BA crew - social down route

[itsonlyme]

Morning one and all,

I hope you don't mind an interloper on the forum as I'm at the end that doesn't have to deal quite so hands on with the SLF, but do have a quick question for you.

I'm joining BA soonish on the 767/757 fleet with little (for little read no!) civilian airline experience. Just wondering what the social side is like down route. I'm sure it depends on hundreds of things, route, time off, rest of the crew etc, but, as a general feel do the crew often go out together? Is it generally a good atmosphere or do most people head to the hotel and not get seen again until the next crew in? All replies gratefully received, and by all means Pvt message me if you want to.

thanks again and sorry to gate crash the forum.

[Carnage Matey!]

Morning one and all,
Just wondering what the social side is like down route.

Distinctly mixed bag.

I'm sure it depends on hundreds of things, route, time off, rest of the crew etc,

Correct

but, as a general feel do the crew often go out together?

As a general feel, no. Flight crew go out for a beer, cabin crew stay in their rooms.

Is it generally a good atmosphere or do most people head to the hotel and not get seen again until the next crew in?

If you can get the cabin crew out its generally good but see the previous response.

[BMED LHR]

Distinctly mixed bag.



Correct



As a general feel, no. Flight crew go out for a beer, cabin crew stay in their rooms.



If you can get the cabin crew out its generally good but see the previous response.

Great sense of humour !! , As you can see the British Airways crew are fun , From the example above .

[yellowdog]

Morning one and all,
I hope you don't mind an interloper on the forum as I'm at the end that doesn't have to deal quite so hands on with the SLF, but do have a quick question for you.
I'm joining BA soonish on the 767/757 fleet with little (for little read no!) civilian airline experience. Just wondering what the social side is like down route. I'm sure it depends on hundreds of things, route, time off, rest of the crew etc, but, as a general feel do the crew often go out together? Is it generally a good atmosphere or do most people head to the hotel and not get seen again until the next crew in? All replies gratefully received, and by all means Pvt message me if you want to.
thanks again and sorry to gate crash the forum.


itsonlyme,

Don't know what it's like on the 757/767 but at LGW the social scene downroute is great. Even on short stops we normally always meet up for an appropriate kind of beverage.:E

Obviously it depends on the crew on the day but most of the time it's good. I think sometimes some FC think it's bad as they may not get an invite:\ :\

I'm sure you'll enjoy it and make some great friends.

YD

[marcella]

I've been at BA for a few months now and I flew before I joined them. I don't think they are a social bunch of people down route. The flight crew normally meet down stairs in the hotel bar for drinks but from my experience I've never been invited to join them. Maybe I've just been unlucky to be night stopping with selfish crew. At my previous airline night stops were rare and when you did get one even with minimum rest you certainly made the most of it. Flight crew and cabin crew alike. I take it you'll be a member of the flight crew joining so you'll be fine. Just don't expect to see any cabin crew in the bar because they will be in their rooms watching their free movies, that's LHR EF crew.

[SuperBoy]

Funny how everyone (well not everyone but most) wants to be at LHR. I guess it has its pros and cons but at the end of the day, well atleast how i see it, it's supposed to be a social job. Ofcourse you don't have to be social but I couldn't sit in my room and watch movies. I can do that at home and have a far greater choice. I remember being in a conversation with a LHR purser and the purser refered to her fleet as the Olympic flame.... as neither the olympic flame nor the ef lhr crew ever go out. :p (Not my opinion but what I've been told:ok:)

Heathrow
L - Lets
H - Have
R - Room service

Gatwick
L - Lets
G - Go
W - Wild

I know where I'd rather be. ;););)

(Oh, none of the above is meant to offend anyone, so please don't start bashing LGW)

[yellowdog]

Heathrow
L - Lets
H - Have
R - Room service

Gatwick
L - Lets
G - Go
W - Wild



I really like that, can I use it?

YD

[Dozza2k]

buddy when you do your east coasts on the 767 its very much
P1+P2+chicken wings+beers from what I have heard.

I'm a shorthauler, and yeh its a very mxed bag.
I have had absoloutly no contact with any crew until pickup on nightstops (whens its 11 hours and 1am by the time you get to the hotel its understandable), and then on some all of us have been out together. A few memorable ones though, nightclubbing in germany, casino night in eastern europe etc, can count those on one hand though.
It seems to me that if the CSD wants to go out, then the CC follow. If the CSD is tired, so are the rest of the bunch.

Tell me i'm wrong!
d2k

ps LGW crews are a pleasure to work with

[sonypc100]

Youve got it slightly wrong but on the right theme!!

Lets

Get

Wan***ed!

:)

[SuperBoy]

I really like that, can I use it?

YD

Ofcourse ya can, :ok::ok::ok:

[apaddyinuk]

Awww.....Someone doesnt get invited for a drink by the Flight crew eh??? Your obviously not in the habit of poking your head through the F/D door...shame on you!!!

Im on the 767 longhaul fleet and must admit...of the three aircraft I work on, the 767 is definately the most sociable and the Flight Crew are mostly very down to earth and up for a good laugh, although the worst Flight Crew I have met encountered so far in BA have also been on the 767!!!

From a worldwide Cabin Crew perspective the crew are usually the younger bunch as all the older lads and lassys are not on the 767 (its a least desirable fleet to be on apparently). I love it however...4/5 day luandas, 6 day Nassaus, chuck in a Dar and an Entebbe....Fun all round!!! Money may be less on the Flying Hairdryer but crew are definately the Hidden Gem of BA!!!

[Flying_Sarah747]

I'm also LHR WW and agree with Paddy. The 767 trips are always the most social, and always my favourite, so if you're joining onto the 767 fleet you won't have much problem about social trips, because I find most of them are. The 767 flies to all the nice warm places eg. Larnaca (which was always a laugh when I was on short haul) and a lot of the African routes, which I've always had fun on, and as Paddy said, Nassau, which has always been a favourite of mine too.

It's hit and miss with crews on the 747 and the 777, but more times than not on the 767 we go out, so don't worry, I think you'll have a great time! :)

[FLYGRA]

I'm Eurofleet CC (just around 16months now).
Seems to me that it's pretty sociable most of the time. There is usually someone who'll want to go out and most of the times it'll be a general invite to everyone, unless a couple of crew have particularly "clicked" and want to keep it to themselves. Don't be put-off by initial statements. I joined a crew recently who all spent all day saying there was no way they were going out that night. Result: a wonderful (and partially memorable) VLN (very late night) for all of us.
Of course you have to bear in mind things like hours, local restrictions, pick-ups, previous sectors etc. Fairly often, you as FC will be joined by CC who may already have worked sectors earlier in the day, or vice-versa. Also of course, on 75/76 you may take CC into a nightstop, but then you and they will be operating different flights the next day as we can sometimes go out on a Boeing and back on an Airbus.
Best for me so far was our Captain who we met waiting for the bus out to the aircraft who's first words were: "Right, Preflight Briefing: pizza and a glass of wine tonight everyone(?)" We never did work out if it was a question, or an instruction!
It isn't always an FC/CC divide. Very often I've ended-up stepping-out with just the Captain or just the FO.
Sometimes you'll arrive at a nightstop hotel and find a note from crew who are already there, as they will be aware that there is another crew arriving. Often the note will let you know where they have gone, and will ask you to join them if you wish.
My advice to you: If you fancy a social, just ask ... there will usually be at least one taker. Just relax and be open, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And if you are desperate but it seems there are no takers, you can always make-up some spurios reason (I've had more than 1 "birthday" in the past few months :hmm: )
Anyway ... Welcome ... Enjoy ... Oh, and mine's a pint ;)

[itsonlyme]

Well guys and girls,

Thanks for the replies, seems like it's real mixed bag but there are a few fun nights to be had if you put the effort in which sounds pretty good to me.

Thanks again and hope to see some of you out and about down route!

[apaddyinuk]

Just dont talk about Planes, The RAF, Pensions, EG300, BALPA or pretty much anything which does not go down well with crew who have had a few bottles of wine (hehe) and you will find yourself having a good time all the time!!!

[keeperboy]

I guess the 767 fleet is the most social for those of us at LHR WW who work on it, probably down to the routes (generally trips with whole days of downroute) and the size of the crew (small!).

Saying that though, the 767 pilots still have a go at us for not being as social as the short-haul crews down route lol. I guess when you are on WW LHR going east +10 hours to west -8 hours, by the time we get to dar es salaam or lusaka we just wanna chill a bit. I can still remember what those LCA 767 trips were like on short-haul! It was easy to get excited about cos it was always a bit of a treat, one sector out to the sun, 24 hours there, one sector back. When your living out of your suitcase on WW it's a bit harder to get excited about being away i guess.

[seasick]

i flew with ba to india not too long ago!

how long are their layovers in mumbai and new delhi? is it 24 hrs?

seasick

[keeperboy]

Yup, both BOM and DEL layovers are 24 hours.

[tomatolover]

Larnaca is easily the most sociable trip on LHR EF. Cabin Crew bid for it for that very reason, and the timings of it allow for a very very late night. There are loads of people who avoid the place like the plague - the sort of types you wouldnt find dancing on a table at 2am after a considerable amount of vodka. :) For this very reason its one of my fave trips ;)

ATH and IST are standovers on the 767 - flight timings are a bit pants, but generally all crew will be up for a bit of daytime exploring.

Am just trying to think what the 757 does.... A fair bit of Eastern European and a bit of Spanish and Italian. - Its a T1 based plane so no swiss for you! (this is not a bad thing, we just like it cos its worth mega bucks)

On the whole I'd have to agree with the others - Some you win, some you lose when flying with Eurofleeters. Generally I go out every opportunity I can, but hey I'm a drunken bender and can easily go to bender bars on my tod.

[Muizenberg]

Generally I go out every opportunity I can, but hey I'm a drunken bender and can easily go to bender bars on my tod.

Some of us on WW have been there, done that and in our mid-30's have decided to try and repair the neglect of 15 years of burning the candle at both ends as well as the middle!;)

[Flying_Sarah747]

But also some of us on World Wide are in our early twenties and still love burning the candle at both ends and in the middle, and still have plenty of damage to do. hehehe :}

[tomatolover]

Good Girl!!!;)

[triple7_jm]

do u guys behave at your stopover or is it crazy and wild.

i like the LHR and LGW saying, its true.

[SuperBoy]

CRAZY and a lil WILD!!!! :p

[triple7_jm]

Now am beginning to like the sound of this. i guess work hard, play hard comes into the picture....:ok:

hope u guys enjoying urself, and no one is getting hurt we dont want that do we.....:=

[Nite flight]

To be fair, you can't really generalize about LHR crew, be they Euro or longhaul - the base is huge, as is the variety of crew employed there - age, experience, background...the list goes on.

A trip downroute is partly what YOU make of it - although it always helps if there are a few others willing to join you...many of the flights I operate have a really mixed bag of crew - you can't really expect a 40-something to want to do the same things downroute as a 20-something, be it in Vienna or Mexico City...you have join LHR with an OPEN mind...some trips are indeed wild and great fun, others can be quiet or even lonely...that's LHR for you. I still think it's a great base with some great crew, and I love my fleet (Euro).