Well the Sunday papers are boring, so I will give it a go!
Somewhere between learning to fly and flying bizjets, there would be some other steps. Not to far up on that end of the career, but somewhere there woould be hours building, instructing, crop spraying, CPL course, ATPL then bizjets as co-pilot. He would have been aiming at 'Direct Entry Pilot' (ie not trained by BA- which is unpaid anyway). Late 80s and early 90s saw the end (until the first Gulf War changed it again) of a dearth of new entrant pilots into BA. Very few came in from mid 80s onwards. There were some new entrants by '89. The selection process gave a sim ride as part of the weeding out process. Then a Holding Pool until summonsed. At induction, pay starts on basic, uniform supplied, induction courses completed, technical course (preference expressed, but you go wherever and whatever posted to) at Cranebank (east LHR) onto whatever posted on followed by simulator training (about 16 sessions for new entrants). Sims run from 0600-2300 daily every day, 1 hr briefing, 4 hours in the box with coffee break, 1/2 debrief. Not more than a day between sessions, Safety Equipment Procedures (couple of days). Masses of work, not enough time, loads of manuals to read. Get yer own accommodation, so support provided. Leave- you must be joking- all conversion work takes priority. Now that zero flight time sims are a fact (ie good enough to substitute real thing flying circuits), he will next be rostered trips with Training Captain- probably about 30 or so with a real co-pilot sitting in supernumary seat until issued with Operations Certificate. Then be 'brown lined' to make sure he doesn't fly with a newly promoted or converted Captain for 3 months. Then he will be out on his own, expected to be 100% effective, able to do full Category 3 autolands in bad weather and handle all normal problems downroute. I converted with a new entrant in 1989 who went on to be a Concorde copilot and is now a 747-400 Captain