My roster at EZY has been reasonably stable.

Also remember we have the tools to refuse changes within 72hrs if the change is by more than 2hrs and or do it and take the extra payment.

So you can refuse a change within 72 hours of the duty if greater than 2hrs? Is that 2 duty hours? Or starting 2hrs earlier/finishing later? If you accepted what sort of payment value is that?

In Jet2 we have the ability to refuse 1 change a month, Maximum 3 refusals in the summer season I think…. They are called IPW instant protection window. The policy is written to give the company maximum flex on how they work us, and chop and change us.

You can refuse if the new duty starts/finishes 2 hours earlier/later than the original duty.

The standard payment for a Short Notice Change is £70, but EZY had to triple that rate for a few months during summer 25 to convince more pilots to accept these constant changes. We have a total of 24 refusals per year, with a maximum of 4 per month.

Refuse if the start/end time is more than 2 hours difference from what you were originally rostered. Last summer, if we accepted the change, we would then be given a £210 short notice change payment.

24 refusals a year, I’m not sure if they keep count, in my experience I’ve never got anywhere near it. Max 4 a month.

Out of curiosity can any J2 heads opine on why J2 dont offer staff travel ?
If they’re going to have to compete with Ezy for pilots then surely it’s a consideration?
it will be hard for them to put a fixed pattern in place while still short of pilots but they’ll probably get there in the end.

It's ingrained into the psyche of the company from when Philip Meeson was at the helm. His view was he'd rather have a paying passenger on the seat than give it away cheap for staff.

There's so many little things they could do for staff which they don't. It beggars belief at times. The beancounters are definitely in charge now.

There is, and always has been, staff travel. I’ve used it many many times.

There is an intranet site for discounted crew holidays. They also send a monthly (I think) email with hot deals. I’ve not used it myself yet, but I know of colleagues who’ve saved thousands, or got a really cheap last minute break. I think it is very much on their terms, such as; availability, resort (probably not top tier), seasonal, load factor/ room capacity etc. so can very much depend on how flexible you can be with dates, location etc.

Great if you are able to travel flexibly and out of peak season. Pointless for anything else.

And that is the crux of the issue with Jet2. Everything is stacked in their favour. Gone are the 'friendly' days. Crew are very much a Human Resource nowdays.

Experienced SFO - approx 5500 airbus hrs (mix of narrow & wide body). Looking for quickest time to command. Not too bothered about salary or base, but wouldn’t mind somewhere in Scotland if available. Thinking of J2 or EZY. Thoughts pls?

Having experience of both airlines I would say between the two, easyjet would be a fraction quicker but it is very dependant on IF you can get in to EZY. Assuming that you have an Airbus type rating, Jet2 are actively recruiting experienced FOs, whereas i am not sure EZY are recruiting experienced FOs as they tend to draw from their pool of cadet pilots pumped through the big flight schools. At easyjet, especially LGW based, you will fly more than at Jet2 and will hence rack up hours quicker. However that isn't to say that Jet2 would be especially "slow", as once you have the experience then commands are available. At your experience level, between the two airlines, there wouldn't be a notable difference, the question is getting in in the first place.

Thanks for the response. Put the getting in aside - with experience of both carriers, which in your opinion offers the quickest path to the left seat? Ive heard J2 have a tendancy to take a bit longer than they quote. I dont have much info re ezy

From what I understand, it’s more straightforward at easy.

With 5500 hours Airbus, command will happen quickly at J2 as long as you meet the standard in assessments. The quickest it could take is about 12 months, as that’s how long it takes to get through the assessment process, plus a command course.

There are rumours about it being difficult to pass a command at J2. Don’t believe it. The standards are high but the process is supportive and your success will be a reflection of the effort you put in to complement the training.

Thx for that - encouraging feedback & much appreciated 👍

Been in J2 for a year on the Airbus and my impression is morale is good, far better than my last place. And standards are good, training relaxed and line ops a breeze with superb support from ops.

As others have probably answered above, it's going to be about the same. Don't buy the BS about it being difficult to get commands in Jet2, that's not the case. The training culture has moved on and is very similar to easyJet in all the right ways. The only limiting factor at both airlines will be your performance and your preferred base.

I know a place that would offer you a quick upgrade , flexible bases and 1200 a month , but once you upgrade it'd increase to about 2000 .

I didn’t say it was perfect, all I was doing was pointing out that there IS a staff travel system. So many posts on here claim there isn’t one at all which is incorrect. I did get seats to Alicante at Feb 1/2 term this year using staff travel.