Originally Posted by
captain.weird
What about commuting from West Europe? Anyone doing that with AL or is BA/VS a better option?
Some try, for some it works for others its a failure. We don't have commuting rosters and I haven't seen any appetite from management to go down this path to retain foreign pilots (we lose quite a few that join after a while as they logically want to be close to home). We have a preferential bidding rostering system which sometimes gives you what you want and other times not. There is little transparency on why it works or fails but you can email someone if you can be bothered. The commuters are mainly on the longhaul who have a different rostering system and days off following a trip. Those commuting on short haul will invariably bid for as many overnights away from Dublin as possible to reduce accommodation costs (you are not in any way guaranteed these as they are highly sought after from contracting commuters as well as the young FOs). Rosters can be "Friday changed" for the following week (Monday to Sunday) but your published FREE days cannot be changed. We work a 5 on 3 off roster but a few times a year this can be reduced to 5/2 for a month. Also our network and pairings is not as extensive as someone like BA so bear in mind that you may finish a rostered duty and miss your last flight home or find that during winter we have reduced frequency. If you are starting a week of earlies which typically have reporting times around 0600 then you will need to be in the night previous. The reverse happens on lates where you will most likely miss the last flight home on your day 5 so will be commuting on your days off. It would be very difficult to try and organise a swap to finish early on a series of late duties to facilitate you going home if there is a flight due to FTLs and rest periods (assuming the other person is willing to swap). Its your responsibility to be in work for reporting time and missing a connection due to snow, late arrivals, cancellations etc won't be tolerated by management. All of these factors will have an influence on whether you can or are prepared for the potential stress of trying to organise swaps to make your roster work.
Bear in mind that EI is an Irish airline and is managed out of Dublin although we have a small flight crew base in Cork. You need to appreciate this fact if you intend on joining. Its entire thought process is essentially Dublin centric and its always been that way. Most foreigners that join tend to find that its just as easy to set up roots here in Ireland than it is to mess about stressing over your roster from month to month. Problem therein is the high costs of living. Before joining run the numbers through an online tax calculator and do a google search on cost of living in Dublin.
On the plus side - commuting can be free if you can make it work. You can
JS in uniform anywhere on our network so long as the Captain gives approval.