Right hand seat for EZY out of a base in South East of the UK.
Cost me 6 figures to get there, including the type rating, then a year on a zero-hour contract not employed by them with zero guarantee of minimum income.
Once you ARE employed by them, you don't get any bonus for the first 2 years regardless of how many millions or billions of profit the company makes, and are forced onto a 75% part-time contract.
That was pretty crap, having loans/parents to pay back, no guaranteed income, rent in one of the most expensive areas of Europe and not much thanks in return.
BUT, once you ride that out, the pay gets better, the loan repayments get smaller, the bonuses get bigger (if we make a bigger-than-expected profit again next year then some of us FOs stand to get a bonus of around 12% or more), plus free shares in the company.
You can buy shares out your salary pre-tax, then the company will match those shares. Theres plenty of unpaid leave available in the quieter winter months. You get food and hot drinks when on flight duty, free flights between home and base (if you don't permanently live at home base), a good chance you'll be spending almost all your nights a month in your own bed (usually no more than 1 or 2 night stops a month, sometimes 0, and normally able to swap on or off them if you want to), fixed pattern rosters for SFOs and Captains, so you know next year when your days off are, plenty of opportunity to move around the network if you fancy working in a different base. Pay in the right hand seat after you've done your first 4 or so years is good, and time to the left hand seat is pretty fast as well.
There is a lot that could be improved... but overall, there is a lot to be appreciative of. I'd much rather be here than some other carriers operating somewhat similar business models, and I have no interest in other airlines, short haul or long haul.
It's one of the strongest airlines in Europe too, from a job security position. This industry is always volatile, but a bigger ship rides the waves easier.