While this won’t impact passengers in any way, EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic are launching an interesting pilot exchange program…
In this post:
Some EasyJet pilots are headed to Virgin Atlantic
EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic have partnered in a pilot exchange program, which will see some EasyJet pilots join Virgin Atlantic to experience a long haul, wide body flying secondment. As of November 2024, 20 pilots from European ultra low cost carrier EasyJet will work at Virgin Atlantic for a period of three years, where they’re expected to rack up around 1,500 flying hours.
The Airbus A320 first officers at EasyJet will be flying as first officers on Virgin Atlantic’s Airbus A350 fleet. At the end of the three year period, they’ll return to EasyJet, where they’ll continue their careers.
As it’s described, this will provide EasyJet pilots with the opportunity to experience the operations of a wide body jet and further their flight deck experience, while Virgin Atlantic will benefit from experienced short haul EasyJet pilots joining the team.
Here’s how Bart Prudon, Director of Flight Operations at EasyJet, describes this arrangement:
“At easyJet we pride ourselves on the calibre of our pilots, our industry-leading training and commitment to career development and so we are delighted to have partnered with Virgin Atlantic to further enhance the opportunities flying with easyJet can offer. Operating a different aircraft type is a fantastic experience for any pilot and this partnership will not only offer global long-haul flying with the added security of returning to easyJet to continue a fantastic career flying modern aircraft across Europe, we know that our highly-skilled pilots will add great value to the Virgin Atlantic team.”
Meanwhile here’s what Robbert Strating, VP of Flight Operations at Virgin Atlantic, had to say:
“Our pilots play a vital role flying our customers, safely and on time. The introduction of our pilot placement programme with easyJet will welcome experienced easyJet pilots directly into the Virgin Atlantic family, giving them the opportunity to fly our state-of-the-art, next generation wide body Airbus aircraft, travelling to some amazing long-haul destinations including Los Angeles, India, and South Africa.
“Meanwhile, easyJet’s extensive basing network will allow us to attract pilots from across Europe, reaching new audiences. With our purpose to inspire everyone to take on the world, we’re pleased to play a pivotal role developing their flying careers and enhancing the skills of the next generation of pilots and supporting UK aviation.”
I’m curious what the motive is for this arrangement
EasyJet and Virgin Atlantic don’t otherwise have much cooperation, so it’s interesting to see an agreement like this. What a cool opportunity for EasyJet pilots to fly a wide body jet on long haul routes, alongside the standard Virgin Atlantic crew.
I can’t help but be curious about the motivation for this agreement, though, since it’s not clearly stated. In the past we’ve sometimes seen situations where airlines that partner with one another swap pilots, in cases where one airline has a surplus of pilots, and the other has a shortage.
However, it doesn’t seem like that’s what’s going on here?
- EasyJet highlights how it’s recruiting pilots, and the airline is growing, with hundreds of aircraft on order; the airline also spends a lot of money and puts a lot of effort into pilot training, so presumably wants those pilots flying for EasyJet, and not for other carriers
- Does Virgin Atlantic have a pilot shortage, and the airline is trying to solve that with this arrangement? Nothing against EasyJet, but you’d think that there would be a lot of EasyJet pilots who would gladly take a permanent job at Virgin Atlantic
- What’s the actual financial arrangement here? Are EasyJet pilots getting their standard EasyJet pay, and EasyJet is getting a finder’s fee for offering pilots on a cheaper contract, or something else?
Bottom line
Some EasyJet pilots will be heading to Virgin Atlantic for a period of three years, where they’ll go from flying short haul A320 flights around Europe, to operating long haul A350 flights around the globe. Arrangements like this are rare, especially between airlines that don’t otherwise partner, so I’m curious what’s really going on here.
What do you make of EasyJet sending some of its pilots to Virgin Atlantic?
Much talk of expanded eJ holidays operation, with opportunity to the Caribbean, Mexico and Florida areas of interest. Prep for future orange A350's, or just pilot experience to utilise A321XLR's maintaining the same fleet
Maybe EasyJet is considering some future long haul operations (A321XLR !!) and want a pool of their pilots who have experience in both short and long haul ops.
I think this should have been written when you acquired all of the related information about the questions that you propose. This article says nothing much other than this is happening.
Knowing some long haul pilots stories, I would say the Easyjet Guys will regret swapping ultimately! The sheer exhaustion of 787/A350 longhauls, the hotels/jet-lag, boredom of 1 landing per 24 hours, is not what flying is about!
VS don't only fly the Airbus A350 aircraft they also have quite a few A330's both ceo and neo versions so the easyJet pilots may also be flying those aircraft.
It would be interesting to hear a certain 'Stellios' view on this arrangement !
Virgin *does* have a shortage of First Officers on the A350.
EXE-EZY pilot here...
This is all an aim to try and stem the flow of pilots leaving easyjet for other airlines with longhaul. They had a similar setup PRE-COVID but many of the pilots who went for that ended up staying as they liked the gulf lifestyle.
Virgin are very short of pilots.....
easyJet have a few spare, and keen to move on some experienced crew and replace them with cheaper new hires..
That's the long and short of it
Labor advantages? Maybe VS have a stricter agreement with union.
Ding!!
Finally we have a winner.
Just flew easyJet for the first time a few days ago. It was a good experience. I was surprised/impressed.
There is one aspect that makes me wonder. Virgin has no/little ability to give pilots a schedule where they are home each night. This gives them that.
Perhaps there is an ulterior motive at play here. Maybe this is way for EasyJet to get their veteran pilots to resign and apply for a carrier that flies A350s. This would get their veteran salaries off the books and allow them to hire new pilots at a cheaper rate.
It is most likely a Pilot shortage at VS due to retirements over the next 3 years and easy jet not seeing as much mid term demand compared to their pilot pipeline and they’d rather retain the first officers for when they need them as captains without paying for those 1500 hours of flying
Is EasyJet looking into adding long haul routes? Having a pool of pilots rated for airbus widebodies would help them a lot if they are considering that.
so... easyVirgin?
I think people that don’t fly for a job always assume that crew (flight deck and cabin) want to fly ‘long haul’ on the big jets. And to a degree, there is an element of truth in this.
But, I would say (after 25 years in the biz) you tend to see a cycle. Crew join an airline first operating short haul routes and are desperate to experience the ‘glamour’ of long haul flying....
I think people that don’t fly for a job always assume that crew (flight deck and cabin) want to fly ‘long haul’ on the big jets. And to a degree, there is an element of truth in this.
But, I would say (after 25 years in the biz) you tend to see a cycle. Crew join an airline first operating short haul routes and are desperate to experience the ‘glamour’ of long haul flying. They have the opportunity then to transfer to the long haul operations of their airline or join a long haul carrier. And in the beginning LOVE IT. Getting off at the other end, time for sightseeing, nice hotels is all GREAT. For a time….
Then after a few years of cumulative jet lag and fatigue from constant night flying take their toll. And after you’ve ’seen it and done it’ when you want to settle down and actually sleep in your own bed every night there is a great appeal to return to short haul flying. People often find long haul flying makes it hard on relationships (existing ones or finding one).
At my airline we say ‘everyone has to get long haul out of their system’ and do it. Experience it. Some stay but usually for other reasons (commuting from far away cities for example) but many are happy to spend a period of time doing long haul, seeing the world, then going back to more ‘homely’ flying.
Another element (that isn't relevant for Easyjet) is that for those US flight attendants who don't get boarding pay, long haul flights provide opportunity to get paid a lot more
AFAIK this no pay during boarding is pretty much just a US airline thing.
Every other airline I know of in the world pays their crews from the time they 'sign on' (usually 60/90min before a flight departure) until they 'sign off' (usually on arrival or +30min).
The actual pay structure, tt depends airline to airline. As obviously does, the pay rate.
At my airline, we operate both long and short haul flights and receive...
AFAIK this no pay during boarding is pretty much just a US airline thing.
Every other airline I know of in the world pays their crews from the time they 'sign on' (usually 60/90min before a flight departure) until they 'sign off' (usually on arrival or +30min).
The actual pay structure, tt depends airline to airline. As obviously does, the pay rate.
At my airline, we operate both long and short haul flights and receive a basic salary plus a $ per diem per hour. So of course on a long haul trip you receive more per diem - but you are also spending it. You have to eat, you'll go out for coffee, drinks, etc. On a short haul multi sector day you aren't spending it but still earning it.
Does seem a bit bizarre, most airlines like Easy Jet would fight tooth and nail to keep their expensively trained pilots because, having experienced long haul on an A350 I would assume that a high proportion of the EJ crew won’t be making the trip home. It therefore makes sense that EJ are paid by Virgin for the use of the crew with a profit plus, if they stay permanently a training fee and signing...
Does seem a bit bizarre, most airlines like Easy Jet would fight tooth and nail to keep their expensively trained pilots because, having experienced long haul on an A350 I would assume that a high proportion of the EJ crew won’t be making the trip home. It therefore makes sense that EJ are paid by Virgin for the use of the crew with a profit plus, if they stay permanently a training fee and signing on fee. The pilots that return will have significantly more experience and would benefit EJ long term.
easyJet probably are a better employer than VS who keep chopping and changing their routes and are less financially secure. You also have a much higher chance of returning home after a shift. Obviously if the A350 gig pays better, there's a tradeoff to consider.
This is not stupid at all, whilst it may seem a bit strange.
In European aviation, Seniority at many companies is not as important as in the US.
For example, at most airlines everyone gets their fair bit of reserve per month (unlike the US where crew are reserve-slaves for the first few years).
Many easyJet pilots leave easyJet after a few years because they want to fly some shiny big jets for...
This is not stupid at all, whilst it may seem a bit strange.
In European aviation, Seniority at many companies is not as important as in the US.
For example, at most airlines everyone gets their fair bit of reserve per month (unlike the US where crew are reserve-slaves for the first few years).
Many easyJet pilots leave easyJet after a few years because they want to fly some shiny big jets for a while, but do want to come back after that.
Both jet2, Ryanair and easyJet are heavily recruiting experienced First Officers that are flying shiny jets for middle eastern carriers in order to give them direct command upgrades.
So basically this is not an uncommon path, just with the slight difference that it is in a more organized matter. Those easyJet FOs would be leaving for Virgin anyway.
thank you.
people who do not understand how European airlines work find it perplexing.
It gives EasyJet an advantage in recruiting knowing that SOME pilots might get a chance to move - even temporarily - to VS.
The closest similarity for US airlines is the flow agreements that some regional carriers have with their mainline partners
Virgin is struggling for pilots for there A350s
They recently cancelled a whole week of Man-Las flights due to pilot shortage and have had that flight cancel a few times because of pilot shortage so it makes sense from a Virgin point of view
Not sure how EasyJet benefits entirely but maybe they will want to fasttrack these FO to be captains when they return?
I wonder if the reason is purely economic: Virgin gets the pilots much cheaper this way - while EZ pilots get needed experience.
Maybe Easyjet wants long-haul routes in a few years and their pilots are getting pre-trained for it?
I find it unusual and strange….there’s probably a backstory here we don’t know about, yet
Maybe EZ have too many pilots right now so this is a way to deal with that without letting them go. For VS they are getting access to a pool of pilots that may be lower cost or else to fill a current shortfall.
Its also possible that these FO's have been promised fast track to Captain once they return after 3yrs -- thus give them incentive to return
After flying longhaul for Virgin, I would not want to return to Easyjet after 3 years.
This seems like a great way to “lose” pilots to other airlines in the long term. I wonder what sort of time commitment the pilots that go to VS have to agree to stay at U2 for after they return, if any. For example, would they have to stay for 3 *more* years at EasyJet or lose out on pay or something? Very curious.
These clauses are most likely unenforceable under English employment law.
I wonder how the corporate overlords in Atlanta feel about this. This most certainly dilutes their premium brand
How? This is something that will be invisible to passengers. I doubt the welcome announcement will mention anything about the employment status of the pilots.
Given VS comments about basing and new pools etc., I suspect they're going for cheaper (or more available?) non-UK crew. Surprised they're not doing likewise for cabin crew.
and, for EZ Captains, far fewer fist-fights on-board from drunk passengers ...