Well it would be nice if other BMed crew could also reply so as to give a rounded view for those thinking of applying. But I shall continue to help with my perspectives.
All dutys are nightstops! Report times at LHR between 1200 and 1500 with a couple of evening reports.
The shortest duty is 24 hours away from home base. This is one sector to either Beirut or Alexandria, minimum rest in the hotel then one sector home arriving back at LHR lunchtime.
The next length duty is 2 nights. Normally a lunchtime report at LHR getting to destination in the evening, next day by the pool then up early to arrive back at LHR for lunchtime. Either just one long sector or one long and one short (each way). These duties tend to be to Amman.
Then we have 3 nighters. Normally to Baku. This one can mess the old body clock up a bit as you tend to Depart LHR at either lunchtime or the evening, then after one long sector you get about 18 hours off then go off to either Tehran or Bishkek through the next night, then about 24 hours off then up early and back to LHR for lunchtime.
4 Nighters to Damascus and Yerevan. 2 sectors down and 2 back with 3 days off at destination.
5 nighter in Damascus - You tend to operate 2 sectors down - one long to Aleppo then one short to Damascus - then you get 4 whole days off (paid of course!) by the pool in Damascus.
It does so often feel like we do one sector then get off and have a beer and a day or two by the pool.
Hotels are good. The nice thing about where we go is the hotels are either flea pits, that the company wouldn't dare put us, or 5 star big chains (Hyatt, Sheraton etc).
So longer slips in Baku, Yerevan and Damascus. Medium slips in Amman. Short slips in Beirut and Alexandria.
All slip destinations are uniquely interesting with quite interesting sub-cultures. Some of these places have to be seen to be believed. The Middle East is particularly interesting and IT IS SAFE! Beirut, for example, is actually the cleanest and safest of all our destinations!
Look Down -
Hours remain fairly constant as we are a scheduled operator. They tend to vary according to amounts of training going on and crew numbers etc. Captains tend to work harder at around 500 hours per year some F/Os did a mere 250 last year!
The crew that live long distances tend to request long trips and tend to come to work 3 times a month. If you request short trips you will generally do 1-3 nighters and come to work 5-6 times per month.
Full BA concessions are available to us from 6 months service with some free tickets given at various intervals.
Days off normally given after each duty normally 2 or 3 consecutively. I believe there is a way of asking for days off down route so one can be rostered to take blocks of consecutive days off at home - but I don't do that.
There are quite a few options open to help one control lifestyle.
I am not sure what the F/Os bring home but I believe it is close to £3000 per month (when busy). Captains will bring home between £3300 for a quiet month and £4000+ when busy. Lots of duty pay here.
We have 4 A320s at present with 2 A321s to be delivered early next year. And, you probably guessed it from our destination list, they work pretty hard!
There is a certificate on our CEOs wall from Airbus awarding us the accolade of being the airline that operates the longest average sector length of an A320 (we use it like a long haul airliner!). We do this by having many fewer seats than any other A320. We have the BA Club World service with the cradle seats and world traveller (basically high yield and lots of legroom). So lots of spare weight to fill up with fuel. My longest sector is 6.20 from Baku. It does get tight sometimes but the use of en-route alternates is extremely rare. Our operation is fairly unique in this regard.
[This message has been edited by jeta1 (edited 20 June 2001).]