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#1 Geneva, four years, and the Swiss easyJet base is a different animal from the UK ones and nobody writes about it, so here it is.
The contract
Swiss employment contract, Swiss pay in francs, Swiss labour law. Higher basic than the UK bases, sector pay on top, and a set of protections around rest and overtime that the UK crew find generous. The tax is Swiss (or the cross border arrangement if you live in France, which I wrote about elsewhere). The pension is Swiss and it is a real thing.
The maths
A first year crew member in Geneva nets more in francs than a first year in Luton nets in pounds, by a margin. Geneva rent eats a lot of that margin. France, across the border, does not. The crew who live in France on a Swiss salary are, by any measure, the best paid easyJet crew in Europe. The crew who live in central Geneva are fine. The difference is the border.
The cabin
Three languages, minimum: French, English and German, because the Geneva passengers are Swiss (all three), French, British and everyone skiing. The announcements are in three languages and the crew are hired for at least two. The service is the same as everywhere. The passengers are, honestly, calmer than the UK routes, with the exception of the ski season Saturday, which is the UK routes on skis.
The flying
Europe, mostly: the UK (a lot), Spain, Portugal, Italy, Greece, the Balkans, some North Africa. Two and four sector days. Night stops in the UK, which for a Geneva crew is a different country and a different currency, and in the Mediterranean in summer. The Alps out of every window on every departure, which after four years I still look at.
The base
Smaller than the UK giants, multilingual, a mix of Swiss, French, British, Italian and Portuguese crew, and a crew room where the language changes by the table. Base management is accessible. The Swiss on time culture is real and the operation runs on it.
Who it suits
Someone with two of the three languages who wants a proper contract, a stable operation, and a mountain out of the window. Someone who can handle the border maths, or who can afford Geneva. Someone who does not need long haul.
Who should look at the UK bases instead
Someone with English only. Someone who wants the biggest base and the most crew. Someone who wants to be in the UK.
Questions from the bilingual and trilingual welcome.
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#2 easyJet Berlin, and the German base is the same structure with German employment law, and the same conclusion: the non UK easyJet bases are proper contracts with proper protections and they are underrated by UK applicants who do not look past Luton.
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#3 Air France, and Geneva easyJet is where French crew go when they want the Swiss salary and the Alps. Two friends did it. Both are still there. The border maths is the whole reason.
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#4 Norwegian, and reading a Swiss contract description from the Scandinavian side is like looking in a mirror: proper protections, a real pension, a calmer cabin, and rent that eats the difference. The non UK bases of the UK carriers are the quiet good option.
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#6 Hamburg, and easyJet has a Hamburg base too, and the German contract point is the thing I had not considered. Adding it to the Condor and Eurowings applications. Three German options.
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#7 Austrian, Vienna, and the ski season Saturday being 'the UK routes on skis' is the funniest and most accurate description of Alpine winter flying I have read. We have the same Saturday in Innsbruck.
