Originally Posted by On standby
I know several Captains on 737s who went elsewhere rather than fill in the form. Perhaps that made them unsuitable for Thomsonfly. However, when you are more experienced, surely where you went to school and what exams you took is a little irrelevant.
If you want to join the party you have to jump through the hoops. I think its an HR Department thing.
Indeed. I can't see the relevance either, but remember, Thomsonfly (formerly Britannia) have not employed direct entry captains for many, many years. This form was designed around 200hr newbies and sadly the company's administration hasn't kept pace with 'events'. I'm not trying to justify it, just point out that the form was never designed for the purpose that it is now being used for, or rather 'was' being used for as I hear direct entry commands are on hold. To be honest, the form is a pain, but if you would rather go somewhere else and forego what is on offer then good luck. Like I say, I think there are many suitable internal applicants now so missing out on a direct entry command into a career airline is a brave decision based purely around the application form....the days of direct entry commands may be over for some time.
Time to command depends on when you joined and how many hours you have when you join. Minimum is 3000hrs to be considered, but remember it is primarily done on seniority and joining now you will be something like 670 on the list. If the expansion continues as rumoured, then we will be recruiting 500 more pilots over 5 years, which means an awful lot of commands too and I can see someone joining with say 1500hrs taking only 2-3 years to be considered AS IT STANDS AT THE MOMENT. However, if the expansion stops I think someone joining now will sit there for 10+ years again. Remember that there are a lot of pilots on the seniority list as high as about position 350 that have less than 3000hrs TT at the moment, so even based on seniority, if you have 3000hrs when you join you will leap-frog many if you are suitable. If you don't have the hours then it is a lottery as every year that passes will see more pilots in front of you reach 3000hrs and be in a position to bid and 'trump' you by virtue of their more senior position. Like I said though, if things continue at their current pace then it should only be a few years. Also remember that some pilots will be deemed not suitable for command despite their hours and seniority.
PP