Stitchbitch: surely that's the point isn't it? People are leaving for more money, theses forums (the Mil ones, not biz jets) are full of postings of how they've left & now have much better conditions & pay which is why we're heading for a manning crisis, in the air & on the ground. NEM, no incremental pay, no retention pay for 6 years for aircrew, the continuous wearing away of T&Cs is turning a trickle into a flood & one perceived solution is to throw money at it - although as usual they'll wait until disaster has happened before they offer any by which time it will be too late. Given how much & how long it takes to train us it would be more cost effective to pay a substantial sum to retain that experience instead of training a replacement which takes years & £millions. As Uncle Ginsters says that would not be 'Sun friendly' but it does reflect the value of the individuals concerned. The alternative would be to cease the constant erosion of T&Cs but that nice Mr Osborne is unlikely to let that happen.