I think it's quite interesting how the attitude toward RYR has changed over recent years. Does no one hate MOL anymore? Has everyone forgotten the repugnant bye bye baby insignia emblazoned on the aircraft? Is PM the new MOL?

Are the above just superficial to the end choice? I'm not trying to be provocative, I'm genuinely interested. I know the RYR training is truly excellent, and for a cadet in the bizarre world of newly minted cadets demanding jets it is the place to go....but for other sorts?

The market is well....buoyant....but for how long. Wonder what odds bet Fred give for the next tits up and who....won't be long folks....

These days HR has much more of an input into the recruitment process than any old boys network / forces bias may have had in the past.

I’m very pleased to hear this. As we all know, those HR professionals are highly knowledgeable on pilot selection and craft fairs.
I was afraid of an“old-boys network” because for many years I have lived with the agony of my fast-jet pilot applications being rejected by the RAF. I stopped applying after the realization that being an obese, cross-eyed, larger-loving, foul-mouthed, Australian lesbian, living in the bush, the odds were stacked against me. However, I was offered a non-flying commission with the RAF Regiment which I turned down in favor of moving to Sydney and becoming an intern in an adult book shop. Sadly, my publishing career never materialized, but I lost weight, fixed my eyes, stopped drinking and eventually achieved my goal of becoming a pilot.
Some things about me haven’t changed. I still love being surrounded by bush, so a job in the Northern Territories with Jet2 would be :mad: ideal.

DB, do you mean 'larger loving' or 'lager loving?' Both ideal pilot qualities I hasten to add...

Because judging by 5-10 year old info from BALPA versus uptodate info I've been given, it would seem the FR direct UK contracts seem to have got better thus why people are willing to stay. Much improvement still needed, especially at entry level.

I would hazard a guess that with no union at FR, pilots were forced to vote with their feet over the last decade, the effects of which were probably felt in the boardroom forcing FR's hand; they would never admit it though! However, those 'effects' are hard to quantify or confirm so it's purely speculation, conjecture and attempting to connect the dots on my part.

You hear incorrectly in my opinion. Many of the pilot management team are ex military, however the notion that as such they should be held in high esteem is nonsense. Their position alone means that people should respect them, the same as anyone in any business respects their peers. The management team certainly have never come across as an ex military team that have no time for you unless you were too.

+1 to what Johnny said.
Your backgrounds will be held in sufficient esteem if you can fly the damn thing.
The way bases are marching south these days might just suit Bondi.
Me, I'm holding out for Coffs Harbour.

Yes, but it's based on number of available seats and there are never enough!

ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ....... That's just brought on my asthma....I'm off to the docs !.

Staff travel
 

A good way to get Phillip really really cross is to mention staff travel. He goes ballistiic.
I speak as one who has been roasted!

Deadpool
 

Staff travel scheme -

There are 2 options -

1) is a salary sacrifice scheme. It's quite complicated, but basically you pay for your holiday by monthly deduction from your salary which is taken before tax, thus giving you a tax break on that amount.

2) is as detailed before, based on load factors. Over the last year or so this has become completely unworkable, especially at peak times.

Believe me, there have been years and years of attempts made for improvements, whenever the crew council meet it is on the agenda, unfortunately it falls on deaf ears. A standby system has been suggested but is always thrown out for one reason or another.

"What did he say" - words to the effect of "why should I let you have a seat at a discount when somebody else will pay full fare".

Deadp
Don't forget at FR your probably also including crew seats whereas this is more difficult for a UK AOC

Yes offering a staff perk (such as staff travel) is a great for morale.
However the Phil way would seem to be, "all perks cancelled until morale improves"
Brilliant.
This is certainly not the way Herb K or Richard B run their excellent enterprises!

I'll add my 2 cents for what it's worth, as I am joining Jet2 from an airline with extensive staff travel benefits, for single guys or young couples I can understand the desire for it, but for guys with families who will most likely want to travel during peak times it's a fairly useless perk, as trying to get on an aircraft using staff travel during peak holiday times you can basically forget about it, and tbh the stress of trying to do it basically ruins part of your holiday.

I personally use it alot with my current airline as I have lived thousands of miles away from home for the past 6 years.. but as Jet2 offers me a base very close to my house I'll have very little use for it so am quite happy to give it up. As I spend half my life either on aircraft or in airports, I have very little desire in spending my days off playing staff travel roulette.

Maybe staff travel as in flight only isn't as useful for families, but Jet2 is pushing the holiday offering, so could perhaps be offering discounted holidays. My current lot offer up to £1700 off a holiday every year. It's small things like this, a bonus when the company does well, incremental pay scales, and some kind of share deal that would elevate Jet2 from a stepping stone to a career airline imho.

I agree with all of those points H44. Strikes me as it would be a big cost saving to them if they could retain most of their pilots also and wouldn't be hard to do.

Philip:
Richard:

That's it. Period!

Travel Weekly from August 4th this year
Is this the sort or excellent enterprise and staff care to which you refer?