Par,
Not quite. At the bottom of the pile on the triple expect five or six trans-Atlantics and not being able to make CAP. However as a blind line holder which is the most probable scenario, you are CAP protected (CAP being the monthly amount of work you must achieve, or your basic pay is docked). Your normal situation would be RUH, JED, IAD, CAI, EWR, PHL and LAD (Luanda), generally over weekends. These are generally considered to be the unpopular trips, for a variety of reasons ranging from lack of credit to some of them being in Saudi (having said that, RUH isn't that bad). As with all 777 pilots, expect 800+ flying hours before any overtime. As a newbie, you would expect a reserve month about once a year.
I'm about a third of the way up the co-pilots list. I can achieve weekends off with a reasonable choice of trips (not Beijing, Brazil, Cape Town when we do it, or the Caribbean) or achieve good trips (everything except Beijing and Cape Town) if I forego a couple of weekends.
However, the retirement bulge is largely over so you are likely to languish at the bottom of the pile for quite a few years.
On the 'bus at LHR, you will not see a weekend, you will be working close to maximum days with gypsy tours and early starts.
As you would be bottom of the seniority list, commands will be in the order of 15-20 years after joining on all fleets except shorthaul at LGW which is less, however there is a pay cap and inferior T&Cs to LHR. Also, there's no Final Salary Pension for new entrants. However, our current T&Cs are reasonable with good hotel agreements and your roster will be pretty much set in stone, which itself is worth its weight.
P1,
You would get six weeks of leave per year, two of which are Duty Free Weeks which you can work over if you choose. These are allocated on a points (rather than seniority) system based on the previous eight seasons, although the more senior you are, the more points you are likely to have accumulated. Each leave week is allocated a number of points (eg. Christmas week = 1 point, middle of Feb = 5 points). The more points that an individual has, the greater his pick of leave slots. However, if you get Christmas off you would be allocated one point to your total, which would reduce your ability to bid for a popular slot the next year. Most people bid for a mix of high and low point weeks. Leave can only be taken in one or two week blocks. There is a facility to swap leave blocks subject to availability.
Hope this helps. Good luck to anyone who applies.
Last edited by Human Factor; 21st April 2004 at 13:30.