BA to recruit DEPs on to the 744.
BA will shortly be advertising in Flight International for 40 DEPs to join the 747-400 fleet. The recruitment plan for the forthcoming training year (Apr 01 to Mar 02) is to recruit 60 - 80 DEPs and 100 - 120 CEPs.
The inside word from recruitment is that BA is "desperately short of suitable candidates". Apparently, Birdseed has been having a tough time recruiting experienced pilots on to its short-haul operations, so it has been decided to open up the 747-400 fleet to DEP recruitment to make the job more attractive.
Also, BA recruitment is finding that many potential CEPs are questioning why BA actively recruits graduates, yet only pays secretaries salaries (once you have survived 12+ months on bread and water during your training).
Anyway, for those of you interested in joining the 747-400 fleet at BA, please note that with no seniority on the fleet you will be spending your life in JFK, NBO, LOS and CCU. Add to that the fact that your basic pay will be less than that of a train driver and that your take home pay will be less than 90% of the cabin crew on any of your flights. Did I mention that you'll get no respect whilst you only have 2 stripes and that your managers will be more interested in being politically correct than fighting your corner.
Still life isn't too bad because you'll have plenty of time off in which to pursue your part-time job as a manager at McDonalds (they also pay more!!!).
One final warning is that being recruited on to the 747-400 does not mean that you will stay there, as BA are allowed to re-direct you to any other fleet at any time during your first 5 years. Ask the last batch of 25 DEPs recruited to the 744.