EasyJet boss Carolyn McCall is being applauded for negotiating a new pay and scheduling deal with her long-disgruntled pilots, which was agreed last week on the recommendation of BALPA.
The agreement, which will see pilots receiving a 4% salary increase and a 5% rise in sector pay "goes some way to resolving some of EasyJet pilots' long-term concerns about rostering and scheduling", says the union.
BALPA says the relationship between EasyJet's pilots and management had "not been a good one over recent years". But it credits McCall, who is only a year into the job, with a "brave" decision to take on the difficulties and discuss a "game-changing" partnership.
Last month, McCall held a meeting with her Gatwick flightcrews and a webcast to the rest of the UK pilots to "explain the vision" and why it was in both sides' interests to work together.
Speaking to Airline Business shortly after that Gatwick meeting, McCall said that the vision she had would mean "more efficiency and productivity for us, which means a more efficient therefore lower cost base, and allows us to pass on lower fares to passengers - it's a virtuous circle".
She added that the pay deal was "not really about pay at all. It's all about life-style, and rostering and the future. We want a constructive relationship with our pilots. We want them to be on side."
Describing the deal as a "not inexpensive settlement", RBS Transport analyst Andrew Lobbenberg quipped in a note today: "The good cop bad cop partnership of McCall and ops Director Warwick Brady looks to have worked well."
He adds: "This episode looks to have earned the CEO some kudos and should have bought the company a good dose of goodwill from the cockpit crew that should help secure the operation through whatever ATC strikes, storms, volcanoes, bean sprout pandemics or other challenges the world throws at the business this summer."
So they just need to tackle the peak-time bag-drop bottlenecks and it should be smiles all round in Orangeland!
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