Same here, 2 days flying next week. However, I save up during the some months when it's 80-100 hours so that during the winter they can fly me less and it's not a problem. I don't really understand why it's such a problem.

Who wants to be flying in the sh&t weather anyway. Snow, delays, flying into places in the middle of nowhere on minimas.

Like a Christmas miracle the today´s published roster did not evaporate any of my planned flights for the next week. But as the previous poster said, the only way of coping with this is to look at it on a yearly basis rather than month by month. You do have to save some of that nice Euros you get on a 90-100 hour month to even out the likes of November.

Of course, in our base, getting 5 new F/Os in one go, with a lot of line training on top of that does not help when the flights are cut by 25% during winter.

Expect 600 hours/yr, 650 if you are lucky, and plan your expenses accordingly.

I know what your saying guys and I agree and have a reserve that Im having to rely on to get through, I just didnt expect the winter months to be this dire and my reserve is going a lot faster than I was expecting, I mean 3 hours flying for a 9 day period, aint a lot is it? Its not even worth paying the yearly car parking charge anymore, pay for the summer then just pay as you go on the rare days that you do fly :} ....which in turn will probably cancel out the money earnt from the days flying :ooh:

I have one thing to say to you guys. Get the hell out of there:yuk:

I do hope that people considering a 'career' in flying read this thread. If it opens just a couple of eyes to the reality of life with the low cost carriers then the time of contributors to this board will not have been wasted.

look guys,its winter when nobody flies,get over it,dont see any of ye complaining when ye get 110 block hours a month in summer time etc....go somewhere with a good salary,fly about 600 p.a. with no chance of command.your choice and live with your choice:ugh:

If it's winter, why does the east midlands sausage factory keep on churning out FO's?

We all know why... It costs nothing to ground a FO, and costs a lot less to get a cadet to operate. Difference between the Easy flexi-crew and jet2 contract, is they are honest and tell you to go away for the winter.

Are you questioning that first officers ability to operate based on age?

I was a safety pilot for a guy last week he was no more than 20 years of age didnt look like he had started shaving yet to be honest, but I was astonished at how capable this guy was for his first day on the line, he was ahead of the game from start to finish.

Too many narrow minded people that judge a book by its cover...

So sorry, but can't help it because you are, along with contributing to lower ts & cs in this industry.

Ok that sounds like a good idea. Do you mean a company where you get paid your salary and duty pay, whether on standby or not? Car parking/ uniform/ crew meals/ private healthcare/ sick pay/ pension/ loss of license insurance/ world wide staff travel for yourself, family and friends. The list goes on, is this what you mean?

I know what you mean. Did he have the obligatory wrap around shades, gelled hair style and fashion shoes? Living the dream eh?

I will hazard a guess at this one. Probably based on your personal overall experience, I suggest that this would be no mean feat.

Shaun dont guess about something you know naff all about. You know nothing about me or my experience.

Guessing? I suspect you do a lot of that.

nice one GAF15

Shaun, probably a BA FO for next decade, thinking he's better then everyone else?

Is it nice to hazard a guess?

Guy Gibson was a Wing Commander at the age of 23. At the age of 25 he lead the dam buster raids. I don't think anyone said he was too young.

From an old Captain who enjoys flying with the youngsters even if I know nothing about Call of Duty Black Ops, house, garage, shed or even patio music.

Disagree Shaun,

Thats why I said no to$$ers saying reap what you sow, Ive sown nothing, I got into this industry the only way possible, in case you are out of touch the traditional way where you get selected and the airline pay for your training is long since dead and buried, I did not create this situation, therefore I sowed nowt fella. It is not me who is bringing down your T&Cs, I simply got into the industry that I wanted to in the only way possible.
People like you would rather I stayed out of the industry under the illusion that that would protect your T&Cs, so supposing I listen to you and say "fair enough mate, Ill not fly to protect you" What then for me? You'd rather I go and stack shelves as Tescos (no disrespect to Tesco workers) so that you can continue flying.

Its not the new entrants bringing down the T&Cs its simply the way that the industry has progressed due to market forces - thats the sowing not the newbies. The sooner people like you work that out the better.

Dikas, what did your contract say when you signed it?

I'll hazard a guess, oh no we aren't allowed. I shall state to the best of my knowledge that it said something along the lines of:

"You get paid per flying hour."
"There is not a guaranteed minimum of flying hours per year."

As my kids say - Tough titties - You do reap what you sow and you have quite correctly stated that you "sowed nowt fella" and, therefore, you are reaping nowt, fella.

Your statement would be more accurate if you change the only way possible to - the easiest, quickest, required the least amount of effort from me way.

I could not agree more RichT, however I doubt that the latest batch of Ryanair cadets are in any way comparable to the likes of Guy Gibson (A gifted pilot/ planner/ leader). Trying to defeat the Nazis and flying for Ryanair are two completely different kettles of fish.

DIKAS, the reason why I feel the need to have a pop is because of the lofty attitudes and misguided loyalty displayed by yourselves. Also you choose to post your grumbles on an open forum for the rest of us to read. Maybe you should think about posting on a private forum (no RYR private forum on prune?).

Well, not really!

Are you flying for BA yourself Shaun?

Course he is, Daddy paid for ATPL Intg course, and helped him get into BA hahaha, easy too no!

Spandex, please advise on other ways to get into this industry? Just who is it that currently plays for your type rating when starting out? Clearly I missed a trick there! Easiest?? – there was nothing east about my journey into this game I assure you it came with great sacrifice hardship and dedication. Least amount of effort? Surely an ATPL , type rating and line training require the same amount of effort from anyone regardless of who pays for it – not quite sure the point your making there fella?
Shaun – fair enough perhaps this post would have been better on a private FR forum, didn’t realise it would attract quite such a response, it’s a while since I posted on here I forgot just how much people love to have a pop when FR is in the title. I still don’t think that the new fATPL’er is responsible for terms and conditions being degraded, I know that in an ideal world all fAPTL’ers would say “no” to paying for a TR and the industry would be a better place, but surely you can see that that would require all newbies to know each other and have some sort of fATPL-Union which is obviously impossible, the reality of the situation is that once you get your fATPL your on your own and have to do all you can to progress yourself.