Revised Pay Offer to easyJet Pilots - April 2006
 

A new pay offer has been received for easyJet pilots which is basically a return to the 'old scheme' prior to the last pay offer. The headline of the deal on offer is a 10% overall increase over 2 years as follows:

Basic pay increased by 4% backdated to 1 Oct 2005.
Pension effectively increased by 2% to 9% backdated to 1 Oct 2005 (or you can take it in your pay instead).
Further basic pay increase of 4% from 1 Oct 2006.
Sector Pay increased by 6% now (backdated to last Oct & a further 4% in Oct 2006).
Re-introduction of 5% gross loyalty bonuses for FOs after 3 years' service.
FOs on frozen ATPL able to get LPC early to enable pay rise through promotion to SFO.

As far as I know, this is the best pay deal offered to any UK airline this year I and will be voting Yes - over to everyone else!


Edited to add in the sector pay and to correct percentage!

Sector Pay increases as well by 4% respectively.

Fair deal in my opinion. :)

Agree with the above. At least I understand this offer.... I think:confused:

its not bad but still slightly off the mark for me. Balpa membership is as high as it will probably ever will be now. I think we could squeeze a little more.

cartman,

Maybe if it were January. The company has successfuly delayed things till almost May, so I think most people will take it. All in all it's a fair enough offer to satisfy MOST existing pilots, but it wont be enough to stop people leaving or to attract the type-rated pilots we so desperatly need.

Not so sure. Was chatting to a pilot mate in GB airways who said he was looking at coming to easyJet if the deal was 10% over 2 years and an agreement was reached on rostering.

I have done a bit of a straw poll in the LGW crewroom today and spoken to people with a wide range of opinions. Everyone I spoke to said they would vote 'Yes'. It seems to me that this is going to go through with quite a substantial majority. Informed rumour has it that easyJet now has just under 80% BALPA membership (I cannot verify that but I have every reason to believe it is true). The results are there for all to see - having started with BALPA membership less than 50% and a derisory offer of a pay freeze for our European bases and a pay rise less than inflation for the UK bases, we have just had a 10% offer over 2 years.

For those of you interested in facts and figures, my spreadsheet calculations tell me that a captain after 2 years service and therefore in receipt of the 5% 'loyalty bonus', flying 500 sectors per year, will by October be earning £92,900 gross per annum. (That figure is calculated by grossing up all sector pay and assumes 12 ASBYs per year.) It is not as good as Virgin or BA but it is still a pretty reasonable deal. When compared to Ryanair for example who have no pension or anything else for that matter, I think we are now better paid than they are.

There is no doubt in my mind that this pay deal will be voted through. Our excellent CC are now in a big battle over the far more pressing issues universally described as 'lifestyle' within the company. Issues up for grabs include 5/2-5/4 rostering, base transfer policy, TRSS, Direct Entry Commands, European base pay scales, seniority lists and so forth. No one is under any illusion how difficult these negotiations may prove to be, but we should nonetheless be quietly pleased at the small but steady progress we are seeing in turning this airline into a 'great place to work'. As a late arrival into the ranks of BALPA, I for one am extremely grateful for the hard work and dedication of our CC throughout the stressful negotiations of the last few months.

Great to hear about the improved pay deal. Let's just hope the rostering gets figured out. I still thank that is a major impediment to bringing on new pilots that Easy will need for growth. If they can show improvement on that end Easy will surely benefit from lower pilot attrition and better pilots hired.

Only thing that is not correct from the above is that the sector pay increase is 6% now and 4% in October, which is the same increases on basic, all be it with a little bit of smoke and mirrors on this year ie 4% on salary and 2% on pension, it should be noted that this 2% is the individuals pension contribution and NOT the companies, and Pilots can choose wether to have this 2% in their pocket or in their pension, either way its 6% on salary this year.

Rgds

ED

Full marks to our BALPA cc. Sadly this has shown us the only way to deal with easyJet is unity.

We are still along way off being paid what we deserve (10% or more on pensions) etc. But this is a good start.

Now for the 4 on 4 off fight.......

:cool:

Well, the rumours were true then. For me personally this is a fair deal. Exactly what I was hoping to see (see one of my previous posts on the NO vote thread). I will be voting yes......as long as they don't make us sign a deal that incorperates rostering into this as well (then I would need to look into it).

Yes vote from me based on the current statements.

I think demanding more than this is being greedy...just a personal opinion.


Bbow

The deal is rubbish!
People will vote yes because it is slightly better than the previous one, 10% sounds like a good number, and we are fed up of waiting. But is the deal make easyjet a carreer airline?
The pension issue had not been adressed at all! It was one of the priority, though.
The company is probably putting less money is this deal than on the previous proposal.
If the membership is so high (80% said NSF), we could do much better than that. It is now or never.

ACM

On the button ACM after all this time a poor deal.

A no vote from me.

Whilst I share your sentiments ACM what would we go to Stage 3 for exactly? The pay 6% (or 4% salary & 2% pension) this year and 4% next year is reasonable. I would like to see at least 5% on pension but is it worth striking for an extra 3%?

Personally I'd rather gain another 2 or 3% on pension in the Oct 07 negotiations.

We have a more immediate battle to win to make this airline sustainable and that is rostering. In survey after survey which BALPA did rostering came out as the number one problem that need addressing so why are we getting all bothered by the pay? It's reasonable, not brilliant, but ok.

A Captain under the new deal earns £91k + which I think is a fantastic salary. You can add 7% onto that for the company's pension contribution.

I fail to see the point of taking the pay talks further when we really have a bigger lifestyle goal ahead of rostering. I'll buy the bbq's for the picket line when it comes around to those negotiations......

The pension was a priority if I remember correctly. We are not getting anything here. Make the calculation yourself and you'll see how much money every month the company will put on the table: 23 pound/month for a Captain. Everybody was shouting that pension should not be less than 15% and we did'nt manage to get at least 9 or 8% ! (without giving up pay rise or crew food).
10% payrise over 2 years is not that bad, but pension are ridiculously and dangerously low. We're back in the pattern wher the company give something in one hand and take away (nearly) in the other. it's a half bake deal, as usual.
I don't like strike but we should push more when we have the strenght to do so.
I am a proud Balpa member for the last 8 years. I won't be anymore if this deal go through. And I probably go work somewhere else in the red hot pilot market.
We have big mouth and no balls. vote NO.

(again make the calculation carefully: on the previous offer, fo 500 sectors and with the minimum bonus, I would take 510 pound more per year. This new offer is just the same thing in a more simple and attractive package)

what is the sectorpay increase? 6% this year and 4% next year? or 4% and 4%?

Just to clarify that the proposed increase in sector pay is 6% now (backdated to last October) and 4% in October 2006.

On first viewing of this pay offer I thought it was OK: I can't complain about what I am paid at eJ, and this does a bit to bring back what has been whittled away by inflation over recent years.

But I do wonder why the loyalty pay built into basic (which would have improved the pension and LOL) has been taken off the table. As someone else said, this is now just 0.5 % over on pay and 1% over on pension, on the last offering. Why is this so great? (but it's not bad), have we all just lost interest? Having loyalty pay incorporated in pensions would have taken it off the table where the company has been trying to shoot it at every opportunity.

eJ needs to address pensions for all it's employees, I think that is why they are so reluctant to open this can of worms by moving above the 7% mark.

From my vantage point all I can see is the DEC sitting on the LHS and command courses being cancelled (gossip or true - not sure). eJ are desparately understaffed and this summer is already beyond repair.

What I need from this company is a little mutual respect and transparency in the command process, no DECs, transparent base transfers (or better no transfers at all for new captains) Why should I have to leave my base and uproot my life, for a command, to have my space taken by a DEC.

I appreciate the loyalty bonus is being reinstated for FOs, but what I really need from this company is some loyalty to me. :{

Easyjet offer
 

I don't have a dog in the hunt so to speak and I really have not followed this that closely but I'll offer something based on what I've seen personally.
If you guys have had a really good improvement in the offer and it seems that this is true due to membership solidarity backing your reps - take the deal. Consolidate your gains and get ready for the next round. If you are in it for the long term, think that way. 2 or 3 contract rounds with real gains each time adds up.
More than one group (see Fedex pilots) has done themselves in by pushing for more and then lossing the support of a portion of the membership. Once that happens the management has you divided and you are in trouble.
Good luck with it.
20driver

Acm, You are right about the pensions...it sucks. BUT, the rest looks all fine to me. The loyalty bonus should be added to basic though, I agree with that.

I have to disagree with your statement about this deal being the same as the previous one. I will gain significantly more than 510 pounds per year on this new deal. Would you care to show us your calculations? Perhaps I've overlooked something on mine. Are you a F/O? TRSS? how many years in company?

I have 18 yrs to retirement on peanuts as things stand. It ain't good enough. I'm tired of being patronised by management euphenisms about how this company is a career airline. Until they show serious intentions my vote is no.

Correct me if I am wrong, but in this new pay deal the loyalty bonus is combined with an escape route ?

Quote: "All captains will be paid a lump sum loyalty bonus on the second and subsequent anniversaries of joining the company in accordance with the table below, provided the company was in profit on the previous 30th september "

I don't like the last part, do you ?
So this has to be adressed.

For the F/O's loyalty bonus, it's the same !!

I quite agree. The idea was to set out to make easy a career airline in both terms of pay and lifestyle.

The pay side of things was generally thought by everyone ( including myself ) to mean a decent pension and an incremental pay scale.

Why are so many people seemingly giving up when neither of these two have been achieved??
All they have given back are things they took away from us a year or so ago...So back to stage one. No great achievement in my book.

The negotiations over roster etc are forthcoming but don't give up on this yet.
Vote NO!

although this deal represents an improvement on previous, i don't think the pension element is anywhere close to what should secure a yes vote. But unfortunately apathy seems to be setting in. Standing by to repent at leisure (as usual).

The caveat on loyalty bonus is the same as currently exists and, I'm pretty sure, always has done.

The company had to be £1 in profit to pay out the whole bonus.

Can't remember when it wasn't paid!!

Has the BALPA CC formally recommended the deal to us? I don't see where they have.

Looks like a free vote with no recommendations.

Good idea I think considering that whatever any CC does there is always someone loading a gun in the background!

Regarding the pay offer, it has indeed been officially recommended by BALPA. In the statement of 20th April called 'October 2005 Pay and Benefits Review Bulletin no. 15', there is a covering letter from the CC Chairman. In it he states, 'As, in terms of pay, the new offer is a good one we recommend its acceptance. Also we believe the time has now come to concentrate of the scheduling/lifestyle issues.'

It is apparent that the vote will be closer than I first thought - although I still think there will be a comfortable 'YES' vote. Quite a lot of people have come out on the BALPA website against it and among those contributing it is running about 50/50. Can I recommend to all BALPA members that they participate in the online poll that is being provided there. It is not the 'official' ballot but proved remarkably accurate as a predictor for the last vote. At the moment it is indicating 66% in favour but with only a few votes cast.

Don't worry too much about this, no company will pay bonuses to the masses if it isn't in profit. Besides, as Flapsone said, when hasn't easyJet been in profit by September of each year? - in profit comfortable, too.

If the company isn't in profit by year's end, be worried about more than just your bonus!

JB

Oleo,

Plenty of guys have had to relocate to get their commands. I did it myself at a time when my youngest child was 12 months old entailing a 220 mile commute with really only one useful day off at home - but guess what, you could always turn down the course and stay in the rhs! Payrise with some pain or easier life with less money - your choice. The company will offer commands where they are required, they won't invent a vacancy just to suit you. I take your point about DECs though. I eventually returned to my base to find DECs there who 'couldn't accept any other base for personal reasons'. That's just the way it is at Easyjet. I've since left by the way - not particularly unhappy with Easyjet, just wanted to try something different.

10% is a minimum considering the cost of living in the UK - good luck to all.

How much per anum will an easyjet captain recieve when they retire?

Say 30 years in the company.

WTB, it's a shame you left, you could have had a great career in management.

Oleo,

I wasn't trying to wind you up, just stating the facts as I saw them in easyjet. You can only work with what's on offer from the company and only the individual can decide if what's on offer suits them, that's all I was saying.
Good luck with the command, I hope it works out for you.

Quote WTB:

"You can only work with what's on offer from the company"

So lets change whats on offer!


By the way you would have no idee whats on offer now as management is diregarding all agreements and promises.

Hotmail,

My comments were only in relation to having to move base for a command.

so was my comment!

as long as the base transfer list is not transparant and being dog legged by management we have to try and change this system. By the way after just reading PT latest email regarding this issue I can from own experience confirm he's lying (again).

rgds

No easy jet Captain will last 30 years in the job. He will either be dead or working for another airline!!!

:ok: Will vote yes! The offer is much better than any other in the industry. Never been a company man, but too much in life to be dismal about so tend to concentrate on the positives:

Quick time to command.
LHS, after 2 Years, package worth around £92,000 (500 sectors)
Million times more ethical management than FR!!!!!!!!

Reality Check; look at the other threads and see whats happening at other airlines. Personally I am glad to have a job, and with oil prices heading North feel BALPA have secured a great victory on our behalf. Move on and concentrate on improvements to Rostering; I for one would forego the payrise in exchange for 5454!

It is apparent that the vote is very finely balanced at the moment. People who initially spoke of voting 'Yes' have now come out firmly against the deal. As you would imagine, there are strong feelings being expressed on all sides and I think a marginal No vote is now possible but unlikely. I received my ballot paper today and voted 'Yes' - albeit with some considerable reservations. My own view is that we are at the end of the road in terms of what can sensibly be achieved without a destructive strike that would ultimately be in nobody's interests. Were that to arise there would be a danger of losing our gains in order to fund the losses from the strike.

Many people are concerned about what could have been rather than what a significant victory BALPA have won. It is true that we really got nothing on the pension but we nonetheless gained 6% this year and 4% next year - a feat which I believe to be the best in the industry this year by some margin. Perhaps even more importantly, we have won this victory without having to disadvantage any other employee group to do so. In the past the FO's lost their loyalty bonus to pay for Captains' pay rises, but now they have won it back without having to give up anything in return. This may not be a perfect deal but right now it is still the best in town.

When you look at what has been achieved so far, then it really is better to vote "yes" but with obvious reservations. After 8 months of wrangling, it really is time to take the money and move on. While linking this deal to lifestyle issues would be sensible and appropriate, there can be no improvements in this area without more crew and this will take some time. Some feel,, myself included, that time is running out quickly for those in the Orange Empire as this lifestyle issue has been going on for 6 years and they are not going to get much more of a chance to fix it before it is too late. 350 pilots have left in less than 4 years: Get it sorted NOW!!!!!!
The deal is incredibly vanilla in terms of creating a career airline. The first deal, which was rejected due inconsistencies in the sector pay was actually better for us long term, providing the company had sorted out the massive anomilies in sector pay which could have been done easily and for comparitively little money. I was quite impressed and surprised with the structure of the last offer; it provided an excellent framework for the future and with minor tweaks could have been exceptional. I am a bit surprised they would stump up this rehash of the previous agreement without seriously trying to make the improved offer work. They just dont understand it though; this will cost them in the long term and they will end up paying more. But that has aways been the easyJet way: If they spent as much time trying to make money as they do trying to save money, they would actually make a lot more!!!!