Britannia

[Al Francis]

All training has been cancelled for the pilots selected, over the last couple of months.

[tailscrape]

A shame, but hardly surprising I think?

I sincerely hope that all those affected are given first pickings as and when training resumes again. I am sure that Brits will do this, cos they are a quality outfit.

Sorry again to those affected.

[crackerjack]

I think this is a set back for these guys rather than really bad news, Brit have a huge amount of retirements over the next few years and will need crews.

If they do what they've done in the past, the people will be put in a holding pool and given courses at some point in the future.

Tailscrape is right, they are a quality outfit and are worth hanging on for.

Not sure if this has helped any, best of luck to all of you.

[Georgeablelovehowindia]

History repeats itself. Once upon a time, in the last really serious bit of trouble, some twenty five years ago, if my failing memory serves me right, a B.E.A. Trident was doing circuits at Prestwick. This was a batch of ex Hamble cadets being checked out. The call came from London: "Scrub!" The training captain pleaded "Look, I've got this bloke in the seat who needs one more circuit to get checked out. Please give me one more circuit and at least the poor guy's got the type on his licence!" You can guess the response.

No, I wasn't that unfortunate young man. I don't know if he ever kept the faith and eventually made it, but hundreds of others did. Their careers spiralled off into all sorts of directions: Air Anglia, Dan-Air, Britannia, Monarch, Air Europe, Orion, Cathay, Caledonian and finally, incredibly, British Airways.

Us old "grey beards" have seen it all before. Some of us more than once. This time around, providing some madman doesn't blow up the planet, I'm still optimistic, as you have to be in this lark anyway.

Good luck!

[ 22 September 2001: Message edited by: Georgeablelovehowindia ]

[Al Francis]

Lost my job yesterday with Britannia. Extremely upset, but I thought it would be coming. If they do decide to recruit,I'll be given a ring. Until then I'll have to bide my time and keep current. Any other people out there in the same situation?

[chinchaser]

Tigro and Co.

Guys and girls, As a personal comment, I'm in Brit and involved with recruitment, I just found out about the recent decisions and felt for you in a big way. Banging on the doors is not nice and what has happened is doubly cruel. To echo one of the above comments, if you can, Brit is worth hanging on for. The demographics mean that jobs will be there, lets all hope the effects of recent events are as short lived as they can be.

regards

Chinchaser.

[Al Francis]

Chinchaser, I will without doubt wait for Britannia.

[MAX]

I too recieved the bad news yesterday. 9 days from my starting date. I thought it was too good to be true...and it was.

MAX :cool:

[ 22 September 2001: Message edited by: MAX ]

[starship]

Hey guys, I'm in the same boat.....was supposed to be on your type course, Oct 01 at GECAT / LHR. I sincerely hope that we will all meet in the not too distant future, and make a success of everything which is going on. The hold pool is a good thing, lets just pray that this is over sooner rather than later.

Cheers,

starship :)

[Al Francis]

I was meant to start on Nov 5th. Lets make sure this posting keeps going, it's definately worth keeping in touch with people in the same boat. Lets hope that this will be a shortlived as it can be, and we'll all be training with Britannia soon.

[AMEX]

I was on the october course as well :(
A real shame since I was offered a start date last march and because of my boss intervention who never allowed me to go at that time, here I am today, without a job.
Since the like us seem to have gathered on that thread, how about getting in touch and sharing info as they come ?
Hope we will see better days sooner raher than later.

[starship]

Hi again guys, Yeah, we need to keep in touch to at least get as much information amongst us as possible.

Keep the thread going, by whatever means.

May be able to shed some more light on things from sources inside soon, and will post it here as and when things are known.

Best wishes, Hope to see you all very soon.

Cheers,

starship :)

[Bluebaron]

like everyone else here i was totally gutted to hear the news. I was on th 05th Nov course.

However guys we're all professionals and by the sounds of it very positive about the situation. Lets stick together and hope that we can get back on a course in the New Year.

In the mean time i'll be spending my 1 months salary renewing my IR and Medical.

PS. My wife just lost her job at Virgin after 6 years service. and my company is just about to close down so i'll be working at Tesco's over Christmas :)


- - - - - - - - - - - -

keep your chin up :D

[MAX]

Hi guys. I rang the girls at HR the second I got the letter to clarify a few things. I was told that 'yes' we would be contacted should they start recruiting again but the bottom line was they cannot possible know when that time will be. The company wants to look after its pilots on the line firstly. I was told to keep current and that there may possibly be another small interview and sim ride when or if we get a call.

In the meantime keep in contact. Oh, i have interview for a citation job so wish me luck. God knows I need it!!

Also i have released my email address so we may be able to get on first name basis.

MAX :cool:

[ 24 September 2001: Message edited by: MAX ]

[HomerSimpson]

Im so sorry to here of all those who sucessfully made it to Britannia have had their course postponed.

I hope that its not too long before you start. In the meantime, I wish you all the best of luck.

Regards,
Homer

[Dudley]

At the request of INLAK,
I bring up this thread which was burried under 10 days of total carelessness... :cool:

[ 30 September 2001: Message edited by: Dudley ]

[starship]

Hi again everyone..

Don't know what everyone has been told, however this is the state of play as far as I can see it.

Courses which had been filled, ie October and November are to be kept in a holding pool for the forseeable future, pending the outcome of the present situation.

The company do not have any idea at present what the timescale is to the re- establishment of training, however should the situation change at all, then we will be contacted.

Should training be re-established within a reasonable timescale then a returning interview and possibly a sim check again is what may be in order, this however can not be confirmed yet.

The best advice, as stated by BAL is to keep in touch with HR and to gather information amongst us all as and when it comes to fruition.

The only good thing is that BAL is still short of crews, and that can only mean that recruitment would start again at the earliest convenience once a clearer picture of the current situation is gained. The crews that are on the line are being taken care of as far as I can see, which can only spell good things once we finally get into that RHS.

Retirements are here too.

I feel that the present situation, as said before will be a temporary setback and that courses will be offered in the future.

If we all look at it positively...at least we may have that chance. Those guys who have not got into a holding pool so far may have
longer to wait. I hope that everyone finds success in these difficult times, and that we will all be on our type course in the not too distant future.

MAX, if you did go for the Citation job, all the best to you...if it did not work out for you...hope we all see you with Brit soon.

Keep in touch,

cheers,

starship :)

[ 30 September 2001: Message edited by: starship ]

[The Hooded Claw]

Commiserations to all of you who have had your courses put on hold.

I was I this position a couple of years ago. It took a year before I got the call back, but it did come! We had to go through the selection procedure all over again, but the same people seemed to come through and were selected.

Having done it all again a second time, there was another delay of a few months, but the call up eventually came! We were told there may be another short interview but in fact this didn't happen.

I don't think anyone can predict what might happen in the coming months, but I will be having some contact with the training department in the next few days, so I'll try and find out what the current situation is.

It may be a couple of weeks before I reply as I'm away from home for a while, but I'll find a computer somewhere if there is any news.

Fingers crossed for you all.

[MAX]

Hola again and back to the top,

So what is everyone doing? Do we sit on our backsides and pray that the phone will ring? Maybe it will never ring. I for one wont be sitting and waiting. Im not prepared to drop prospective employers as fast as...Britannia dropped me. I want nothing more than this to blow over quickly but the reality is the phone call may never come. Im sure some of us have been in this situation before?

I read an article in the Financial Mail with the only Brit on the board of Pressaug. He said no major layoff decisions until at least 6 weeks when they have a clearer picture of it all. That being said, just how are charter companies fairing? Havent heard much from the mainstream media but I haven't really dug too far. Anybody know? As this will reflect whether we get a call in the future or not.

MAX :cool:

[ 09 October 2001: Message edited by: MAX ]

[ 09 October 2001: Message edited by: MAX ]

[chinchaser]

Guys and girls,

For what its worth the internal picture in Brit is still cloudy as far as those of us on the line are concerned. We had intended to recruit 40-50 pilots this winter, that,as you all know, is now on hold. The good point is that you have completed the selection process, therefore brit will call you. Currently there is talk of being 3 hulls down next summer but this is unconfirmed. Allowing for those retiring and leaving for other reasons means that currently it would appear that the pilot force is stable, ie no redundancies, but as with everything recently things change fast. There are redundancies planned in the support staff roles but not flight crew. Again no comfort, but those who did get through the selection process are few in number compared to applicants, plus those deemed suitable by the team are getting fewer so stick with it in the meantime. Keep in touch with HR it will happen just not as soon as we all hoped.

Regards


Chinchaser.

[starship]

Thanks Chinchaser for the update, I sincerely hope that you are all ok on the line, and that we will join you in the not too distant future.

Cheers, The Hold Pool!

starship :)

[The Hooded Claw]

Having spoken to those 'in the know', the situation is pretty much as chinchaser has already said. The figure of 40-50 recruits was based on retirements and also a number of people leaving for other airlines ie British Airways and Virgin. Obviously that will not now happen so even if holiday bookings pick up, I can't see all the courses being reinstated.

All options are being considered, so don't give up hope. There has been another thread mentioning the posibility of aircraft going to Australia for Quantas. It is only a rumour mind you, but it does show you that things can sometimes unexpectedly improve!

The peak booking period is after Christmas, so fingers crossed that nothing really does stand in the way of the British and their annual holiday.

[crackerjack]

Heard today a rumour of a course in January. Can anyone back this up?

[vnavspeed]

Some comments from recent chats at FL390 suggest that there will be no pilot out of work from Britannia. Planned command courses for the winter will be going ahead and recruitment may commence early in 2002.

A possible twist to those of you on the Britannia hold file could be the ever increasing number of experienced jet pilots now looking for a new employer. It may be possible that Britannia will look at recruiting those experienced 737/757/767 pilots ahead of those originally told they were on the hold file. So, whilst this is not necessarily the fact, by all means keep all your options open and keep in close and constant contact with Britannia HR.

Good luck, Britannia appears to have weathered the storm reasonably well for now - who knows what tomorrow brings.

Stay tuned.

[chinchaser]

Just to support vnavspeed, this appears to be the case, and certainly as far as i'm aware the intention is to pick up the hold pool first.

regards

Chin.

[Constant Speed DU]

Hi all it's Tigro back again but under a different username. Max, did you get the job flying the learjet?

I myself have heard some rumours from friends who work for Britannia. Apparently the command courses which were meant to happen at the end of this year, have been delayed until after the Spring. Therefore, between now and then, S & F/Officers will have to be recruited to replace them. I think Britannia will look at type rated pilots first but they still have to go through exactly the same selection process.

I would also like to say thank you for the postings from people currently working for Britannia - they have been extremely helpful in these awful times! I just hope the wait is not that long, but who can tell?tigro null

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Good thread this. Decent gen.

WWW

[foghorn]

Has anyone applied to Britannia after the WTC disaster and been interviewed?

I requested an application form for the Second Officer job after the disaster since I match their basic criteria (I've only recently got my IR). I received a form, promptly returned it and got a PFO letter back.

I would like to think that this is because they have frozen recruitment, however this is probably wishful thinking of me and they just don't like me! :( I can't see anything wrong with my application unless they are operating a higher TT or a 509-only requirement internally and not telling potential applicants about it? The form didn't have any of those difficult 'why do you want to join xxx airline'-type questions - they just wanted personal details and I've got a fairly sound background (good A levels, an engineering masters degree and solid work experience in a prior career both for a multinational and my own business), so I was a little surprised not to get a shot at an interview. I'm not one of those arrogant 'the world owes me a job' types, I just thought I stood a good chance of at least getting an interview with BY because of their Second Officer scheme. Maybe they didn't like my ugly mug :D.

Anyone else got any info on this? Good luck to those of you in the pool - I'll be trying again once I've increased my hours tally a little.

cheers!
foggy

[ 27 October 2001: Message edited by: foghorn ]

[Bluebaron]

A friend of mine has got a form and he phoned to find out the situation. He was told to hold on to the form until the New year and send it in then.

I would be interested to know whether of not they are interviewing type-rated pilots at the moment or whether they will use the 'so-called' hold pool.

I got the impression from my letter that all bets were off and there was no 'Hold pool'. It would be great if some-one could confirm this.

[blue up]

Got a phone call one thursday (Years ago)..."Wot you doing on Monday? How about getting a 75/767 rating?"

Things will change suddenly.

Keep phoning for news. Make yourself available at short notice, if poss. If BAL doesn't recruit in the not too distant future, then I'll eat my hat (and my roster)

Good luck.

[chinchaser]

Ok gang, neck on the line time i suppose.

as part of the recruitment team, the situation as i understand it internally is fairly straight forward, BUT, this is as i understand it, it isn't official, plus things change fast and often the other way to that which we would expect.

with regards to those who have made it through the recruitment process, both stage one and two ( inc the sim). As a team we have spent time and effort to select you and you have passed the standards set, plus the face fits in the brit way. ( sorry to sound like official bumf!!) Its pointless to spend the time to recruit and then bin.Brit is going to crew, Chronologically challenged P1's can't change that, the numbers required will change dependant on what happens fleetwise etc but simply your first in the queue.

FOGHORN. I started in Brit with 400 hrs and a not too disimilar background. Keep current as best you can, doing some flying instruction pays dividends skills wise, just don't try to live on it!! When we look at people on stage one, bar the standard battry of Psycho, math and verbal reasoning, we look at your character. At stage two in the sim is wether you can fly to the standards required by the trainers. People who are on jets have stuffed this, guys like yourself have passed it, personally i used the force and it worked!! ( I think !) In short its worth applying.

Bluebaron. there is no recruitment going on at the moment, type rated or otherwise. the only cross over training that is going on is the guys and girls on the 73 being reroled to the 75.

Constant Speed (?) TIGRO> Sorry to rain on the parade, Whilst command courses are still on going, Hi age work force therefore more retiring captains, if we are going to be 3 hulls down ( not confirmed) then we are due to have excess crew next season for a period.
I would presume that as bookings are currently way down for next season high cost items, ie us, are going to be looked at very carefully. hopefully, as I don't want to spend all of next summer lookind at the moon, recruitment and training will restart, but later rather than sooner I would say is the current bet.

Keep the chins up and don't give up guys and girls. It is not nice being were you currently find yourselves, but when it happens you will look back and say it is all worth it. You have earn't the right to apply, in itself a challenge requiring dedication, The day will come just keep beliving it.

regards

Chinchaser. :confused:

[Bluebaron]

chincaster, thanks for the info and i would like to second cruise Alt when he states
"I would also like to say thank you for the postings from people currently working for Britannia - they have been extremely helpful in these awful times! I just hope the wait is not that long, but who can tell?"

Thanks again. :)

[foghorn]

Thanks chinchaser - I'll apply again early in the new year. I should be an FI(R) by then also. Whether I've managed to get an Instructor's job, well, that's a whole different story!

Every day, a different challenge, but onwards and upwards - giving in is a sure fire way of never landing that job!

cheers!
foggy.

[ 28 October 2001: Message edited by: foghorn ]

[dv8]

What up with the Britannia Web can get past

Click Here To Continue To Main Britannia Airways Website (http://www.britanniaairways.com/)

[Bluebaron]

works for me this is all you're going to get though......


RECRUITMENT
PILOTS

Click To Close This Window

Thinking of becoming a pilot?

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Learning to fly at a flying school - Build up your hours to 150 at which time you can take an Instructors course, which allows you to teach others. Continue with this until you attain 700 hours flying. Once you have 700 hours you can study for a Commercial Licence after which you become a good employment prospect for an Airline

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All of the above takes time and a great deal of dedication. Good Luck !

[Constant Speed DU]

Chinchaser,
Thank you for the advice, any further news will be greatly appreciated. To keep current, I'm flying a Beagle Pup out of White Waltham and going to the US in Jan to fly a twin for 15 hrs. Also doing a sim at EGTK in the 737-400
If you are ever in London, pop into Transair and I'll buy you a beer. :eek: null

[starship]

Thanks everyone for the info! Greatly appreciated.

Cheers,

starship :)

[Trident Sim]

Foghorn

Congratulations on the IR, and I’m sorry that it’s such a rotten time for you to be looking for your first flying job.

However the large number of retirements that the major UK airlines are facing over the next few years (as their senior pilots reach compulsory retirement age) are a fact of life, and so, sooner or later, someone will be recruiting!

Hang in there, and good luck with the job hunting!

Best wishes,

Trident Sim

[foghorn]

Thanks Trident Sim!

[Constant Speed DU]

Refreshing the thread

[MAX]

Tigro (alias?)

Turns out the gig was a a citation Excel and although shortlisted only one person can get the job. Wasn't me. So....on a positive note Im now working in Ops for a company and who knows?

Spoke with the gals at BY H/R and let them know I'm super keen and ready at a seconds notice. Theyre not sure whats going to happen so keep smiling and keep your eye on the ball.

MAX :cool:

[Constant Speed DU]

Max,
Good to hear from you sorry about not getting the job.
I myself have gone through the ATP selection process and currently awaiting the outcome.Not sure what I will do if successful, I'll probably wait for Britannia.

Keep in touch, flying over your neck of the woods next friday. Going airways to Jersey with an ILS and MAP onto Guernsey (dropping a mate off)

Have a good one! no TIGRO anymore!

[Lets do it INVERTED]

Hi guys,

Just thought I would say hello, was suppose to start on 5th Nov but obviously was not meant to be eh?

Hope this all clears up and fast.

:(

[Constant Speed DU]

Chinchaser,

As you are on the inside, I need advice on a very hard question.

Well, as you know I was meant to start my type rating on 5th Nov but was made redundant. I am now in the holding pool and await a call. I have also been selected for the ATP scheme through CTC aviation in Southampton. However, to get my type rating with them, I have to do "their" MCC course and pass it, which means shelling out £6K. Passing it isn't an issue with a bit of work, but what would happen if Britannia came good and re-offered me a contract. Do you think Britannia would theoretically buy me back off of CTC, type rated on the 757?

If you were in my position what would you do? I just don't want to be in the position that, I am bonded to CTC with no work placement and Britannia re-offer me a contact.

Cheers for the help! I know it's a hard question to answer!chinchaser

[G-LOST]

MAX

Give me a call when you have a mo. Glad to hear that you're still keeping positive!!

LOST

[chinchaser]

Constant speed Du. I am afraid that I cannot give you an answer on this one! Whilst i will try to keep you guys and girls up to speed as best I can, I'm not able to pass judgement on what you are asking. Sorry dude.

Regards

Chin.

[AMEX]

Hey conctant Speed, I know what you mean.
Actually I had applied to the CTC scheme as well but when called for an interview I actually turned it down. My main worry was the money thing. 6K is a lot of money to end end in a holding pool and I am already swimming in one for free so I took the decsion not to go ahead with it. The way I see it is that the day CTC swimmers are called in for placement, chances are that BY will do as well.

Thanks Chinchaser for keeping us updated.

[The Hooded Claw]

The Management are meeting with the union rep's today for an update on the situation. I've no idea whether the news will be good, bad or indifferent.

Either way, there should be information available shortly.

[Constant Speed DU]

Chinchaser,

Thank you for replying. Spoke to Jo today with some questions about the situation I'm in, she's going to get back to me soon.

Also heard from a pilot that there will probably be a course in the Spring. However they'll be looking at type rated pilots first, and not at the hold pool.

Cheers for the updates!!

[The Hooded Claw]

The report is now out. There's a lot of information regarding the management side of things, but no decision yet on next years fleet size. I suspect that firm plans will not be made until the new year. If bookings pick up then, you may be in luck.

[Bluebaron]

sorry to be the bearer of bad news but......

I heard today that JMC have laid off 56 757 rated pilots. Also there are rumours that the whole airline will be folded up in favour of condor (?) airlines the other airline of the parent company or something?

Sorry thats a bit vauge but i'm just passing on what i know!

One hopes that Brits will see the wisdom in continuing to take the hold pool first seeing as we've all already passed the selection and are ready to start tomorrow. However i supose they have to look at the bottom line although these pilots may want to "jump ship" back to JMC if the situation warrents it in the future+plus they may want 'virgin' boys not corrupted by the competition? (or am i just praying too hard???)

anyway fingers crossed.......

PS. i start work at WH Smith today (seriously). :(

[AMEX]

Rumor, rumor but my JMC mate told me that since Citybird has folded they are now taking over their work. So, the latest was that instead of getting rid of 55, it would be 5. Well, don't know if it will be the case or not but thought it could be at last, good news.

[Bluebaron]

Any news lately?

Gone a bit quiet.

[shlittlenellie]

Constant Speed DU,

I too work for Britannia and agree with what Chinchaser has been saying. Regarding BAL buying you back from the ATP scheme; I can't see it happening. If you have little or no line experience to go with a 757 type rating, BAL would have no option but to put you through our conversion course from scratch. In this particularly challenging job environment, it is very unlikely that any bond paying would happen. Personally, I think that if another job offer came through from BAL then, in your position, I would happily wave goodbye to my £6k. The only other side of this is that if you got an ATP offer from Monarch then this would definitely be a worthwhile alternative.

For those of you that are swimmers in the pool and are hoping to join as Second Officers; have less fear about having your positions usurped by experienced and type-rated people. BAL continue to look for ways of cutting costs and forgive me for this explanation, Second Officers are a bit cheaper than First Officers and all this adds up at the end of the year.

Don't give up hope. However, the company is waiting to see how bookings pick up in December-February before making a final decision regarding Summer 2002 and beyond.

(edited to add a bit more)

[ 15 November 2001: Message edited by: shlittlenellie ]

[jax]

Hang in there guys. I waited 7 years but BY were true to there word and called us first before recruiting new guys/girls. They are a good company to work for and worth the wait.
Good luck

[MAX]

Just throwing this back up top. Any recent dirt guys?

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?...

MAX :cool:

[chinchaser]

Hi gang , any one got any news, or are we letting this go quiet!! Unfortunately no change at the moment on the inside, bar awaiting the sales figures in Jan/Feb.

Anything new comes up i'll let you know.

Regards

Chin.

[le loup garou]

Chin.

I believe that there is a back door entry system into Brit, involving five pints and a ruby murry.

Regards le loup garou

[Constant Speed DU]

Back on line. Sorry for not logging in for ages, but no real news except that I am extremely bored working in a shop.

Chinchaser, thanx for continuing the postings - anymore hot gossip or, is it a wait and see how the bookings are in the New Year?

Anyway, made a decision. Going to the ATP academy in Jan to do the course. This will at least double my chances of proper work and save me from going insane. I know it's alot of money to fork out but after speaking to several TC's within Britannia, I think it is definately the right decision to make. I probably won't be bonded to CTC until Summer which creates a window for Britannia to get back to me.

Anyway guys and girls, keep your head up and lets hope it,s all been a bit of an over reaction on everyone's part.

P.s. If anyone has a friend who is a journalist, please ask them to write an article, telling the general public not to wait until the last minute to book their summer hols as they probably won't get one.

Speak soon!
Constant Speed D U (formerly TIGRO) :eek:

[The Hooded Claw]

No news on recruitment yet, but the management have just offered us a small pay rise for next year. Hopefully this is an indication that things are going to plan, and the bookings are not down too much at this stage.

Considering some of the opposition are taking pay cuts, I was astounded to be offered anything at all!

Constant Speed DU - go and do the ATP thing, and worry about the bond later! Easy to say I know, but in your position, I'd grasp any oportunity going.

[tailscrape]

Constant speed.

Go do the ATP. I am an ex cadet with them. I fly a 757 for another UK charter operator now. I always wanted to work for Brits, but they just never came up with the goods at the right time.

ATP is excellent. If you do the course, just forget about anything else. Forget about Brits. If they ring before you join your airline, go to them. But I don't think they will.

I am pretty well connected in Brits...a TRI/TRE friend rang me today. He believes that when they do recruit in the future, that they MAY go for type rated 757 guys who are available and suitable before they go back to the un rated holding pool. It all comes down to economics. Of course they may not.

I guess what I am saying is do not wait. Brits are good, but so are the lines that ATP will get you in.

Expect a 737 course i reckon. easyJet maybe??

You have done extremely well to get in the ATP. It is tough.....but then again you are obviously quality as you got selected by Brits too. Enjoy it. I loved it.

Best rgds.

[Constant Speed DU]

Thanks a lot for the replies! Much appreciated in these testing times, if you are ever up in London, pop into Transair and I'll buy you a pint! Cheers!

[Constant Speed DU]

Refreshing the thread

[Constant Speed DU]

refreshing thread

[MAX]

B*ll*cks to this. I dont have a penny to spend on anything for Christmas let alone more Training!! Though since having been bumped with Brits Oct. I have had 2 interviews with private operators (1 waiting for call!) and have managed to gain RH jet time with a TRE at my current work. So all things considered Im not in such a bad situation after all. Make the most of a bad one and have a great Christmas guys.

MAX :cool: HoHoHo

[ 10 December 2001: Message edited by: MAX ]

[chinchaser]

Just refreshing the thread and happy crimbo guys and girls next year may well bring better things for us all!!!!!

Chin. :p

[starship]

To all Britannia 2001'ers, Happy Christmas and New Year. As Chinchaser says, lets just hope that 2002 holds some good luck, positive development (mass exodus to IBZ) and brings some good news for us all.

Best Wishes everyone.

Cheers,

starship ;)

[crackerjack]

Good luck to you all! Hope to see all you boys soon at the best airline I know.

Merry Christmas

XXXXX

[Constant Speed DU]

Yeah! Happy Christmas everyone - have a good one.

[Constant Speed DU]

refreshing thread

[Dudley]

Constant Speed, your dedication is remarkable. Happy new year and merry christmas !!

<img src="wink.gif" border="0"> <img src="wink.gif" border="0"> <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[ 21 December 2001: Message edited by: Dudley ]</p>

[dv8]

DU
May I suggest you set up a yahoo email group.

We ex-Gill Airways crews found this a tremendous help/support in our re-employment endeavours.
Best of luck
Rgds
dv8

[starship]

Quotes in the newsletter of the IPA :

'There will be no pilot recruitment for the forseeable future. Any vacancies will be filled by those pilots already in the holding pool. New applications will not be processed until at least the early part of 2002'

Just incase you had not seen this.

It is encouraging to see the holding pool mentioned. Hopefully, this information will have come from a reliable source.

Cheers, Best Wishes for Xmas, and to a 2002 filled with typeratings, circuits and line training!

starship <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[chinchaser]

Starship, I'm in the IPA and I believe that the newsletter is normally compiled by Trevor Newton who in my experience is a very reliable source and whilst i was hunting was a great support.

To the best of my knowledge this is the case so hang in there guys and girls.

Have a good Crimbo and heres to a good new year!


Chin

[MAX]

Howdy. Anyone checked out the new Brits website? Needs some work me thinks. Anyway, can someone please email me Jo's email as I am Mr forgetful.

MAX <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

[Bluebaron]

Well i hope every-one had a good Chrismas.

I here from sources in the airline (sister-in-law's, friends, brother!) that there is a note in the crew room stating that recruitment will begin again in the New Year. Only a rumour but i'll thought i'll pass it on.

In the mean time i've been offered a job instructing which i guess beats working for WH Smith so i'll probably take it. A bird in the hand and all that.

Hope 2002 works out well for us all.

BB <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[MAX]

Lets all hope 'recruitment' means a phone call to the hold pool and not Q & A time to type rated pilots. <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

Now how about that email adress guys? It will save me having to ring again....

MAX <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

[Dudley]

Max
Check your email, it doesn't seem to work...

[MAX]

Got email adress thanks. Something up with email thingy!!! BlueBaron, cant send them to you either. Bl@*dy thing!!

MAX <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

[BronzeAge]

Max, Dudley and co,

I,ve been reading your postings with great interest as I made it through the Brits selection in mid September.
Not quite in the same boat as you guys as I wasn't given a start date but told that my details would be kept on file etc,etc

I havn't spoken to the HR department since the letter so it was great to find this thread.

Have a good one tonight!!! Cheers..

<img src="smile.gif" border="0"> <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[MAX]

Anyone having a working New Year? Just finished a shift and have to be at Airport for 7am 2moro! <img src="frown.gif" border="0">

MAX <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

[Dudley]

Me working 2morrow as well !!!

Happy New Year everybody

[Constant Speed DU]

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year and lets hope the telephone rings this year!! Hope the hangovers aren't too bad!!

[The Hooded Claw]

I've not seen a note about recruitment, but then I don't seem to have gone to work for a couple of weeks.

I'm back at work at the weekend, so I'll post something when I get back if no-one beats me to it.

Happy new year to you all!!

[starship]

Hooded Claw! Cheers, any information from the inside would be appreciated by all in 'the hold'.

In addition, any info on whether or not the fleet will be down a hull or two this year would be appreciated. Just something which had been considered a possibility.

cheers,

starship <img src="smile.gif" border="0">

[BronzeAge]

Happy New Year all..

I spoke to HR yesterday and still no news...

Thanks for that address Max

[The Hooded Claw]

I've been in a few crew rooms this weekend, and I haven't seen anything about recruiting.

I would be very surprised if we don't though, as we'll be very short next summer.

Don't give up hope, and I'll keep looking out.

[chinchaser]

Starship, the last news we have been given by our brave leaders was that there won't be a reduction in hulls unless the Jan/Feb sales are really poor. word is that so far sales are on the up therefore hopefully all will be well. But the calorifically challenged female has not sung yet!!

All the best
Chin <img src="tongue.gif" border="0">

[starship]

Chin, cheers for that. Lets hope the calorifically challenged :) lady becomes vocally challenged and makes herself scarce. She seems to have disappeared from the tail, so maybe we are in for a good year.

Best Wishes to all in the hold, and at Brit for 2002.

cheers,

starship <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

[Constant Speed DU]

Happy New Year to everyone! Let's hope this year brings some good fortune and we actually get airborne!!

The only thing I have managed to find out is that BAL are talking to OATS as they are thinking of starting a cadet sponsorship scheme in the next couple of years.

Anyway, thank you for the news on the inside!

MAX, sorry only got your mail the other day, I've been away.

[starship]

Refreshing thread. <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

cheers,

starship

[Constant Speed DU]

Unfortunately, I heard today that all of the charter airline bookings are up 20% on previous years except for the Thomson Group.Has anyone else out there got any more info?

I also heard that if someone is made redundant, the company cannot offer the job to anyone else until they have re-offered it to the previous employee/s. This apparently stands for a three year period.Can anyone enlighten me to whether there is any truth in this fact.

Anyway, lets hope that bookings get better and we get a call!

[Kempus]

Hi folks!

I hope i can help with some info for you guys. I am at the moment a travel agent working for Thomas Cook and well what i can say is that we are dam busy! The package holiday market is really starting to get momentum and it dosent look like it is going to stop until the holidays run out which, alot of them are.

We are also begining to take alot of long haul bookings so there is light at the end of the tunnel for the larger carriers too.

What alot of the tour operators which have thier own airline (ie. JMC, Airtours, Thompsons etc) are doing is adding an "air security fee" to all bookings in order to recuperate the lost revenue over the past 5 months!

As for being made redundant, i was paid off in october but started again this week but as i took no redundancy pay so they could hire me straight away however, other colleagues who took redundancy pay, cannot be hired for at least 6 months although we are shouting for staff! Not sure how it works for you but just wanted to add my wee bit!

Anyway hope you find that a little helpfull as to be honest i'd much rather be flying them to bloody Ibiza than just booking them to go there! Chin up, it's picking up!!

Cheers, Kempus

[MAX]

As I see it Constant, because we never made our start date, or therefore passed the probation period we never were actually made redundant. I guess we were really never on the payroll to begin with. We just were not fully recruited. Therefore, policy or not, we dont qualify. I think it covers the pilots on the line in case of such an eventuality. Do you think?

MAX <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

[BronzeAge]

I bumped into a Brit Training Captain at work this morning - friendley sort. Unfortunately he said that the company would take on 757/767 rated guys initially when recruitment begins again. Although he did say that all the charter companies would have the same idea.

Cheers All.......

[MAX]

Just how many 757 rated pilots willing to live in Glasgow are there? :)

MAX <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

[wysiwyg]

At JMC last year GLA was the most in demand 757 base.

[tailscrape]

MAX,

To join brits i will go to GLA, and I have a 757 rating and more than 500 hours on type. And I had applied pre Sept 11, and they had replied and will be in touch in the future they said. So, there is one for you. Sorry mate.

[BronzeAge]

Tailscrape, I would have thought that you still need to pass the two day selection process. <img src="wink.gif" border="0">

[tailscrape]

Yes, I know that. But I think I may be able to do that....I hope.

This isn't about me. It is a response to a comment. Brits are a good airline, and plenty of experienced drivers would jump to move there. That is my point.

[MAX]

I'm sure you are absolutely right Tailscrape. I was being facetious about GLA more than anything else. Personally I would live on Mars if they gave me my course date back.

Good luck.

MAX <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

[Airbus A320]

If I had to live in GLA to even get a job on a Cessna Caravan or Jetstream I would do it without hesitation (though, I don't think Buckfast is really allowed in the flight deck these days.....)

[tailscrape]

Max,

As a slight ray of hope....although it is not an official source: A good friend of mine who is a VERY senior Brits Skipper thinks that when recruitment begins, you guys in the pool will be in first. This is the way they have done things in the past.

That is good news for you lot. After all you are the ones who were first in. However, he may be wrong , it is only his opinion.

Things are looking up, keep searching and remember Brits are not the only airline. A bird in the hand etc.....

Good Luck.

[Constant Speed DU]

Refreshing thread

[Robbie-Rocket-Pants]

Hello Chaps,. .I have only recently found your thread and I feel for you all.. .I have had a re-issue of my 757/767 Flight Crew Training Manual and was wondering if any of you might like the old copy to browse through for when things brighten up for you.. .First hold-pool Britannia chap to reply to [email protected] can have it.

. ........it's gone now.

[ 01 February 2002: Message edited by: Rumpelstiltskin ]</p>

[MAX]

Mighty kind of you. Ive dropped you an email and hope I was quick enough.

MAX <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

[Bluebaron]

Well missed out there, always next time.

Thanks for the support of everyone this is a really postive thread.

[Constant Speed DU]

MAX,

Any chance of borrowing the 757/767 FCM after you?

[Constant Speed DU]

Back to the top!

[MAX]

I guess to be fair once Ive had a good read I should put it up for the lottery again.

MAX <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

[Constant Speed DU]

Refreshing thread!

[chinchaser]

hi gang! Its good to see that the theread's still going, unfortunately no news from the inside at hte minute, but should things change no doubt you'll find out before those of us on the inside!!

one snippet you may find of intrest, long haul on the 767 is now restricted to a very limited number of crews, MAN and LGW with a small seniority based group for winter ops only. Basically this means that whilst those who end up at MAN, LGW and BHX may get rated to the 767 after a year on the line, the shopping trips to Orlando will be a while after!. . I accept not an imediate concern but something that will effect!

All the best and keep with it all.

regards

Chinchaser.

[MAX]

I was in Geneva for a quick espresso Saturday and couldnt keep my eyes off the 4-5 Brittania aircraft. The first Sat. of the school break and everyone was off skiing I guess. It was very demoralising, believe me.

MAX <img src="cool.gif" border="0">

[The Hooded Claw]

Don't get your hopes up yet guys, but the rumour withtin at the moment is that we could be operating two extra (Swedish) 757's this season.

As far as I can make out, no desision has been made on recruitment at the moment, and the issue of type rated pilots being available is being generally discussed.

[Hang the Bandit]

Hi R! I was under the impression that we were getting 2 75's from Sveeeden, but were giving se-duk and another leased a/c back to whoever, and so keeping the same amount of a/c? Have I got that wrong?

Anyway guys, I'm flying with a v.senior TC next week so I'll ask what the score is.

If anyone in the pool wants my old 75 training manual get in touch. I'll obviously only be able to pass with some proof tho!

Hang in there, it WILL happen eventually. It's no fun until you've waited at least 18 months!!! :)

[email protected]

[The Hooded Claw]

Hi there Willy, I see you have a bad case of multiple identities!!

You may well be correct there, but I was under the impression that SE-DUK was staying. At least we aren't reducing the fleet!

[Constant Speed DU]

Thank you for the updates!Lets hope that they drain the hold pool first rather than going for type rated pilots.

[wysiwyg]

To all those in the holding pool - it looks like there won't be a large number of 757 rated pilots on the market as was previously stated. I believe Air2k only laid off 12 rated pilots (and are highly likely to take them back) and JMC 757 redundancies are down from 55 to 17 and falling rapidly. Cougar have soaked up 10 rated guys and DHL are mopping up a large number.

[Fly Star]

Refreshing thread to report a no event :

I had Jo K. a couple of days back. She said no change, nothing is happenning at the moment.

It was my useless contribution today !

[Mr Bombastic]

Just come across your thread guys, even though it appears to have come to a halt.

It appears there's gonna be 14 75-rated guys @ CTC who will be interviewed by Britannia, and go thru' their selction towards the last week of June. It does appear that their recruiting is on the move, albeit with type-rated pilots being looked @ 1st.......but this does make more economic sense for the time being.

I'm sure it won't be too long before they start looking @ their own pool!......things can only get better!!!! :)

[BronzeAge]

I know this has been discussed in depth before but I find it really frustrating that guys can practically buy their way into a job.

This news is a great blow to my hopes.

Any comments?

[Wee Weasley Welshman]

Rumour Control says Monarch are talking to CTC about 6 cadets for Autumn. Britannia rumoured to be looking at 12 MAYBE 24 for October/November courses.

Perhaps CTC was the place to be...

WWW

[schuler_tuned]

Bronzeage- FI course= aprox £5k
CTC AQC= aprox £5k
Applying the 6p's during CPL/IR training could possibly negate
the contingency fund and allow the above option; horses for couses.
If you're really talking about paying for jobs, then the above pales against a certain low cost operators"Farther Ted" policies!

[wysiwyg]

I can't help but wonder if the story here is that with no recruitment in the charters for a year or so all the existing FO's are getting up towards potential command hours (even though there are no command vacancies) so when the vacancies do open up the airlines need FO's that are prepared to spend a goodly amount of time in the right seat, i.e. people who will take a long time to reach the minimum hours requirement.

Just a thought
wizzy

[tailscrape]

Wysiwyg,

I guess there is a little truth in that, however I think it more likely that Brits have been offered a great deal by their former chief trainer.....

CTC is a known quantity, and has a good reputation.

[MAX]

Well...?

MAX:cool: