This thread... and a number of others on the site (especially the one about BA Wanabees in the recruitment section) are real eye-openers if you're looking for a new employer.
I've done a bit of digging and spoken to a few recent BA employees (got some contacts through mates), and the universal message is a total thumbs-down.
No-way-join-BA if you have any sort of career at the moment.
The seniority system (for absolutely EVERYTHING) dumps all the rubbish at the door of anyone in the bottom quarter of any fleet... and stops you changing fleets too!
I thought that the talk of "no weekends off" and "20+ years to command" sounded like the usual rumour rubbish... but not so.
All the guys I've spoken to say exactly the same thing. Quite a few told me that they wished they'd never joined, and are looking to jump ship... Emirates, Virgin, Easy have all been mentioned.
These guys are all on the old (i.e. decent) pension... how much worse will it get under the new version?
Also, word on the streets is that the only reason that the current pilots are fighting the new pension proposal, is simply in order to protect their own scheme... they are worried that they could be transferred.
If BA offer the pilots something to "ringfence" the old scheme for current employees, my contacts tell me that BALPA will roll over on the new scheme proposals straight away... they don't really care about the Ts & Cs of new joiners (why would they?).
Also, the cost of living in the South East (or commuting) seems to erode any pay increase that people get from being in BA... and the fact that you'll do 900 hours (longhaul) or 800 (shorthaul) with 11 days off a month, makes the package look dreadful.
I wouldn't apply now, for sure.