Originally Posted by
midnight_aviator
Question aimed at BA pilots. I am a current 320 captain at a well known orange airline, 1000PIC, 5000TT. Still have a longhaul itch that I might want to scratch at some point in the future which I cannot fulfill at my current airline. BA obviously offers options for short and long haul to tickle any future itches when my kids are older and I don’t want to regret not leaving earlier when I could. If I were to jump ship to BA, would I be completely mad? Also I assume there are never any DEC positions that come up so would I go in as FO at paypoint 1 and bottom of the seniority pile or is there discretion to go in at a higher PP? Would I have to wait for my seniority number to come up to get my command back, be it short haul or long haul? I am pretty clueless about how it all works in a seniority based airline and don't know how rigid it so I would like peoples thoughts and insights please. Thanks in advance 👍
Hi Midnight. One thing to know about BA is that seniority rules (pretty much) everything. From bidding for trips each month, to bidding for a command or a fleet change. Pretty much the only thing unaffected is bidding for annual leave, which is a level playing field.
It works. It's pretty transparent, but just a different way of thinking. (I joined from non seniority based carrier). There is zero wiggle room to enter on a higher PP or seniority number. Everyone starts at the bottom! The saving grace at the moment is that things are moving fast. Very fast. With your experience you would be eligible for direct entry long haul FO (which comes with a slightly pay hike over direct entry short haul), and would quickly find people starting in the weeks and months after you. You'll move up the list with every person starting after you. As such, if you're going to take the plunge, the sooner you get in, the sooner you get on the list!
Also with your experience, you'd be able to bid for an A320 command, and likely have it within 1-2 years of joining, although that would kick the long haul option down the line for a few more years while you sat out your type rating/OCC freeze for 5-7 years. However it would mean if you then made the move to long haul at that point, you would return to being a senior FO, albeit with those years of seniority under your belt.
Hope i haven't confused things too much, but in summary, if you want to scratch the long haul itch... get in ASAP as you'll be further up the seniority list than if you delay. Long haul is a very mature and relaxed operation, with lots of excellent operators in both seats. You won't have a long haul command for a while, but the operating environment certainly goes some way to compensate for that.