I would say total package in the region of 161k, that being basic, flying pay plus profit share.

if you want to include pension then about 175k

5/3/5/4 at easyJet fixed pattern vs jet2 random roster approximating 5/2/5/3.

easyjet take 5days off with the wrap around you get 12off.

Jet2 take your 9days off in your 4month summer you get 9days off. No wrap around days as standard.

I considered J2 but got a sample roster and it was awful - dreadfully boring and often disrupted mostly canaries or Turkey out and backs returning at all hours, airport standbys in some grim room, bad hotels, and even the winter rosters were filled up with standbys on the 5/2 ratio. Few weekends off. Reportly rather uncooperative CC and GC too; FD line and training slighty old school but v good. Did at least include health cover. Went elsewhere though.

You got that all from a sample roster? Wowzers

Yes, but if you're clever you can use 3 RDOs at the end of the month 3 at the beginning of the next month plus your 9 days leave to get 15 consecutive days in the peak period.

Absolutely, I guess most people have that in mind and that’s why July, August month transition normally has no leave available. Unless you are top of the first bid group that year.

Don’t plan on 15 days off during peak summer.

Whoever reported to you that cabin crew and ground are uncooperative is either:

1) Lying
2) Someone who is asking other crew to violate SOPs because they have their own way of operating.

The CC and GC are actually the friendliest I’ve worked with. The ‘one team’ mantra actually means something.

Captains who are ‘their own man’ here don’t last long.

I’ve been in jet2 for a year and a half so far and my experience does not match this at all. LHS, regional base and very happy.

perfectly decent hotels although haven’t needed them much, winter rosters are a dream come true and even when on standby you have 2hrs to report! Most weekends at least partly off through RDOs. Cabin and ground crew are fantastic.

I’ve read an article that EasyJet have now removed crew rooms and you just walk to the aircraft from the car park? Even as a low cost airline that is very extreme, surely that impacts morale as well?

I think I’d actually prefer this at Jet2, providing the report time isn’t reduced. At big bases it would save the rush to get to the airside crew room then on towards the aircraft. You could have an extra 20 minutes of preflight and enjoy your coffee at a reasonable pace. Of course you’d see less of your comrades than you would at the crew room, so there should be a mandatory CRM session every month at a local bar paid for out of the base manager’s budget :-)

this is true, we’ve been reporting to aircraft for a few years now. Despite some concerns from some at the start, I don’t think anyone would go back. Report time remains 60min and we are required to join the back of the security queue at that time.

There are a lot of things I don’t like about the EZY SOP based on what I’ve heard from friends there, but this is one that I think actually benefits safety and crew fatigue. I can’t think of any reason to report to a crew room in the digital age. Providing the report time isn’t falsely reduced of course.

It's not totally true, crew rooms have not been removed, they still exist, just not for the purpose of printing flight plans.

Last I heard easyJet now have a crewing team in the crew rooms? Don’t think I’d enjoy speaking to a crew controller face to face though I’ll be honest, bad enough over the phone! :ouch:

That's only in Gatwick. The rest of the network is still managed from the ICC near Luton.

on the contrary, crews campaigned to have this team returned after its removal during Covid.

We lost a lot of good people who looked after LGW crews in base.

Crewing controllers at Jet2 are a pleasure to speak to, whether on the phone or face to face. Same with all staff. Hopefully it will remain this way until I retire in 20 years.

I’m not sure what EZY is like these days for crewing etc.

I’ll give you one - commercial pressure. Here is another one, trying to brief a crew in a stair well or busy terminal whilst waiting for your delayed aircraft.

The on time performance/ silo culture at EZY is a huge threat to be managed every day. From a personal perspective going straight to the aircraft is good, from professional stand point not so much, and yes, the poster above who mentioned morale nailed it. EZY are now desperately trying to go put this genie back in the bottle. We have been managed by, largely, awful cabin crew managers for years, whose prime directive is OTP. It drove a huge wedge in. Now we have base captains trying to pretend they are our mates again - because they have been told to
do this. It really shows up some individuals - some are better than others. The legacy of Peter Bellew and his actions during Covid still linger, ask senior management who nodded along side him in Covid and the mask falls as being reminded of history is inconvenient.

It’s all well and good compatible T’s and C’s but you should really compare part time T’s and C’s. Full time is not sustainable at easyjet. Fatigue is awful, someone above said we have a great fatigue system at easyJet, I think I know what they are getting at but to be honest they are miss-guided. A great fatigue system begins in schedule construction and flows through to roster production. It’s all @rse about t1t in easyjet. We have an in achievable schedule that ensures maximum roster chaos in the operational environment. In terms of SBY coverage easyjet has, probably, the highest numbers in the U.K. at round about 20%, and yet, we still run out of pilots when a butterfly flaps its wings in Asia. Yes we can go fatigued and many think this is without recourse - leading to the idea of a “great” fatigue system. However, out new buddies, the previously invisible base captains, have been ordered to haul us in for a chat over refused discretion and use if fatigue. How very Ryanair / but with a smile from your new “buddy”.

The company operates in a very silo style culture and it costs us millions year after year with the same pathetic excuses from weak leaders year after year.

In summary;

Pay is good ish. Equipment good. Training is currently very weakly led and poorly rostered. Great people to fly with but as a line captain I fly to a lot of ****ty places at night with very little experience sat next to me, who are bitter about their contract from day 1. Good regional bases.
Rosters will damage your health so you will be forced onto part time at some point if you can let go of the FOMO on being the richest person in the grave yard. Staff travel - good in LGW - **** everywhere else unless you are happy to holiday in the low season winter months. We just got private health, which our incoming CEO says it’s great and why we cannot get a previous share scheme reinstated. It is great - mutually - as we have too many pilots sick languishing on NHS lists further driving **** rosters and high SBY coverage. Over 20 years in if you couldn’t tell, immune to easyjet orange spin, we are very poorly led and the culture is full of holes where cabin services run the show - they are even conducting pilot interviews - no easyjet pilot in sight. Madness.

Apparently we are getting hats next year.

I think this pretty much sums up the two sides of the argument EZY vs J2H... You get paid slightly more at EZY and have the staff travel option, but you work harder for it and you have to put up with a lot of BS (Cabin Crew interviewing pilots? How can CC possibly pick up red flags in pilot competencies such as decision making and threat management?!). At J2H you get a nice working atmosphere, respect, and don't work too hard. For this 'privilege' you get paid a little bit less, and there's almost no staff travel apart from £200 off a holiday 3 times a year.

What culture you go for depends on your priorities as a pilot. I know guys who appreciate the staff travel, and the extra couple of hundred pounds a month. Then there a lot of us too that appreciate the company culture and the basing of choice. I'm in the latter, but then I don't have a big house with a mortgage in the home counties.