Nearly Man

Anyone had this letter sent to them from Jet2 about low sectors during Winter and unpaid leave?

pilothouse

It's on the back of the latest Manchester Base Captain's newsletter. The offer is to take unpaid leave or to jobshare during the winter months. The point of contact is initially the Manchester Base Captain. Not sure if it's open to other bases.

The great thing is, on our pay rates you don't lose much if you take unpaid leave! One complication I've thought of is that it creates a mismatch between the CTRS payscale and the CTC repayments that we receive.

Johnny F@rt Pants

Not yet, but what's your point??? Are you trying to stir things up??

We fly a greatly reduced number of sectors through the winter, which means that we are over crewed during this period. This will give those wishing to take extended holidays during this period the opportunity to do so.

Regards

JFP

pilothouse

Johnny, I'm not sure who you are replying to.

I'm all in favour and certainly not trying to stir. My reference to a pay mismatch is no more that a slight concern that sorting out the money may lead to a complication. If you take a month off, maybe you get repaid over three years one month rather than three years?

Honest Fr@nk

Hello Johnny Farty Pants. How are you, you old flatulent air biscuit.

One of our guys took unpaid leave to join another operator to build his ours, so he can come back with enough for consideration for command. I dont think the company knew what his plans were when he asked for the leave, but good on him.

Nearly Man

People like Cook and First Choice give you the chance to go off on half pay I think!
I'm only asking as I was told about this yesterday and am moving to Manchester base on the 757. How many flights a month for the individual does this jobshare amount to?

pilothouse

Maybe it's half pay because you agree not to fly for anyone else, thus preserving your annual hours total for your main employer.

Unpaid leave at Jet2 would presumably let you go and fly elsewhere? Jobshare could be different because you effectively have a temporary half-pay job rather than no job.

Nearly Man

Ok thanks Pilothouse. I'll have a snout about when I get there!

Norman Stanley Fletcher

Loathesome as I find Jet2, I have to say that this is a non-issue. Many European airlines offer unpaid leave every winter to their pilots and this does not mean the company is about to go under. As easyJet have demonstrated yesterday by posting their worst ever winter losses but promising their best ever profits for the whole year, companies make all their money in the Summer. Most training occurs over the winter and with less flights being flown generally there are always too many line pilots. Unpaid leave is just a beancounter's way of fleecing pilots - reduced salary for 2 months off but 900hours flying in the other 10!

pilothouse

.........except that unlike you we don't do 900 hours.


"a non-issue...........does not mean the company is about to go under........"
Are you trying to make this into an issue by any chance?

me109

Hi all ,
Just wondering , if you opt for this unpaid leave in the winter and decide to take a contract with another operator , would the company have a problem with this?
My understanding would be that , because you are not being paid , either via a retainer or otherwise , you should be allowed to fly .
However , out of common manners , perhaps you should inform the company of your intentions and expected number of hours to be flown while you are on contract .

pilothouse

It would be hard to justify any flying restrictions if there's zero pay.

I think you would be wise to put all your cards on the table right from the start because you wouldn't want any nasty surprises later, would you? And yes, common courtesy does still matter.

Johnny F@rt Pants

Hello mate,

I was replying to the original post, we must have crossed.

Like everyone says, it's a non event, and a way of reducing overheads if possible. There's nothing compulsory, it's purely voluntary if you want it.

JFP

Ardacre

What about the SSTR loan repayments? Are we expected to fund these repayments ourselves? Or are Jet2 going to pay whilst we are on unpaid leave?

Very interesting times to come and I bet it all falls in their favour.

sleepy head

For info; (Until I left 15 months ago), you could fly elsewhere on winter half paid leave at Thomas Cook. The only restriction was you were not limited to 800 hrs p.a. like full time employees, which is fair enough I reckon.

aileron

FCA pay 1/3 salary for time off in the Winter, full pension paid and no loss to any other benefits.

And the best bit is you can fly for someone else at the same time. or just spend time with the family.