More resignations at easyJet...

[Crappy_Modem]

Two Regional Flight Managers resigned yesterday...including one who was the 'original' company man.

This on top of a £300,000 bill for the sub-chartering last weekend, lines being dropped over the next months as there aren't enough crews, 300 (yes 300) cabin crew short in the London area, some routes being permanently sub-ed out over the summer at the behest of the CAA who are now SERIOUSLY concerned, and all this during June - August when the serious money is supposed to be being made.

The chief pilot has lost his medical - again - and been told not to bother coming back; although he wants to collect his share of the £10Million.

I am seriously wondering now, beyond all the usual hyperbole and naysaying, whether easyJet will survive thie year.

It also has to be asked - Do these two know something everyone else doesn't?

[Engee73]

Bollocks!

I am sorry but I think you are full of it.

Evidence please.

[Crappy_Modem]

You want evidence?

1) You are providing the typical sort of head-in-the-sand evidence of easyJet management not haveing a clue that the airline is falling apart around them.

2) FB, RFM STN announced his resignation Friday, he is off to Now at Luton

3) AL, RFM LGW also announced his resignation Friday - don't know where he is going.

4) As per the memo from JP, MK is off sick again having lost his medical. JP is now CP. He is hardly likely to mention "don't come back" on his memo is he?

5) £300,000 bill - I've seen the invoices

6) NC, from NMC gave me the cabin crew figure, also confirmed by JP new rostering bloke

7) CAA - spoke to one of the eJ Flt Ops Ins about another matter - illegal crewing as it happens - mentioned the serious concern.

Enough evidence NG?

Remove head from sand, and realise the situation is now serious - company threateningly serious - and the muppets in Laa-Laa land don't even realise it.

[im going in]

Have to agree with you Crappy_modem, have seen some of the evidence. Flights being offloaded, when 6 EZY A/C were sitting on the ground all night, unable to be crewed.
As for today, there is a Transavia B753 operating 4 sectors.

[coughing corner]

Whats a regional flight manager? air crew or airport orientated?

[Crappy_Modem]

Regional Flight Managers are senior Captains, in charge of usually 2 or 3 bases, with a base Captain beneath them. e.g. AL covered LGW & LTN, FB STN, NCL, BRS.
The point being these aren't just some hacked off F/Os, but senior guys who will know far more what's going on than guys on the line.

[Airbrake]

See above.

[Buster the Bear]

Glam-grans take to the skies

GLAMOROUS grans could be jetting off to a new career to dispel the stereotype 'trolley dolly' image of flight attendants.

Luton-based budget airline EasyJet has teamed up with Help The Aged in a project designed to prove that cabin crew should be employed for their ability rather than their looks.

The recruitment campaign launched last weekend is aimed at attracting 'more mature' staff, with positions open to men and women up to the age of 60.

And EasyJet spokesman said: "We want cabin crew that passengers can relate to and respect. The more mature person has so much more to offer in terms of life skills such as communication and team working abilities. They usually command
more respect too.

"Providing they are young at heart, we don't care how old they are.

"The job of a flight attendant is often perceived as glamorous and prestigious and certainly a sense of adventure is needed, but often the responsibilities, professionalism, dedication and energy that is required are not appreciated."

Help The Aged thinks it is a great idea.

Spokeswoman Liz Duncan said: "Cabin crew people need 'people' skills and authority, qualities that are enhanced by greater life experience."

Launching the campaign, EasyJet paraded attractive 49-year-old cabin crew trainer Pauline Mors – rather than an ageing, arthritic pensioner sporting an orange T-shirt and false teeth, like in our mocked up picture on the right.
Cabin crew recruitment ads with an upper age limit of 60 have now appeared in some women's magazines.

[kenoco]

Who's atually in-charge in Easyjet???Who answers to the shareholders and no wonder they are needing soooo maney cabin crew in London,have you seen the starting pay????Very bad. xxM.

[Fifty Above]

....nobody's in charge!

Heard the other day that STN and BRS have threatened to revoke easyJet's slots if their on-time performance does not improve - a very serious state of affairs indeed!

EasyJet succeeded in wiping GO off the face of the earth, and now they are hell-bent on doing it to themselves - at this rate it won't take too long!

[ezysleazy]

People laughed a few months ago when I predicted shares to slump to below £2.00, they have gone below and the City does forecast a further slump in share prices.
Senior management at eJ does not give a crap about any of us as long as they get their year-end bonuses and their share options. People at sleazyland have no clue how to run an airline succesfully.
Andy will be missed and I wish him luck in his new venture. At least Jim has more respect with the crews than MK did. Good riddance I say.

[Snowbird]

Perhaps easyJet wouldn't have such a shortage of crew if their interviews involved sensible intelligence tests rather than getting people to balance small nails on top of a larger one! What is that all about? Also, rejecting people who are hardworking, reliable, honest and have no problem with the written paper is probably not the best way to fill the vacancies. No, this isn't sour grapes, it wasn't me who went for the interview. I just don't think, if the company's in as much trouble as you all seem to think, that the cabin crew recruitment department are doing a very good job at keeping the rest of you in secure employment.

[SOPS]

Transavia flying for Easy mmmmmmmmmmmm? I would assume at a very high price tag....where is the "low cost" in that?;)

[heavy glider]

if easyjet are paying other airlines to fly their routes, then why don't they give Ryanair a ring? aren't they Number One for punctuality at the moment? for a small charge (!) ryanair could get some of easyjets flights on schedule!:ok:

[dontdoit]

I'd give it 6 months. Tops. This really is turning into Air Europe Mark II. (Yes, and I was there before anyone starts AGAIN!)

[Alberts Growbag]

When Stelios set up EJ he told the original guy's that he would make it a household name and then take his money out and go and do other things.

Once the men in grey suits start running an airline that always needed the guidance of someone like Stelios or MOL then the writing is on the wall. I was going to give it five years after Stelios's departure, after what I've read above I'll give it five months!

As for MK? To see that gentleman removed from British aviation is one of the best bits of news I could ever have had. Good riddance indeed. Out of interest anyone know what he lost his medical over, mind you it must be hard to fly with a steak through your heart!!

:E

[Quidnunc]

Why all the fretting? Surely if Easy go under it's got to be a good thing?
Pax won't be tempted by their BS prices (normally ending up paying proper prices to a joke airline), jobs in the REAL airline industry will be more secure, pax will get better service; and the big smug arrogant smile will be wiped off poxyJet's face.
Looking forward to it already. Didn't know you were in so much poo.

[tailscrape]

Last post seems a bit harsh really. To wish misfortune on so many people seems a bit too cold to me.

However, I am very interested to note that senior pilots are jumping ship to join NOW at Luton. I was getting seriously cold feet surrounding them, but fell slightly relieved to hear that they are tempting senior people.

That is as long as the senior people don't bring the orange in your face BS philosophy......:yuk:

[skyboy1919]

I was about to join easyjet up until I read this post, can I ask what is the starting salary for Cabin Crew, and they say an average of £800 a month, thats very low, is that true.

Are things really that bad, or is this just the old rumor mill kicking off again?

[Engee73]

Unfortuneately the evidence has failed to materialise.

Question:

Was there one or two RFM's that have resigned?


I think there is an important difference. One was ex-GO and the other by all accounts has not left.

Things are not as bad as you would like us to believe however I am sure you are not helping.

NG:hmm:

[Flap 5]

Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil eh NG?

Wouldn't be much on this forum if people were stifled in the way you want would there?

[Engee73]

Perhaps you are right Flap 5.

I just find tht 99% of the stuff that is posted here is crap. I'd llike to know what is going on and make my own assesment of the gravity of the situation.

So if MK has lost his medical....so what? If FB has gone who is surprised? Do either if these things represent a major problem for a large airline?

I think not. these problems are in fact easily surmountable.

Other problems such as a shortage of CC are more difficult to deal with but I am confident that there are moves to deal with this also.

easy is having to grow up very quickly at the moment. Its time we support the efforts that are being made in order for it to work and us to have what may be the best job around in a few years time. :cool:

NG

[B737NG]

To run a airline is not that easy. Keep the people happy and run
the show needs more then a fancy colour and a fancy land
somewhere on the globe. That the industrie is facing difficult
times is obious. Some smell the fire before it even burns and leave
the stage before they burn theire fingers. Others try to stay cool
and get burned at the end. Be carefull Girls and Boys ! I hope
the blackmailing is wrong but it is easy to let the ship sink by
pulling the plug before the rescue work is done. The market is
dense for the traveler who just like it easy with booking and the
fares as well. So who survives in that battle ? Not easy to answer
but easy to figure out after a while......

[FEBA]

There seems to be a lot of bile and vitriol flying around here. If there is any substance to these rumours, no smoke without fire and all that, then is it just co-incidence that BMI/Baby are also considering reducing their workforce by 33% TO STAY ALIVE.
Could this be the end of low cost operators?? Lets hope not, they have, after all, been of great benefit to the consumer.
A reasoned response to this post would be appreciated.

[alterego]

Baby are not losing ANY staff at all in fact are recruiting.

BMI are are losing staff at LHR, over the medium term. Ryanair have made large profits. So how can anyone say this is the end of Lo cost airlines? It's a combination of market saturation, difficult trading positions and Easyjet' loss of a figurehead. The bean counters will slowly turn a success into another airline.

[FEBA]

Ummm. Not sure about your last Alterego as it would seem to contradict normally reliable sources of news.
BMI Job Cuts (http://www.business.scotsman.com/transport.cfm)
FEBA

[orange_bubble]

The Cabin crew are deserting the airline faster than they can be recruited- it's hardly surprising, they are virtually slaves with little or no perks. Staff travel except on easyJet doesn’t exist. What major airline doesn't offer that to its staff? RW said if you want staff travel- then leave. So they did- what happened? Last weekend that cost the company £300,000 with a/c parked up with no crews.

Some people still manage to push the easyJet BS talk- new uniforms- leather flying jackets! For Christ sake leave the old one alone! Stop the crap and sort our lives out.

I don’t blame AL and FB for leaving- I’m sure they would have more fun banging their heads on brick walls than bringing change at EJ.

Lets hope RW and MK take a one way trip back home, soon.

:ugh:

[Buster the Bear]

Never should have bought Go, well not for £375 million anyway.

That extra debt must be serviced.

Buzz, a bargain at around £3 million cash.

How much is it going to cost to convert a freight shed into the new easy H.Q? Hope they have a subsidy, which I am sure they do.

My contacts within easyLand are not happy folk. Much has changed, and not for the better since Stelios left they say!

[southern softy]

this is the worst thread i have read on Pprune. what a load of w@nkers some of you lot are.:=

[phnuff]

Hey guys. As a non pilot and not subject to the same stresses etc. that some of you are at EasyJet, can I just say with all the creepy journo's (one of which I am not), crawling around the board, it may be not be a good idea to be quite so vitriolic.

OK, I'll now shut up

[jumpseater]

Well said Southern!:ok: And I find the 300k figure a bit on the high side, I'd be surprised its that much!

And Albert if MK has lost his class 1, its no business of yours or mine as to what the issue was, perhaps you'd like to post your next medical if you fail, for us all to discuss. Oh and your name as well so we all know who we're talking about.

[Colonel Klink]

Hey, Orange_bubble, apart from RW and MK who you would like to see going home, what other antipodeans are you referring to?

[ezysleazy]

Quote:

southern softy : this is the worst thread i have read on Pprune. what a load of w@nkers some of you lot are.

Yep everything is orange, keep sticking your head in the sand....

This place is going down the tubes faster than an eel down the Niagara Falls.

Was at the shed today and they fired all the airport managers to be replaced by regional managers. Some of these guys and galls have worked their bits off to make things work at outstations and this is their thanks?

Had lunch with some of the people taken redundancy and morale has never been lower in the years I have been here.

Some of the old guys have taken redundancy because they cannot wait to get our of here (BB is a good example)

As to CC they are hiring hundreds of agency staff with no experience trying to fill the gap.

Share price dropped again, apparently there is a memo floating around the City with a guide price of 1.40, don't take my word for it (again) time will tell or else make some calls, I did.

What a cr@p week this has been, what did we expect after Stelios bailed out....

[Fly Star]

Reading this thread I really wonder what people have in their mind!!!

It looks like some of the most violent comments, come from people working for EZ. What do they think they are achieving by writing so much things about their own company???
Let's imagine that EZ is really in trouble... Then talking about that on a public forum is not going to make thing better, is it? If anything, it can make things worth so what is the point?

I joined EZ a few months ago and I am quiet happy. Of course it is not perfect, but with the current state of the airline industry it is not that bad!!!
The salaries for FD are good, and I have no shame to say so. Is it the so called disruptions that are we talking about? Being called of a STBY, or getting a roster change? If you don't like it, I think the airline insustry is not for you. Get a 9 to 5 job then...

Cabin crew badly paid? I saw the payslip of a new CA, it was the same take home I was getting as an FO with one of the british regional operator. One purser told me that having worked for Air2000 and Airtours, she loved easyJet because of the reduced service on board which was a lot easier than handing out 220 meals and drink every flight. And the money, she said was good.

About the shortage of cabin crew EZ is far from being the only company concerned. As everybody knows, the DoT has issued new regulations making the issuing of RZ pass a lot more difficult (5 years reference required). It is a major problem for every airline. I know that 50 new CA in LGW were waiting for a pass for weeks not so long ago. Today, I flew with a CA which was ready for Line training in march and started flying last week on a provisional pass. I heard that Excel had the same problems... So before people talk about, EZ being so bad and so on, maybe a more accurate overview would be usefull.

Not everybody is unhappy in EZ. I agree that the company is going through a bad patch, with a lot to take in in a short time : merger, new aircraft arriving, DoT new regulation, ageing fleet (737-300) going tech, strikes in France...etc

With the way the network of EZ is setup, it was heavily affected by strikes in France with heavy delays. The fuel strike in BCN and MAD didn't help. As EZ network is very strong towards Spain, and overflying France, then bad delays occured in the last few weeks, WHICH HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THE AIRLINE.
And of course when there is delay, there is disruption for crews because people go out of hours and so on... So please, stop a bit the unconstructive slag off.

I am happy with EZ, I am concerned about the future, but I think it is better for people to be focused and instead of constant whinge, get on with it!!!!!!!!

:cool: ;) :D

[FEBA]

Chaps
Take no notice of Southern Softie. He's in the business of winding up contributors to threads like this one. He's a professional tw@t last time I came across him was on planet rugby.
Proof of the pudding will be the way in which he responds to this post.
Stick to the jist but be careful of what you post. Your futures may already be at stake

[orange_bubble]

Colonel Klink,

Edited when I realised my poor english! Just MK and RW!


;)

[Jack The Lad]

Flystar, get a grip girl. The issues here are serious ones, debated by flight deck. You have a right to post about the cabin crew if you wish, but get your facts right first.

The real issue is that Ej cannot recruit enogh cabin crew on their terms and conditions, not that they cannot get airside access!

Come on darling

Flystar may post where and what she wishes..moderators' determine relevance, not you.

Hawk

[BEagle]

It seems that to succeed with a ground-breaking airline, you need a high-profile leader. Which is why Virgin, EasyJet and RyanAir are so well-known and popular. Or rather were, until Stelios left....

Whereas Go and buzz quietly got on with things and were popular with their loyal passengers, they didn't quite have the high profile of airlines run by Stelios or Mo'L. So they no longer exist (unfortunately), whereas the others do.

Leadership. Need one say more?

[HZ123]

So much of the comments on this thread could easily read as comments about any other UK operator. Much of the same has been said about BACX. The aviation game will always be beset by problems and continual pressures. I do not think that negative comments effect the outfit as I would hope the city would be able to make its own judgements based on the general levels of the industry.

Looking in from outside things clearly will get more pressurised for the LC companies as there seems to be to many airlines chasing a finite market. Arriving at CBK there was an EZY CC and they all appeared cheerful enough and I have always found them the same.

[Final 3 Greens]

Quite a range of opinions on offer here.

I must say that I am a little confused about easyJet's mission at the moment.

Are they low cost or not?

Recent experience is that prices are in line with the majors or slightly above.

And no, I'm not anti easy - it's just unless several coincidences have happened, Ryanair have been genuinely low cost on my recent flts and easy have not.

You could argue that FR fly to the middle of fields and easy donot, but isnt that part of the low costs deal?

[foundation digger]

All this stuff about the destination Airport is complete rubbish.

Easy for example advertise flights from Newcastle in central scotland.
They obviously think people will travel to use that connection.

For years and to this day people have to travel to airports in the south of England to connect to thier final destination.

There are many factors which dictate why an individual chooses to fly a particular route and operator.


The CEO,s of both BA and Easy are way of the mark when they try to score points over Ryan over the airports they operate from.

Prestwick the airport nobody wanted. Now handling over 1.5 million pax from all over europe.


At the end of the day it is financial perfomance which matters.

The Low cost tag is Bull Droppings.

It is who manages the best Business.

The 2 recent resignations from Easy are unfortunate as both individuals are two of the more capable individuals in the flight ops department.

[no sig]

ezysleazy

I (BB) will speak for myself, thank you. My reasons for going are of a personal nature,I have no doubt that easyJet does have a sound future and where there are problems as, we have discussed so many times on PPRUNE, It's simply the right time for me and not a reflection on my feeling for our future.

[Oceanic]

For the first time ever I travelled eJ last week, and without entering into much of the vitriol written here this is an account of the journey......

Arrived Luton early for uneventful check in, proceed to gate, 20 minutes prior to ETD informed of 1 hr delay due 'operational reasons'. 1 hr later further announcement 30 minutes additional delay. Flight left 1hr 45 mins late. We were told on board by CC that delay was due to crewing and that they had not enough personnel to fill the flights. Some had been called out from other bases etc. Otherwise uneventful to Palma.....

Thursday evening return flight. Scheduled 23.50. 20 minutes prior, tannoy announcement of 2 hr delay due 'operational reasons'. Hmm ..... 2 hrs thereafter further announcement of 2 hr delay. No rep of eJ would speak to us and give any reason for the delay. The handling agents were fielding all enquiries of some very irate pax, but with no info could not help much. 40 minutes later a further announcement to say another announcement would be made shortly. 30 minutes later and we were told the inbound aircraft had arrived and would try for a 25 minute turnaround, but due 'operational reasons' we would go to Stansted, not Luton! Eventually left 5hrs 20 mins late to Stansted. Baggage took 45 minutes to come through (no ground agent) , then we were herded onto a bus and a further 1 hr 20 to Luton ( M25 traffic heavy at this time) to arrive 7 hrs after ETA. Apart from the skipper on the flight no apology ever made and it was impossible to actually talk to anyone representing eJ.

As I said it was the first (and last) trip I've made with eJ. With concessions I don't need to go low cost but we were travelling with (elderly) friends, and decided to try it. If this is the way pax are treated I'm not surprised that comments such as those elicited on this forum are provoked.

An amusing caveat is that on arriving home I was called within the hour by an agency looking for contract Captains for 4 months for their Geneva base. My response would probably be suitable only for JetBlast forum!

[Woodpidgeon]

Interesting thread. I have a house in Malaga, live in Cheshire and use Ej regularly. A quick look over the last 12 mths reciepts shows an AVERAGE of £44 outbound, £32 inbound, 1 delay, 4 instances of the flight leavin up to 15 mins early. I also travel to London by train. Invariably late, over £100 return and journey time 1hr longer. They really don't do that bad a job, and yes I am a pilot of some 20yrs and seen and done most things in my aviation career, so I ain't too green.

[DouglasDigby]

As easyJet isn’t (to the best of my knowledge) a “seasonal” or charter airline (hires in short-term contract cabin crew to cover the summer months), then why have they gone to Airline Appointments for “Urgent requirement for Cabin Crew” (6 month extendable contract)?? Must be REALLY short of crew for the bases listed on the website (LGW, STN & LTN). Still, might save a few of the taxis that go hither & thither to position crew!!:E

[Spartacan]

They have advertised in Flight this week for type rated pilots. The ad says that, if you apply in the next 3 months then you can have the base of your choice.

Are they getting desperate? Supply vs demand?

[electricblue]

Interesting to see the following additions to the easyjet recruitment website

Crew planning analyst
Crewing manager
Crewing shift managers
Crewing Team managers
Rostering officer
Rostering team manager

Talk about all at once :eek:

[In trim]

electricblue,

There has been a change in the management of the whole crewing / rostering and resource-management......for the better, I believe.

The final structure for crewing / rostering appears to have been agreed, hence the sudden wave of positions available.

In trim

[apioca]

As a pax flying EZY5185 LGWAGP on monday, I´m a getting slightly concerned.

will that flight operate at all? and by what equipment?

[Jack The Lad]

Whatever happened to Max? You could always rely on him to give you a good laff about Easy. I used to enjoy his sparing with Hamrah. Maybe Max jumped ship too?

Ham moved on and up; maybe Max has too?

[Capt.Paul Skinback]

Seems a bit mean that there is an embargo on Base Transfers due to the high workload involved,whilst at same time the Flight advert offers a choice of any Base to new recruits!

[pitotheat]

I did n't realise there was an embargo on base changes. when did that come in?

[Norman Stanley Fletcher]

All you lads and lasses flying to Malaga - get yourself on the BA website (ba.com) and you will find GB Airways offers great deals from Gatwick and Heathrow. On nearly all occasions when I have compared like with like, GB were cheaper. (I am biased but it is true - plus you get posh seats, more leg room and a meal thrown in!)

Apart from that, what is really the truth at easyJet? I am aware of a number of very experienced FOs and Captains who are looking at easyJet but are being scared off by all this negative PR. Are they about to go down the pan or is this just a little blip in life's rich tapestry? The impression given is that your man RW is so out of touch and unpopular that he has to go. Very similar to the situation that existed at BA with Bob Ayling before his departure. Rod Eddington has turned out to be very popular with the troops who see he is doing a good job in troubled times.

Time will tell, but they certainly will not be able to recruit the experienced pilots they require with publicity like this thread.

[Hamrah]

Yes,

What ever happened to Max. I wonder how he'd feel if he learned that I flew a number of easyJet sectors recently ( subbed in!)

H

[mischief afoot]

In a previous company I worked for they let a management pilot stay on to work his notice and having been denied access to email he used a fellow management pilot's email to wreak a little havoc - we did laugh ... Of course, presumably nowadays no-one at that level would leave their email unattended on account of the confidential aspects of their job.

[MAX]

I wish 'Max' would change his name. Hes giving me a bad rep.:(

MAX:cool:

A different one that is.

[stormin norman]

Heard a rumour that Fls (Who happen to do Easys maintenance)
is up for sale and in trouble.If thats so, they really are in the smelly stuff.

[khasabman]

Mad Max is alive and well but struck dumb through pressure of work:ok: :ok:

[Mad Max]

What-Ho! Chaps, somebody mention my name? Eh?

Ah now, let's see what we have here. A couple of peeps doing the mischief-making, a few other disaffected souls spreading misinformation/scurrilous scuttle-butt along with a balance of replies from the customers. The customer replies range from "I'll never fly with you again", (the daft, cut off my nose to spite my face emotional type), to "great to see EZY giving the consumer the choice they didn't have for the last 30 years!" (much more realistic IMHO).

One of the amusing things about this thread, is that there are some pilots who obviously work for EZY and who whinge about everything to do with the operation of the airline and now they are dripping on about there being so many recent changes! Incredible!? Let's face facts, after the amalgamation of the two airlines, there were bound to be too many people employed to do all the necessary jobs so some would eventually have to go.

In respect of the departure of the two ex RFMs, well this is an interesting one - their positions were made redundant in a cabinet reshuffle which coincided almost exactly with their resignations. The fact that they are going to an airline with no aeroplanes (yet), that is starting up to operate from the HQ base of one of the most successful and aggressive low-cost operators in the world, is a brave move indeed! We wish them well, they are good blokes. The remaining RFM has now been appointed as temporary acting FOM and he's a good bloke too.

It is true that the rostering/crewing depts are undergoing metamorphosis the like of which we have not seen before, but how overdue is that? Thank God somebody considers the whole thing important enough to get the adverts out in Flight Int for some really good hired help to come in. As for giving new entry pilots the base of their choice - well you've gotta put it in perspective. What we do need is plenty of type-rated boys 'n girls and also some DECs. We must get these pilots in so that the expansion may continue and the roster dept can build rosters that work well. 120 plus pilots moved base in the first few months of this year and the majority of new joiners get their first choice of base on arrival, hence the waiting lists for the bases are very small.

Atm EZY are doing CMD Courses with 8 guys per month and shortly these will increase methinks to get the left-hand seats filled - name an airline that is doing more internal Commands?

There are now 70+ lines of flying, sequenced quite closely together and when you look at the Ops Board it is a chuffing miracle that it works at all. Tens of aircraft, hundreds of sectors, thousands of employees and tens of thousands of passengers, nearly all getting to where they want to go ontime and cheaply - amazing! Oh!......and all run from a tin shed at LTN.

No, not "struck dumb" Khasabman thankyou and yes I am still here. I work with some brilliant people on the line and I love every minute of it. We have all "considered our position" over the past few years and if you are unhappy don't stay - move. I'm happy and I'm staying, end of story.

Toodle pip playmates! Max (Zero Fuel Weight) :D :D :D

[Celloistic]

I'm not 100% sure but I believed that EZY a/c were maintained by easyTech, which admittedly is a joint venture between FLS and EZY - however, FLS only owns 25% of this venture.

If this is the case then perhaps any matter regarding FLS is less significant?

[Snigs]

Ah, the good old days eh, Jack The Lad :)

[Final 3 Greens]

So Max

What is easyJet's mission at the moment? Low cost or not?

Your CEO's leader in your in flite mag doesn't tally with my experience over recent months.

I'm not an EJ knocker, but am a confused customer who is paying higher prices from STN than the 'service' levels and punctuality supports.

Also, saw 4 staff from Groundstar decline to assist with our flight last week, choosing to return to the main terminal instead. your gate staff were clearly furious and subsequently complaining loudly by 'phone .... by the time it was sorted out, we were 30 mins late, even though the flight before arrived early.

This was double not clever (a) being late and (b) letting the paying pax hear.

I admire your support of your company and upbeat approach, but have just booked my next 5 trips to Prague with CSA.

[PAXboy]

I am biased in EZYs favour - as I live only 19 (road) miles from LTN and prices would have to be VERY much lower for me to go anywhere else. That said - I have no cause for doubting my continued support, and recommendation, of them.

Of course some of their prices are high. That is the name of the game. If I knew that I needed to get to BCN and could book 364 days in advance - it would be cheaper than going next week!

Should EZY have bought GO? We will not know for sure for at least another two years. Should they have spent time looking into DBA? Probably not but I suspect that they started that process before knowing that GO was available. I sit to be corrected.

All that we are seeing is a company undergoing change. The big difference is that we can see that change happening publicly because of PPRuNe for which Many Thanks! I am given to believe that the third word in the title is Rumour?

Most other UK companies do not have a place like this - so the comments stay internal and in the pub. That is one of the aspects of the Web that we have not yet adjusted to.

I can see that for those crew and office staff that have been with the company since it's beginning may not like how things are today. That was always going to happen. Unless a company is started small with the intention of remaining small(!), then the growing pains are going to be painful. Other folk, who join the company now, may like it and - if the growth continues - find that in another five years that "Easy is not the company that I joined".

Have I been delayed by EZY in the past? Yes. Have I been delayed by BA in the past? Yes. Have I been delayed on the roads and the railways??? That is the nature of today's travel. Congestion of all pathways, coupled with a simultaneous desire to get as many journeys per day for revenue (bus/rail/plane) means that we shall have these problems for the forseeable future. All companies will continue to outource key functions to save money and that can make the line management of those functions very difficult. (I have been there, not in the airline biz but in IT). The only possibility for a carrier is to minimise the problems, as they cannot be eradicated.

Unless RW and the others bring the airline to it's knees, I shall continue to travel with them.

[Mad Max]

RW's leading sentence in this month's in- flight mag has got it spot on - there's never been a better time etc. And you yourself (Final 3 Greens) have proved it. Answer this question - without easyJet and the other low-cost carriers explosive growth into a deregulated shorthaul airline marketplace, would you (and millions of others) have access to some of the stunning good value fares on offer by the major airlines such as CSA?

Not just CSA of course but also BA, BMi, FlyBe, KLM, etc. etc. The honest answer is "No" you would not have access to this form of travel so cheaply. I am sorry that you think we are too expensive on the STN-PRG route, but that's only one route and we plan to fly >25million people this year - so I am sure you will have other opportunities to compare the price.

Yield management is not my dept I'm afraid, I assume that we pay some really good brains to work there and if we're not filling the aeroplanes then the price comes down - put in simplistic terms. From what you tell me about pricing at STN, I guess either the loads are good and/or you are booking late.

It's true to say we're not all the way home with integration of the two airlines just yet, but there are plenty of peeps working on it and in some areas/airports the whole thing is swinging along nicely. (You probably won't be seeing any of the pilots in those bases making contributions on this august forum however). As evidenced by your comments re ground handling we have still have a way to go in some areas.

RW's figures in his leading article look about right to me from what I know of our operation and his comments on routes are also true. The main thing that springs out of it for me is the difference in our business plan and that of our main competitor in the market place. We really don't think that the average passenger (business or otherwise) wants to land in a field 70 kms away from the city they're trying to visit.

Time will tell of course whether we're right or not and it will be interesting to see what becomes of the whole sector over the next decade or so. One thing's for sure, the majors have had it in shorthaul jet ops, the market has changed forever and now the consumer knows it. There's never been a better time to fly in/to Europe - maybe the lead article had a bit more truth in it than you thought Final?

Cheery Bye, Mad Max. :D :D :D There's never been a better time to fly in/to Europe

[Neo]

Apioca -

Monarch also have scheduled services to Malaga from Gatwick.

Loads are good but there may be some space if lemonSqueezy let you down. Besides, allocated seat, free meal, drinks, more room.

Why bother with easyJet at all?

[foundation digger]

MM
You obviously go along with the theory that Ryan Air operate to airports which are too far from city centres.
Where is the evidence that this is the case.

There are so many reasons people choose to travel , and I do not believe that the primary objective for many is to get to the city centre.

EasyJet has positioned itself in the marketplace with a higher cost base than ryanair by choosing to fly from less eficiently run more expensive airports. It is too late to change without a terminal scrap.

The company should concentrate on rectifying serious deficiencies in management.

One comment on you 2nd last post indicates you do not understand how poorly parts of the company function.

[Jack The Lad]

Hey Mad Max, glad to see you back!!....um, err, I think I am
:hmm:

[Final 3 Greens]

Max

I really respect your defence of your company and appreciate the tone of your reply.

I am sorry that you think we are too expensive on the STN-PRG route

I didn't say this ... I said that your fares do not support the level of service and puntuality experienced.

I'm a business traveller and tend to buy on airport location/schedule/service rather than price ... GBP230 (the highest fare I've paid recently) is perfectly okay, but the service experienced at STN recently has been ragged (okay, this can happen with any airline from time to time.)

So the message that easyJet is sending to me presently is that the cost per km ain't great and that the service on the ground/in the cabin is on a par with Ryanair, who I don't often use.

We really don't think that the average passenger (business or otherwise) wants to land in a field 70 kms away from the city they're trying to visit.

That really depends where the 70kms is, e.g. Charleroi is about 60kms from Brussels, but is quite convenient as there is door to door autoroute or the railway nearby making the transfer time to Gare du Midi around an hour - pretty good going compared to the 40 mins from Zavantem.... and the transit time through Charleroi pretty much takes away the difference, as it is a tiny airport with very fast baggage delivery. In reality STN/CRL or LCY/BRU gets me from door to door in pretty much the same time.

One thing's for sure, the majors have had it in shorthaul jet ops

I don't agree with you at all. What has happened is that the majors have got a wake up call in the area of working practices and productivity. Like the dinosaurs that some of them are, the blow to the tail does take a while to get through to the brain, but they are very large and have sharp teeth ;)

As I said in my other post, I'm not an easyJet knocker, but I am confused by the mixed messages that I am receiving presently and have switched my PRG business to CSA for Sept/Oct as a result.

Maybe you are right that there has never been a better time to fly in Europe, but the sad bottom line is that your company is not getting my business and I would genuinely prefer to keep the cash flowing to another UK organisation.

Anyway, thanks for the courteous reply and good luck.

[Pilot Pete]

I would never go to PIK if I was travelling to Glasgow....................

[PAXboy]

foundation digger EasyJet has positioned itself in the marketplace with a higher cost base than ryanair by choosing to fly from less efficiently run more expensive airports.As I understand it, MoL chooses airports that are practically empty and offers them loads of pax. When they like the idea of that - he gets them to give massive discounts or actually pay him money. Nothing wrong in that - but it is another facet and not amongst the reasons that you state.

I also understand that, having delivered you to the out of town airport, the bus into town is often run by FR? Very neat, you have to admire him and I am sure that he will lift many people. Not me but enough to allow him to beat BA, which appears to be his driving force.

As to the change in short haul jet ops? I think that it has changed for ever and the majors are going to have a problem adjusting to the smaller market. The next big change will be if the Euro greens tax jet fuel. But that's another discussion!

[foundation digger]

So P Boy What is the point
You should get a job in management

PP
You just stick with Glasgow then
I am sure MOL will be very upset with your attitude

[SOPS]

I have a question...to everyone except Ryan Air staff. I want ALL of your input, I dont care which airline you work for BIG, small. Low Cost, BIG COST, all answers are welcome, except Ryan Air. (And no offence to you Ryan people, I just dont wont you in this thred)

The question is.... Are we dissappearing down a plug hole trying to chase Ryanair? Everyone seems to be on the LOW COST BASH!! I think the facts are , we all cant do it. Yes, there is a demand for it. So I suggest, why dont we leave this stuff to MOL, let him rule the world with 1 pound fares, BUT I THINK there is another world, were people will pay more for service/ destinations/ food/ clean aircraft/what ever..maybe we should stop chasing each other "down the drain", let MOL have his fun...and get back to having a viable industry. (I mean not the one that MOL supports, one that can AFFORD to train its pilots and I could go on)

Ok Rant over

[Tom the Tenor]

...and they all lived happily ever after!

[Curious Pax]

Apologies if I'm being obtuse, but no one seems to have spotted that there are actually 3 types of carrier in the scheduled game these days, rather than full service/budget. The budget carriers actually break down into 2 categories - those that are trying to undercut the majors on matching routes (ie Easyjet, Flybe) and those that are trying to put leisure passengers somewhere near(ish) where they want to be (ie Ryanair). As such I'm not convinced that Easyjet and Ryanair are really direct competitors. Of course they have many things in common, and compete on a handful of routes, but I reckon that Ryanair aim at leisure travellers (though happy to collect any business travellers who come along) whereas Easyjet aim at a more even balance, which probably allows them to charge slightly higher average fares (as opposed to the headline fares) which covers the increased costbase of using more major airports. Easyjet then have a balancing act between charging a bit more than Ryanair, but keeping the costs low enough to undercut the majors. The bucket and spade flights they do are a bit different, as they are not competing with the majors as much as the charters (and their scheduled incarnations), but here I think they are competing on the convenience of daily flights as much as price.

As such it is sometimes hard to understand the obsession that Easyjet and Ryanair have for each others antics, but I suppose it gives their respective PR departments something to fill their day.

[Pilot Pete]

fd

nothing to do with attitude, just a personal choice about where I would fly to. If I was going to Glasgow I would want to go to Glasgow, not Ayr. Simple as that. Sure, plenty of people are happy with Ayr and then paying extra to get to Glasgow in terms of time and money, that's their choice, again nothing to do with attitude.

My last post was a simple reply to your question;

You obviously go along with the theory that Ryan Air operate to airports which are too far from city centres.Where is the evidence that this is the case?

So Glasgow was my example of where this is the case for me. So cheer up and accept that fee paying punters have opinions that may be different from your inside view.

PP

[no sponsor]

I tend to avoid travelling on any easy jet flight scheduled for later in the day, since the risks for delay are too great. I recently payed 220 GBP from STN to Edinburgh, where I was asked to help clean the cabin - to assure us of low prices in the future. Last week i paid 1200GBP to BA for a economy flight from LHR - Helsinki - LHR - EDI - LHR. I got a 'deli' bag with a bit of processed cheese from BA from LHR to Helsinki. The Finnair code-share was substantially better with a hot meal. My BA flight to Edi was four hours late, and i was offered another naff snack. I must take my hat of to the skipper and his crew who dealt with a plane full of irate passengers.

All in all, EZY are getting more expensive, BA are dumming down their service. Presumably they'll meet in the middle?

[PAXboy]

no sponsor: Perfectly put!!! We shall land up with the worst of both services... :ugh:

[Final 3 Greens]

Funnily enough, I like deli bags!

I must be the only person out there to appreciate a sandwich in lieu of a hot meal, but maybe KLM trained me into that on the STN AMS run (RIP!)

[BTB]

No Sponsor: you really are the word that ladies hate.

You were NOT asked to clean the cabin. The fast turnrounds and cheap prices are achieved by having the cabin crew clean the cabin rather than have expensive and delaying cleaning companies clean the a/c after every sector. A short domestic sector should not generate SO much rubbish. You were asked to hand in your rubbish to the crew in the descent as they came throught through the cabin rather than stuff it in the seat back or throw it on the floor like the animal you probably are. All the crew were probably doing were trying to make you aware of this. I constantly despair of pax (particularly parents) who just throw cr@p on the floor as if they lived in a midden.

Recently ( I wear four bars) I had a cabin crew into discretion on a long four sector day AGP-LTN and to try and help them out and during my cruise pa explained that they they had had a long tiring day and had to clean the a/c so would the pax please help them by handing any rubbish to them in the descent. One @rsehole father of 4 stood up in the cabin and shouted "did you `ear that! They want us to clean the plane for them" He then went around the a/c encouraging the other pax to trash the jet, which many of them did.

[Buster the Bear]

June 22, 2003

Prufock: Sugar v Easyjet, the online punch-up



IF you’re going to pick a fight it’s always best to make sure you have a good chance of winning.

This is especially true if your opponent happens to be the forthright Amstrad entrepreneur Sir Alan Sugar. But if the other party is the equally larger-than-life Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the man who started Easyjet, it’s hard to tell who might come out best.

Back in 2001 Haji-Ioannou sent a minion to Amstrad to see if Sugar’s e-mailer device could interact with Haji-Ioannou’s Easyjet website. Sugar spent a year and a reasonable amount of wedge adjusting his web browser to accommodate the Easyjet site. A meeting eventually took place in January this year at which it was agreed that a six-week trial would be run to measure the traffic to the Easyjet site.

In March, Sugar was just a little surprised to receive a letter from Steven Walker at Norton Rose threatening legal action for the “unauthorised reproduction” of the Easyjet trademark, which he claimed was copyright infringement.

Sugar wrote back saying he was surprised to get the letter: “Amstrad had gained nothing from this exercise and Easyjet has received free advertising to generate 3,400 hits and inquiries to its website.” He told Walker to “take instructions from someone at your client who knows what he or she is doing”.

Four days later Walker relented: “Our clients have no intention to commence legal proceedings . . . Easyjet is in a state of flux and . . . has made significant changes in and additions to its personnel.”

Sugar replied, sarcastically: “The terminology that ‘Easyjet is in a state of flux’ is rather generous to say the least and one only hopes they administer the maintenance and safety of their aircraft in a far more efficient and professional manner than they do their marketing department.

“You can be assured that no- body from this company will ever approach this bunch of idiots until perhaps they have been taken over or fired by people who know what they are doing.”

It’s lucky that Easyjet is not a stock-market company with thousands of investors who might be perturbed by this incompetence. Oops, it is. Round one to Sugar.

[Breeze Block]

BTB, the tw*ts you refer to are the people who pay your wages! There are obviously some problems that your management need to resolve, but please don't always expect your salary contributors to be sympathetic.

Anyone in the service industry will tell you what a pain it is dealing with customers. It's reality! And, I'm sure that someone, somewhere, must have thought what a pain in the a*rse we all are at some time.

Chill out. We're all in the same boat.

[kenoco]

You people have a saying in England"You pay peanuts,you get monkeys".

[Final 3 Greens]

BTB

Your comments are highly intemperate and offensive to me.

during my cruise pa explained that they they had had a long tiring day

Customers perception are reality and if No Sponsor and others felt they were asked to clean the aeroplane, then they were. Frankly, why should your customers care about whether your crew had worked a long day? They are paying for a service and it's irrelevant to them, although I do appreciate your concern for your team.

I have heard a similar PA many times and have taken no offence, but there you go.

However, all the 'great unwashed' pay your employers, who in turn pay you and tour crew. If enough FD/CC annoy enough passengers, then they will find alternatives and your employers business will be impacted.

It may seem that the LCA sector is invulnerable presently, but those of us who have been in business for years know that success can be a tranisent experience.

BTW, it's not just the older pax who sometines don't like the way they are treated. My 8 year old son calls easyJet 'rubbishJet' and loathes the airline.

Why? Because the first time we used easyJet a few years ago, on the return leg, our flight was cancelled after we checked in and we were literally left to sort ourselves out. Fortunately British Midland had some seats left and I had a credit card. But some of our luggage was never returned, including the case containing my son's favourite toy.

Young enemies have long memories.

[sparkymarky]

BTB might have put the case rather indelicately but I do think he has a point (and I speak purely as a passenger).

I never have a problem with being asked to help keep the aircraft tidy and CLEAN - whether it be Ryanair shorthaul or BA to Africa.

I'm often staggered by the sheer ignorance of many passengers who simply dump refuse all around themselves. They may be happy sitting in the middle of it but I'm not!

And we are not just talking budget airlines to the Costas. The business class sections on the GLA red-eyes to LHR sometimes look like the aftermath of the newpaper origami World Championships.

It's not just an airline problem, it's a societal one. We are living in a country populated by a lot of ignorant, rude, selfish people - many of whom couldn't spell 'self respect' yet alone show any.

[Gypsy]

Mad Max. To quote from your post a few days ago -

"Ah now, let's see what we have here. A couple of peeps doing the mischief-making, a few other disaffected souls spreading misinformation/scurrilous scuttle-butt along with a balance of replies from the customers."

However later in that article, your reporting of the circumstances surrounding the 2 RFM's leaving does itself seem to be scurrilous and mischievious misinformation. You suggest that they went as their positons were scrubbed - so are you suggesting that the 2 were being made redundant in the recent purge?

I need your help Max because I'm just having trouble matching your post with other information in the company particularly a notice from VHP dated 12th June concerning flight ops management restructuring. With our open culture we don't want anything but the truth do we.

[HackneyedHarry]

A little advice for my friend Mad McMax:

I've known you for fair amount of time now and have regarded you as a friend in the past but I'm afraid to say you've finally lost the 'big picture' ( and the plot or crossed the line ) and I can longer sup from the same lsd bowl that is your desire. Promote EJ for all your might but don't lie and defame as you climb the ladder as it will most surely come back to haunt you both in your career and as an individual but more importantly it will hurt the company we have put so much time and effort into over the last five to six years.
You and I know that the two men in question were never going to be demoted, it was you. Indeed one of them had been made the acting FOM the day before he resigned. I had hoped that you were a man of higher beliefs and of a decent moral standing but I stand corrected and embarrassed. I am in no doubt that your new found credentials in the art of deceit and outright bull****ting ( please excuse the simplicity ) will be embraced by whats left of the EJ manangement but please do remember it's difficult to manage a workforce that has your number and that has little or no respect. As the remaining RFM show some courage and mettle, that is so lacking in easyland at present, and begin to try and correct what you and I know are the fundamental problems that belign EJ. You've made a major blunder and may I politely suggest you apologise to the gentlemen concerned forthwith or this will turn into your watergate.

Good luck to us all in EJ because it looks like we're going to need it;
the only RFM left wears leather trousers... Ah yes the road to success......



As Ever Harry:suspect:

[Gypsy]

Well I think the lack of response from Max says it all.

[Bobby Z]

What does amuse me is that the last time EZY were looking for
crewing / rostering staff myself and 4 others who were made redundant at the time applied for jobs at the big orange. 3 of us had even been on the bloody AIMS training course, 1 of us had been with AIMS pretty much since its incarnation !!
Aparently our applications got erm lost in the internal e-mail system ! A now collegue of mine who had the misfortune of spending a few months in toytown later told me that a certain Crewing head honcho doesnt like to employ anyone that me be able to do her job better.........................sad !

Don't expect (as we have heard) the c.v.'s will be rolling in again this time round !!

Not bitter, just a bit confused !


Bob

[Priscilla Moonbeam]

Hello boys and girls,

Hope you don't mind a visit from someone who is not a pilot - although I did used to do quite a bit of flying before I was made Acting Chief Tooth Fairy. Now it's all meetings and battling with the Unions ... (the real Chief Tooth Fairy has gone very fat and can't fly at the moment).

In between organising all the teeth collections last night I was catching up with what's been happening in Pprune. I always read the easyJet stuff because I and my fellow fairies are always glad to see an orange tail fin in the night - we know we won't get run over, all of you being such excellent aviators (my compliments to the Training Dept).

I can see that being Acting Chief Tooth Fairy is obviously not half as much fun as being an RFM or an AFOM. Are there any more of these jobs about? Do you have to have an ATPL or would my thousands of fairy flying hours give me an exemption here?

Anyway, to cut to the chase, as we are all busy people (lot's of fairies off sick at the moment so the rosters are all up the swanny) I just wanted to say that I was a little surprised at Hackneyed Harry's outburst and I'm not surprised that Mad Max hasn't dignified it with a response. If HH was one of my fairies I'd be calling him in for tea and biscuits. I can only presume that HH has made an error of judgement himself about something and is now regretting it.

Good luck with your new job Max and btw, all the fairies think you look dead cute in your leather trousers ;)

Priscilla Moonbeam
Acting Chief Tooth Fairy

[Hap Hazard]

I thought that all these low cost operators were supposed to be well payed and FUN places to work......or at least thats what they told me when I attended one of their roadshows a couple of years ago

[Gypsy]

Priscilla - you really are away with the fairies aren't you? Perhaps spending too much time smoking something dodgy.

HH seems to know what went on. Mad Max, who has become astonishingly quiet on this one now, was just a bit naughty with his post on 19/6/2003 and he knows it.

Edit - I think I made an error myself - having just read Priscilla's post again, I'm not so sure that Priscilla isn't just Max with a skirt on.

[Priscilla Moonbeam]

Tut tut Hackneyed Harry, sorry I mean Gypsy - you obviously haven't realised that Tooth Fairies have a code of honour that prevents them from masquerading as someone else on Pprune.

We're not allowed to smoke either - it's bad for the teeth :}

Toodly pip,
Cills ....

[Gypsy]

Nope - you're not doing very well today as you are wrong again old girl/chap. I'm definately not HH but I'm even more convinced that you're married to Max. Pretty quick of the mark with your second post for one so new to Pprune. Where's jmc man as well - another of your friends me thinks.

It would all be so simple if Max would just come back and put the record straight wouldn't it? Perhaps a little contrition even?

[Mad Max]

The contents of my posts are factually accurate, end of story.

Hmm.....? I could elaborate on them, however that would be embarrassing for some people and I don't think that it would serve any good purpose.

Afraid I don't have much time these days for messing about on PPRuNe like I used to - informative forum that it is, sadly there is too much rubbish spouted to get too involved with it.

I don't DO "contrition" very well (especially if not culpable), but Passion....?? Now there's another thing! I'm still as passionately "up for it" as I was years ago and for that I am grateful. Like I said before I'm........."Still crazy after all these years!" (put your own tune to it).

Cheery Pie. Maximus Extremetis. :D :D :D

[Fifty Above]

......so just to be absolutely sure we're not misunderstanding you Mad Max, the two RFM's management positions were redundant were they? You're absolutely sure about that? Because I'm going to ask one of them later, so if you've been telling porkie-pies I'm gonna have to tell everybody........

[Gypsy]

Welcome back Max after your weekend with the fairies. I expect we're all getting a bit bored with this now so time to move on. On 19th June you wrote -

"Let's face facts, after the amalgamation of the two airlines, there were bound to be too many people employed to do all the necessary jobs so some would eventually have to go.

In respect of the departure of the two ex RFMs, well this is an interesting one - their positions were made redundant in a cabinet reshuffle which coincided almost exactly with their resignations. The fact that they are going to an airline with no aeroplanes (yet), that is starting up to operate from the HQ base of one of the most successful and aggressive low-cost operators in the world, is a brave move indeed! We wish them well, they are good blokes. The remaining RFM has now been appointed as temporary acting FOM and he's a good bloke too."

The disappointing bit is that in response to a thread with a potentially negative title for your company, your posting made the suggestion that there were too many people anyway and tied that with a hint that the 2 resignees jumped as they were going to be pushed. You know that this is not correct and that one of the 2 had been made Acting Flight Operations Manager a few days earlier, and that both resignations were positive career choices. Most companies would view 2 of their 3 Fleet Managers resigning to join a competitor as a bit of a blow.

I suppose this thread highlights the pitfalls of using pseudonyms for quasi management purposes. Anyway good luck with the new job. Regards to Priscilla and jmc-man but don't spend too much time talking with the fairies.

[Mad Max]

I'm not the one who's sending emails to Fairies mate - think about it.........

Yours, Max. :D :D :D