Low Cost Carriers…who is the best ?

[manflexsrsrwy]

Hi Guys, was curious as to what is going on in other EUROPEAN BASED carriers…
who is paying the best salary, rosters , time to upgrade etc?

any one care to contribute, it will be much appreciated

[Count of Monte Bisto]

In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is King. On that basis, given the awfulness of all the rest, it has to be easyJet.

[TRY2FLY]

Think easyjet is best for crews at the moment

[737 Jockey]

Depends on the individual situation I guess, but my opinion is EasyJet for cadets and Norwegian for experienced pilots.

[4redsyourdead]

As a pilot for the competition I would say definitely easyjet or Norwegian at the moment.

[CaptainProp]

....and from what I hear that's not a happy ship either....

[Aluminium shuffler]

All three have big issues - for a start, none of them will commit to allocating a base until you finish training, which is appalling; they know where the slots are available and so could recruit for bases, but their attitude is that we should be so pathetically grateful to earn them so much money that we should be willing to take the lottery on being based on the wrong end of the continent away fro family. If that isn't a big enough indicator of their contempt for individuals, then the fact that all three will take you as a contractor rather than employee, thus compelling you to fly when ill and never challenge any order because you have no employee rights or protection should ring alarm bells. AT least NAS and EZY have union systems, which is why their conditions are better, and the Norwegian union seems pretty tough too, unlike the scared BALPA pussycat.

In a nutshell, keep away from Locos if you can, though admittedly they are better than unemployment.

[sellect]

AS

That is not correct, I knew my base long before joining NAS.
Personally I think, NAS offers the best overall package, if you can stand living in scandi-land, if not then Easy..

[Lord Spandex Masher]

...if you like working hard.

[LNIDA]

NAS still pay you when your sick, i know a few who have had several weeks off during their first year, never a problem with money.

Basing is an issue for some, but part of the problem is that from DOJ to released on line is normally over 3 months and with Norwegian's growth a lot changes, they do make commuting fairly painless.

[ROSCO328]

LHS, Home base, early 30's, 125k a year. EJ takes some beating for me!

[OPEN DES]

What is your definition of the best? Money is not everything obviously.
The others don't even come close to easyJet in terms of salary and conditions.
EZY 150-180k euro/yr in Europe for LHS plus pensions etc..
NAS offers 8888 euro/mth to LHS contractors if I am not mistaken, quite a difference.
RYR guys get paid by scheduled block hour, or permanent contract for the 'old' guys.
Vueling basic salaries are much lower than EZY however have a large variable flightpay.
Wizzair I won't even mention.

[Callsign Kilo]

If you joined in the last 3 years or so, time to command in Ryanair is probably the shortest. DECs and cadets get hit with the usual Brookfield/Storm dross. CUs are being moved to permanent contracts. Similar cash to Jet2.

I'm pretty convinced Easy has the best contracts, but like everyone else, I'm sure t&cs have went downwards, not upwards. Cadet contracts are a shambles.

NAS is the new bubble, with hordes of RYR guys heading there. The verdict is still out in my opinion.

Jet2 seems a pleasant enough bunch to work for. Not a world beater in terms of money, but a UK base and 9/10, a permanent deal. I don't think these guys work anywhere near as hard as Ryanair, Easyjet or NAS crew?

[ManUtd1999]

From an outsiders point of view, surely Jet2 is up there? Granted the money's probably not as good, but there is none of this flexicrew nonsense, permanent contracts (for the majority), UK bases, profitable, expanding company=good job security, reputation for being a pleasant place to work etc

[truckflyer]

With NAS you are not a contractor like with other LoCo's.

You are employed by the agency, they will pay all your taxes etc., and that's also why you get sick pay.

The new deal the union agreed on, was that you should be offered a core contract within 2 years.

It's quite tidy, but what would you expect from Europeas wealthiest country?

[Monde]

Not true Rosco . No way are you early 30's....

[captplaystation]

truckflyer,
a bit of an over -optimistic / over -simplification there I am afraid. What has been agreed is that a permanent contract will be offered with a "wholly owned" company affiliated to NAS within 2 years , extendable, subject to certain caveats , to 3 (already 3 for the HEL guys in March) As for being "employed" by the agency , yeah, that sounded nice for NAS in the Norwegian press, but the reality is a little more "cloudy", with the agencies varying from "a few" to "overcast".

OPEN DES, Current contractor payment is not 8888€, it is 8884 + 17€/block hr before tax (count on 750hr/year) uniforms /medicals/crewfood etc provided.

No-one has seen one of these contracts, nor identified who/what the "wholly owned affiliate" will be. . . we will find out in March if/when the HEL based guys receive the proposition. . . but, it is assuredly not a "CORE CONTRACT" as dick byrne suggested.

I know quite a few folk who have been d1cked around by Jet2 in terms of what contract they were offered in year 1, & then subsequently the year after, I have heard only bad about the HR Dept, who seem to wield a disproportienatly large stick in this company where crew are concerned .

Ryanair, I couldn't possibly comment except to say that if they wish to crew their future purchases, & the RPG can achieve something, it will (should) get better.

Vueling is, like Wizzair, a joke in terms of payment offered to be a Jet Transport crew member.

Never worked for them, but I am guessing Easy are leading (or are rather, last ) in "the race to the bottom".

[mach85]

Take it easy Dick Byrne.

Don't think CAPT PS was having a dig at you, just confirming the facts for all that are reading, thats all.

This was an informative(ish) thread. Lets keep it that way.

[truckflyer]

Wasn't it agreed that all bases abroad also would be offered core contracts? Spain and UK? Or have I missed something?

From what I understand Arpi is making it very tidy, the pilots are NOT self-employed.

From what I understand they are employed by Arpi, and all their paper work is done properly, compared to many other LoCo's

My experience as a passenger with Norwegian is a few levels above the LoCo trash out there

[go around flaps15]

Core contracts apply for Sweden, Noway, and Denmark only. It was agreed that permanent contracts would be offered in the UK and Spain in wholly owned affiliates such as Norwegian UK,Norwegian Spain or something to that effect.

The litmus test will be in HEL base when the first of these permanent contracts will be offered in March/April time.