Rants of the kind just written about CTC cadets are frankly completely counterproductive. I consider these guys/gals my colleagues and friends - not some sort of filth that got stuck on my shoes. They are a key part of the team and we need to work with them as equals.

For what it is worth, I do not agree with the comments being made about our managers - some are very good, including our CEO. We have a number of very capable people in key positions. It is true, however, that the Merlin negotiations are in bad shape and industrial action is a real possibility. I for one do not relish that as there would be no winners. I do not believe, however, it will come to that. There are clear solutions to the current problems that will not cost easyJet more money. However unfortunate the current impasse is, it is not an impossible situation. I would be very interested to know if any of those making the most extreme comments about our managers have ever worked for other airlines. Perhaps they could enlighten us on who that was and why they were so much better. I have worked for 4 previous airlines and I am struggling to think of a notably better management team at any of them - perhaps I have just been unfortunate.

Alexander de meerkat congrats mate you are the perfect asshole! :ok:

Wind check - is it better to be a perfect asshole or a complete d*ckhead? Reading your previous post makes you sound like you have some sort of mental illmess. You appear to have no arguments and no knowledge. From where I sit AdM appears to have both.

Meerkat,
Let me try to understand your views. You rate your CEO and managers as very good. You believe merlin negotiations are in bad shape and industrial action is a real possibility. You state the whole problem could be solved at no cost.
Hate to think what bad management would do.

You make it sound a bit like the love that dare not speak its name. Its OK behind closed doors but distasteful out in the open. I say speak out and be proud.

Fair one.

night night

regards Bob

quertyuiop - I do rate our CEO and some of our managers as good. She is doing a great job in making easyJet the profitable company it is, and it is her success that is enabling us to be sat here complaining about our share in the Company's success rather than how to avoid redundancies. Sure, we want more of the pie, but the good news is that a pie exists which is worth dividing up. Good managers must first and foremost be able to make their company profitable - without that we are all stuffed. Love her or not, she works 7 days a week, 16 hours a day looking after easyJet's interests. I frankly do not resent her salary one bit - I would not want that level of commitment to my employer. In my view she is a good communicator and genuinely wishes to work with the pilots. The problems we have lie further down the greasy pole.

The fact that we are on the way to industrial action does not mean she is a bad manager - it means that we have a clear dispute about the way ahead. My own view is that if we got an RPI pay rise instead of RPI-1% over the next 4 years and we sorted out the 'easyJet pilots for easyJet cockpits (and simulators!)' problem, a clear majority of pilots would vote Yes. All we have to do is persuade the Company to pay 1% for our profit bonus instead of 2%, and use that to finance the RPI increase. Next, give the cadets a decent basic salary and normal sector pay instead of this 'power by the hour' madness that gets everyone's back up - it would cost exactly the same but be so much better received by the cadets. Finally, get rid of the plethora of 'consultants' who are taking easyJet pilots' jobs in the Training Department and you are basically home and dry. Sure, there are other issues, but those are key ones that will get a Yes vote.

Easyjet, Ryanair: Same virus, same sh1te.

LCC :yuk::yuk::yuk::yuk::yuk:

slightly off-topic.....

I was just thinking you know what would happen if our UK tanker drivers (not intended as a dig at them) all new joiners were all on different contracts, had to pay for all their own training, no holiday pay, no pension, only got paid when they were actually moving, fatigue induced working hours, safety concerns due to experience levels, being responsible for 150+ pax in an aluminium tube carrying 8tons of fuel.......!!!!

It makes you wonder.......:ugh::ugh::ugh:

Refreshed after my love in with i-like-tea.

I am more prone to agree with my hairy rodent friend.

While I have some issues with lower management who are typical greasy pole merchants or "poachers turned gamekeepers" I feel the AMB are trying to improve the lot of the average worker. Hell I even received a dividend payment.

With regard to the cadet / PTF issue it is an issue inherited and continued from the previous regime. While it is a cheaper alternative financially it is a more expensive issue when you factor in the loyalty and engagement of the workforce. ( We all know where that is )

That said I think the real foolish parties here are the cadets/ PTF people themselves who have decided their worth by accepting the terms and conditions. ( A fool and their money are soon parted ). While most are misguided and regretting decisions made , they are on the whole competent nice kids.

BALPA HQ are the most complicit party by not advising the company and the regulatory bodies at the off that these pay to fly schemes had a nasty smell attached to them. I regard that organisation with the most contempt.

Uncle Bob and I are in broad agreement I think. Where I would possibly disagree is his assessment of BALPA. However, rather than go into a sub-debate on the merits or otherwise of BALPA membership, the only point I would make is that, love them or hate them, BALPA is the only vehicle available to us right now to engage with the Company.

Following the latest 'insight' shared with us all by wind check from his extensive understanding of our industry, he does makes an interesting point. I would suggest that the only real difference between us and Ryanair is BALPA - warts and all. There are very few Ryanair pilots who, given a straight choice, would not prefer to be working for us. Conversely there are virtually none of our pilots who would prefer to be working for Ryanair - that should tell us something. Sure, we have a fight on our hands but we have a real chance of progress simply due to the presence of a Union. In the current climate, even if it is just for a couple of months, every single UK-based easyJet pilot should be in BALPA. You do not have to love them, but you do need to support them right now even if it is only to see out the current crisis.

I do believe Carolyn McCall is an excellent CEO, and in my experience the vast majority of the pilots like her. We should be under no illusion about the scale of the challenges she faces in her efforts to continue easyJet's success, and like all CEOs in such circumstances she wants to cut costs. Alas, she finds herself caught in the corporate culture so prevalent in the western world which seems unable to see the incongruity of massive management bonuses being handed out at the same time as sub-RPI pay deals for everyone else. In her defence, her bonus KPIs are not set by her and I believe she is genuinely a people-person who cares for her staff. The danger we face in all this is that we must be seen as an employee group who can be dealt with reasonably rather than just circumvented. Just reading the comments from the likes of wind check and others on here makes my heart sink, and my only hope is that none of our managers ever read this forum and know how low the calibre of some our pilots can be. When our managers come round the crew rooms looking for feedback from the pilots, it is vital they are met with rational discussion and not some rant from berks who are both ill-informed and unable to string two sentences together.