence the need to fill DEC's in OPO/AMS. No EZY Cpt wants to transfer. And you know its bad when even the Dutch don't want to go home...
I know FO/SO's in OPO/LIS and I don't know how they are surviving.
The contract conditions seem nice for DEC's, and they are. Say for example I left EZY for EK then came back after 15 years or so I would take a bad contract in OPO for 3 years for the option to be back in the UK after Base Freeze was finished.