At least easyJet has a route to a perm. contract, some of which are very nice indeed and nothing like the above.

I'm in the orange land and very happy, glad i'm not still flexi crew but it IS what they signed up for and if people really don't know what to expect then they should do a bit more reading!

Yes, it's not nice, but people are aware of the facts before the join up, i certainly was.

IMHO hours at FR are so variable, Ronand, that you're unlikely to have a clear idea of annual hours until the start of 2013. But even amongst pilots at the same base you may find yourself 100 hours up or down on the average.