Ropey Pilot All major UK airlines, with the sole (I think) exception of easyJet, use a 'rigid' seniority system which means that commands are offered to the most senior FOs only when a vacancy appears. In BA, the lack of expansion and the tendency of pilots to stay until retirement means that time to command is currently over 20 years, and likely to increase when new anti-ageist legislation comes into force next year (their retirement age will go from 55 to 65). Even in Virgin, where I work and where expansion is rife, time to command is around 8 to 10 years - and that's after you've done 7 to 10 years' apprenticeship elsewhere.
Scroggs