easyJet buys GB Airways
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I Just Drive
Note my previous comments.
This is a very different beast to RYR.
I had friends that worked for 'Buzz' (and for those that were still there, please correct me) legand has it that those very well trained Cabin Crew asked the question about cabin service and got the reply 'that we charge for everything on board, you can give 'them' a blow job as long as they pay for it!
I stand to be corrected, because I wasn't there, just heresay, but if true, would give an indication of the leadership of said Airline.
Again, EZY is a good place to be, which I think is highlighted by the many positive comments on this thread.
Note my previous comments.
This is a very different beast to RYR.
I had friends that worked for 'Buzz' (and for those that were still there, please correct me) legand has it that those very well trained Cabin Crew asked the question about cabin service and got the reply 'that we charge for everything on board, you can give 'them' a blow job as long as they pay for it!
I stand to be corrected, because I wasn't there, just heresay, but if true, would give an indication of the leadership of said Airline.
Again, EZY is a good place to be, which I think is highlighted by the many positive comments on this thread.
Join Date: Jul 2001
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Since a major falling out with 'The Management', I rarely frequent PPRUNE these days. Nonetheless, I felt I would briefly return to add my welcome to that of others for our new colleagues from GB. I am a former GB pilot who now flies for easyJet, and am therefore reasonably well qualified to make an accurate comparison between the two companies. There are a couple of slightly negative posts here, as is always the case, and it is inevitable people will feel somewhat anxious at a moment such as this. I would not knock GB in any way but my assessment, for what it's worth, is that easyJet is a much better place to work. Here is my take on it -
Advantages of GB:
1. 775 hours per year.
2. Private healthcare.
3. BA Staff travel (not anything like as good as people like to think).
4. 14.5% pension.
5. Club platters with posh plates!
6. Free newspapers!
Advantages of easyJet:
1. 5/3/5/4 rostering - Trust me, a HUGE benefit and this alone is worth moving for!
2. Better pay overall (you have to be an 11 year Captain at GB to earn more and that includes all benefits above in the package).
3. Better flying - I personally much prefer a 4-sector easyJet day to a Tenerife or Paphos!
4. Better routes - easyJet have a massive range of destinations that just keeps growing.
5. Better aircraft - really new aircraft and the LPC is so much easier than paper perf calcs!
6. Better SOPs - the dreaded monitored approach is gone among other things.
7. Great people to work with. Not to knock GB but the people are one of the massive advantages. There is a genuine friendliness about easyJet that is very infectious.
8. Huge range of bases including several in Europe to live at if you want.
9. Job security - this is about as safe as any airline can be.
10. Annual duty limited to 1880 hours which corresponds to 40 hours per week tops. In reality most LGW pilots fly about 780-850 hours per year and do not work that upper duty limit.
11. Virtually no through-the-night flying - but with you boys about to join us that may all be about to change!
12. Share options and schemes which are turning out to be very lucrative.
13. We have all just been given £3k worth of free shares!
14. Simulator at Burgess Hill instead of Heathrow!
To all those at GB who think this is some sort of disaster, I just want to re-assure you it is not. GB were a great company but easyJet has a huge amount to offer. You would be very hard put to find a better place to work right now than easyJet at Gatwick. I think all of us at Gatwick are delighted to see you join us. I really believe that if you go in with the attitude that you are going to make it work, you will be very pleasantly surprised at how good the future will look like. I genuinely hope that in a few months time you will see this as a blessing in disguise.
Advantages of GB:
1. 775 hours per year.
2. Private healthcare.
3. BA Staff travel (not anything like as good as people like to think).
4. 14.5% pension.
5. Club platters with posh plates!
6. Free newspapers!
Advantages of easyJet:
1. 5/3/5/4 rostering - Trust me, a HUGE benefit and this alone is worth moving for!
2. Better pay overall (you have to be an 11 year Captain at GB to earn more and that includes all benefits above in the package).
3. Better flying - I personally much prefer a 4-sector easyJet day to a Tenerife or Paphos!
4. Better routes - easyJet have a massive range of destinations that just keeps growing.
5. Better aircraft - really new aircraft and the LPC is so much easier than paper perf calcs!
6. Better SOPs - the dreaded monitored approach is gone among other things.
7. Great people to work with. Not to knock GB but the people are one of the massive advantages. There is a genuine friendliness about easyJet that is very infectious.
8. Huge range of bases including several in Europe to live at if you want.
9. Job security - this is about as safe as any airline can be.
10. Annual duty limited to 1880 hours which corresponds to 40 hours per week tops. In reality most LGW pilots fly about 780-850 hours per year and do not work that upper duty limit.
11. Virtually no through-the-night flying - but with you boys about to join us that may all be about to change!
12. Share options and schemes which are turning out to be very lucrative.
13. We have all just been given £3k worth of free shares!
14. Simulator at Burgess Hill instead of Heathrow!
To all those at GB who think this is some sort of disaster, I just want to re-assure you it is not. GB were a great company but easyJet has a huge amount to offer. You would be very hard put to find a better place to work right now than easyJet at Gatwick. I think all of us at Gatwick are delighted to see you join us. I really believe that if you go in with the attitude that you are going to make it work, you will be very pleasantly surprised at how good the future will look like. I genuinely hope that in a few months time you will see this as a blessing in disguise.
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Norman
Thanks for your upbeat welcome.
GB been going down the pan since Johnny Vegas days. He relied heavily on the BA model which would never work for us and our future growth was stifled by BA. Thanks Johnny
We have all been concerned for at least 3 years now since AP was forced to resign because he had some "vision" and most of all respect from the troops.
People are understandably suspicious of change but I think as a whole, relieved to see the back of BA. As in my previous post, WW has announced they are to take us on, on the routes we already operate. Let's work together and put them out of business.
Look forward to catching up with you.
Thanks for your upbeat welcome.
GB been going down the pan since Johnny Vegas days. He relied heavily on the BA model which would never work for us and our future growth was stifled by BA. Thanks Johnny
We have all been concerned for at least 3 years now since AP was forced to resign because he had some "vision" and most of all respect from the troops.
People are understandably suspicious of change but I think as a whole, relieved to see the back of BA. As in my previous post, WW has announced they are to take us on, on the routes we already operate. Let's work together and put them out of business.
Look forward to catching up with you.
Is it just me or does £103.5m for a (presumably) reasonably successful operation, 15 A320/321s, staff etc etc, not to mention the LGW slots, seem like a suspiciously good deal?
BUT, 15 good aircraft, staff, 50 plus years of goodwill all for £100m, did someone whisper bargain...
Therefore on a balance sheet the aircraft would probably not appear as "Assets" but as "Liabilities" because of the leasing contract.
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NSF -as ever a sensible and informative post. GB is/was great but times change and we have all been concerned about the future; now we know - at least we will be keeping our jobs and like you say most will benefit. It is in the office that there will be the most concern and there will have to be redundancies, i reckon that most of our older cabin crew will also leave. We all hoped that BA would buy us but it rapidly became obvious that WW wasn't interested, now lets all work hard to make easy the biggest uk airline and watch them struggle to compete as they restart their own AGP and other services. Staff travel with BA is much overrated, the pension will be a blow but i wasn't expecting the Pru scheme to sustain me in old age. I hope that our date of joining GB will be used on entry to Easy - as per GO employees (i am led to believe), and think that will ameliorate most concerns. I personally think that night flights will creep into easy now on the canaries and cyprus routes but doubt if SSH and HRG will stay in the schedule. Do you think that GIB and FNC will stay?
I have had some excellent years at GB and remember when you 'jumped ship', looking forward to becoming orange and working with you all and thank you to everyone for their positive and welcoming posts. The future looks bright.
I have had some excellent years at GB and remember when you 'jumped ship', looking forward to becoming orange and working with you all and thank you to everyone for their positive and welcoming posts. The future looks bright.
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Reality check please!
Norman, most of your 'advantages' of easyJet over GB are a bit inflated and are very personal to say the least.
Some people prefer 2 longer (less hassle/turn arounds) sectors, others (although not many) want to prefer 6 short sectors. It's very personal, hardly an "advantage" of eJ.
Check online with BALPA (if you are a member...) and see how people get screwed when transfering to MAD. Please look into the various problems concerning EU bases (MXP, ORY, SXF, DTM) a bit more before making these kind of 'orange statements.' Perhaps volunteer for some nightstops at these bases and see and hear with your own eyes and ears how bitter and tense the mood at these bases is...
Yeah but we can only get them in 3 years from now. How ironic is that? So basically you work your @ss off in 2007 and you might get rewarded in 2010 if you stay and if the share price is equal to or higher than that of Oct 2007. Didn't AH cash in 900K worth of share options recently? And how long has he been with eJ? >3 years? Obviously some animals are more equal than others. 
And you even manage to put a negative spin on some of the GB advantages:
Norman, why don't you tell the PPRuNe audience about the absurd "staff travel" prices that eJ employees have to pay if they want to travel on their own airline?
It's nice to see that you've got some of the orange spirit back again. As the saying goes: "beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder." Some only want to see the positive things and like to fantasize about share options that might be worth something in 3 years or sipping piña coladas in on a beach based in AGP, others try to see the full picture.
3. Better flying - I personally much prefer a 4-sector easyJet day to a Tenerife or Paphos!
4. Better routes - easyJet have a massive range of destinations that just keeps growing.
4. Better routes - easyJet have a massive range of destinations that just keeps growing.
8. Huge range of bases including several in Europe to live at if you want.
13. We have all just been given £3k worth of free shares!
And you even manage to put a negative spin on some of the GB advantages:
3. BA Staff travel (not anything like as good as people like to think).
Since a major falling out with 'The Management', I rarely frequent PPRUNE these days.
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I would like to jump on the band wagon and add my welcome to all at GB. I joined EZY 4 months ago from FCA based at LGW, and I must say it has been everything I hoped for. The big player for me was the 5/3/5/4 (ask my wife) The ability to plan ones life months in advence is priceless. I will not harp on forever as all the +'s(and -'s, of which are very few) have already been posted.Looking forward to meeting you all.
Chopper69, I flew often with buzz and the charming cabin crew indeed provided an excellent in-flight service. The acceptable face of low-cost flying.
Although I never checked the precise 'service' you describe.....
Good luck to all involved.
Although I never checked the precise 'service' you describe.....
Good luck to all involved.
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Presumably there's room over in Gatwick South Terminal for the ex GB passengers and aircraft ?
I thought the BAA plan at Gatwick was to decant someone out of South over to North in order to free up some space for "refurbishment and development" of South. Does this change of ownership help or hinder this idea, or just present "fresh opportunities" ?
I thought the BAA plan at Gatwick was to decant someone out of South over to North in order to free up some space for "refurbishment and development" of South. Does this change of ownership help or hinder this idea, or just present "fresh opportunities" ?
Join Date: Jul 2001
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Doug - 'The Management' I fell out with was the management of PPRUNE and not easyJet!
I realise that you are not a big easyJet fan, as is your right, and as a fully fledged BALPA Member (who voted 'NO' by the way!) I am in no doubt as to the challenges that face us overseas. I also have to say that your somewhat negative take on easyJet is an increasingly minority view - but that does not mean that there are not battles to be fought. Nonetheless, I think I am in a reasonably informed position to compare the two companies. Notwithstanding the valid points you make, albeit with a slightly more negative view than my own, I still believe easyJet is a great place to be right now - particularly at Gatwick. As one of a handful of people who have worked for both companies I also stand by my view that overall this is a better place to work than GB. That is not in any way to knock GB, who were very good to me, but on balance easyJet is better.
Incidentally, you still pay for BA staff travel - it is not free. It is perfectly possible to pay 20 quid single including taxes on easyJet staff travel on any of our routes. It is not free, but is not bad either.
Anyway, the good folks at GB must make up their minds. They will be most welcome here and we will then see if BA are able to fight us. I have no doubt we will go head-to-head with BA on nearly all their routes and there can only be one winner - us!
I realise that you are not a big easyJet fan, as is your right, and as a fully fledged BALPA Member (who voted 'NO' by the way!) I am in no doubt as to the challenges that face us overseas. I also have to say that your somewhat negative take on easyJet is an increasingly minority view - but that does not mean that there are not battles to be fought. Nonetheless, I think I am in a reasonably informed position to compare the two companies. Notwithstanding the valid points you make, albeit with a slightly more negative view than my own, I still believe easyJet is a great place to be right now - particularly at Gatwick. As one of a handful of people who have worked for both companies I also stand by my view that overall this is a better place to work than GB. That is not in any way to knock GB, who were very good to me, but on balance easyJet is better.
Incidentally, you still pay for BA staff travel - it is not free. It is perfectly possible to pay 20 quid single including taxes on easyJet staff travel on any of our routes. It is not free, but is not bad either.
Anyway, the good folks at GB must make up their minds. They will be most welcome here and we will then see if BA are able to fight us. I have no doubt we will go head-to-head with BA on nearly all their routes and there can only be one winner - us!
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To all the GB crew who provide such excellent service in the cabin...best of luck. The difference between Club service from GB and BA mainline (especially from LGW) is like night and day.
Oh well, it's back to clapped out 737s and uninterested BA crew to Faro. And no more champagne from full sized bottles!
Oh well, it's back to clapped out 737s and uninterested BA crew to Faro. And no more champagne from full sized bottles!
I'ts great to hear from you again Norman. I thought the long silence meant that you'd been repatriated to the homeland under the early release scheme!
Joking apart, many thanks for your encouraging comparison between the two companies from a unique personal viewpoint, having worked for both of them.
Thanks also to you and other colleagues for your warm words of welcome.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon.
Joking apart, many thanks for your encouraging comparison between the two companies from a unique personal viewpoint, having worked for both of them.
Thanks also to you and other colleagues for your warm words of welcome.
Looking forward to seeing you all soon.
ENTREPPRUNEUR
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Has anyone got any theories as to why GB sold out? - I don't think I've seen any here or elsewhere. I would have thought renegotiations on the BA franchise would be the most likely candidate.
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EZy
As a regular passenger on both easyjet and GB I can only agree that high standards are a quality of both operations. However There are many passengers who will be reassured that BA will continue to provide the extras that make my flights more relaxing ie prebooking of seats, better legroom and some refreshment included. GB are often less costly than easyjet to Malaga where I travel to most often and the statement from both BA and Easyjet that customers will not be affected rings distinctly hollow.
Still, reading your comments can I wish all well, I have no doubt Easyjet is a good employer as any are these days. Just continue to give us paying passengers a choice.
Still, reading your comments can I wish all well, I have no doubt Easyjet is a good employer as any are these days. Just continue to give us paying passengers a choice.