Originally Posted by
White Van Driver
1. Thats the ballpark of where you would start. BA & BALPA are very shortly announcing a raft of improvements with a view to a unified pay structure. This will need to be voted on of course, but if it goes through it is effective middle of the year.
2. Not my area of expertise! I would say though, I find it difficult to understand why you would not consider doing a few years on a boeing first then bidding across to the A350 after your freeze, for the remaining 30 years of your career? I don't consider you as acting entitled - you have options and that is fine to know what you would be willing to move across for, i just dont quite understand it.
3. Sorry again not my area of expertise! I have my views about the war and how it might play out but i cannot say what this will do for BA's hiring in the next few months!
4. Very doable so long as the trial 3 days off between LH trips is implemented permanently. Commuting domestically is common and BAEF BACF BA are all one company for staff travel.
5. You would need to be super senior to get a line with such long sectors that you ran out of recency. Expect 3 or 4 landings a month is my guess on the 350.
6. I haven't found this at all, most LH trips are quite social. I can imagine it being less so SH as a min rest night stop in DUS with an 0400 show time for 3 sectors is a different proposition. Also SH swap out cabin crew all the time and it is common to finish the day with a different set of crew to those you started the day with, making a connection harder to establish. But LH doesn't have that at all and I've always found at least some of the crew are keen to do something.
Good luck with whatever you decide. Think what 80 year old you would have to say. If you do decide to give BA a go, there are a few hurdles to get over (wars affecting recruitment, the interview process, being offered 350) so i would advise getting going quickly so you aren't mid-process when your command comes up!
Let us know how you get on.
thank you very very much for your detailed response and insights sir. Those are certainly some wise words at the end
to clarify, as this seems to be where most people are questioning me, my comment about the 350 or bust are not for any real superficial reasons. Of course, IMHO, the 350 is by far the most desirable aircraft to fly in terms of flight deck and commonality with my existing rating however at the same time a modern jet is a modern jet and a plane is a plane and it’s perhaps even less of a deciding factor when it comes to LH as indeed lifestyle plays the bigger role. As such my comments about the 350 were more about the fleet and not the plane, having spoken to a few of the people I know who have gone to BA (all SH and I’m sure this plays a role) the consistent message I have had is that being junior on the 777 at BA especially as DEP is not what you want to do. I’ll freely admit this is quite a sweeping statement but the impression has stuck with me