Hi there, I came over to BA from a charter earlier this year. Answers…
1). Basic pay only, no allowances. This will work out around ~£2500/month net, until you start line training.
2). No, over to you to find a good b+b or similar!
3). Can't particularly help (I'm shorthaul) but believe 5-6 trips/month is the norm.
4). Entirely subjective this bit...
GOOD POINTS
Job Security. Must be the safest in the UK.
Roster stability. Haven't done anything different to what I've been rostered yet, so you really can bet on being home when you’re meant to with pretty good certainty.
Night stops. Okay, I'm under thirty and single. If you'd rather be at home with the wife and kids then maybe not for you, but having only done day trips in my previous life, am really enjoying getting off at the destinations for a change, sitting out in the sun outside our plush hotel whilst knocking back the beers, chatting up the hosties and getting paid for it all! Allowances add ~£700-1100 to your monthly net pay too.
Leave. 46 days per year ain’t bad in my book.
Staff Travel. A free pair of club world tickets a year? Unlimited First Class ID90s? Yes please…
Last and definitely not least... Pay!
BAD POINTS
Pension really isn't what it used to be. In fact its fairly cr@p.
NO weekends off when you first start. Not a big issue for me once again (see earlier) but maybe for you. No choice in what trips you get too, but then again in my old life neither I nor anyone else had any choice, even senior captains. This will only improve with time though…
Heathrow. No bus to the aircraft? No tug? Pax delayed due to not enough agents in the terminal? Number 15 in the queue to take off? 20 mins holding? This isn't really the place for you if you're the sort who likes everything to function like clockwork and becomes impatient/anxious/angry when it doesn’t. Adopting Carribean accent… You got to relax, mon! Blowing a gasket and screaming at the dispatcher or down the VHF company frequency achieves nothing, you need to know when to think ‘I’ve done all I can’, ask the Purser for another tea when she can manage it then put your feet up and read the paper! You'll get a tug when you get a tug and push when you push. If you can live with that, no worries. Besides, your knowledge of the geographical highlights around Bovingdon, Lambourne, Ockham and Biggin Hill will soon be second to none!
Time to command. Its been well presented in previous posts. This ain’t the place to go if you’re busting for a left seat at the earliest opportunity. On the other hand, a long-haul year 11 FO’s basic gross pay is the same as a newly promoted captain in my old company (~£65k). The BA F/O though, takes home much more because of the much better allowances. He’s also probably seeing the world on the jumbo, as opposed doing to his xxth Night Tenerife of the summer season. I can think of worse places to be.
They can make you work on your days off! This is my only major gripe at the moment, seems quite prehistoric.
In Summary...
There are a LOT of moaners in the company including many here on pprune and no doubt a lot of them will weigh in after I post this. Do a seach and you’ll find volumes of their injustices and lamentations - Its almost enough to put you off applying! Their main problem seems to be we’re working very hard, much harder than before (that and the demise of the cheeseboard). This is true. However since joining I’ve been conducting a quiet survey on every fellow nigel I talk to for >5 mins and I can say that nearly unequivocally that the worst offenders have either…
1. Joined BA straight out of the RAF, or…
2. Joined BA straight out the cadet scheme
No, I’m not casting judgement on ALL ex-RAF folk or ex-cadets, but just making the point you will often find quite a different attitude/demeanour from anyone who’s spent time in a smaller airline. My understanding is that BA pay me very good money to work up to 900 flying hours/1043 duty hours a year in accordance with the Flight Time Limitations and Bid Line Rules. If I really didn’t like that then I shouldn’t have joined, it was no secret!
My old job wasn't at all bad. This one's better though.
Much better.
Hope some of the above helps and good luck whichever way you go,
VS
