Originally Posted by
Busdriver01
Would you say it’s better to get in ASAP, on the SH fleet, take the engagement freeze and then go LH, or wait an extra year until you’ve the hours for a DEP LH position but with a lower company seniority?
Just to re-iterate what wiggy says above, if you want a long career at BA, AND commuting is not an issue for you (ie you live relatively close to Heathrow) then I would say take the first slot that comes up. Who knows when recruitment will stop (so you might end up not getting in at all) or alternatively by waiting you might cede 300 seniority places which in the long run will come back to haunt you. Either way I can only really see downside if you definitely want to work for BA.
On the subject of direct entry long haul, I have never really understood why people see it as such a golden ticket. Perhaps with the exception of commuters for whom a short haul job would not be practical. For most though, the reality as a long haul DEP is you are going to join a fleet at the bottom, and pretty much stay there for years. Maybe if you are in your 20's and single that's not so terrible. If you have a family or other commitments it looks like a disaster to me. I would argue the lack of control for junior people under JSS coupled with some of the bruising junior rosters on long haul (6 trips a month) would take their toll on just about anyone in the timescales we are talking about - I would re-emphasise that this could go on for years and years. Perhaps that is why we are now seeing, a small but statistically significant number of resignations from Junior people who joined on long haul as DEP's only to find it was unsustainable.
The alternative is you join on the Airbus and watch your relative seniority rise quickly if recruitment continues, as I believe is likely. You get your lifestyle back far more quickly and when you do eventually go long haul, thanks to the DEPs who don't subscribe to my views, you won't start at the bottom all over again.