Originally Posted by
hungarianbusdriver
Im not a BA or LH pilot either, so I dont really have an actual insight,
As someone who has done both, I can say fixed pattern short haul is many magnitudes less fatiguing than junior LH (and the SH days are nothing like what's quoted - many consecutive 4 sector days simply don't work, so over the 9 day cycle, (Inc 4 days off), my average is about 8-14 sectors total, rarely finishing after midnight, except during peak summer disruption). 85 minutes from my rural front door to actually being airborne. And the lack of jet lag and chaotic sleep patterns, is not trivial.
It does surprise me the precipitous seniority related gradient for pay and QoL at BA has persisted so long under UK employment law, given the successful tribunal claims which have bankrupted councils around the country from employees who claim unequal pay and terms for doing equal work/value added (and even more so given that NY and the like are both the most junior and the most profitable routes. The council workers shuffing paper or a bit of light cleaning 9-5 in a nice warm office, were judged equal with bin workers out in the rain at crack of sparrows, and freezing cold and knackered warehouse workers, so equating a junior FO doing 5, even 6, east coasts a month, with other sitting by the pool in Rio, and flying far less for more money, should be an open and shut case)! It is amazing that >2 year junior bods haven't already made a claim for back pay (6 years?), which would be both very lucrative for them, cost BA an absolute fortune, and bring the seniority and pay scale legacy tumbling down.