Hi Juud,
I'll give it a go, although some answers will only be from a LGW point of view, I'm afraid. Unfortunately, as you've already gathered, the different allowances and agreements at BA are ridiculously complicated and even I don't understand most of them at LHR. Hopefully, crew from LHR EF and LHR WW will be able to add their bits to make a more complete picture.
We presently have three fleets at BA. LGW Single Fleet, which is a mixed flying programme, LHR Euro Fleet covering the short haul from LHR and LHR World Wide operating the long haul flights. All three fleets have different agreements and allowances but all three fleets do night stop in various places.
LGW crew are able to operate on the 737, A319, A320, A321 and the 777, with the A318 also on the horizon.
LHR EF operate on the A319, A320, A321 and I think the 757
LHR WW are on the 767,777 and 747.
None of us get a fixed salary as such, in that it will differ every month. We get a basic salary to which allowances, sector pay at LHR or an hourly rate at LGW, plus other adhoc payments are then added at the end of the month, usually a month in arrears.
Yes we get overtime, but again, it varies between the fleets as the agreements differ. I can't say about LHR but at LGW it's around 14.00 per hour after the first 10.5 hrs. However, that's a very simplified version of it. We don't, however, get anything extra for working holidays, except for Christmas Day and you have to be actually flying, not just down route to get the payment. I have no idea how much it is but don't think it's a huge amount.
At LGW, the only time our pay changes dependant on the time of day, is if we clear after midnight on a straight shorthaul flight, in which case, we generate an overnight allowance. I don't know whether LHR crew have the same arrangement.
Trip lengths vary, depending on the destination and frequency of flights. At LGW it varies from a three day trip, (one local night), on something like Bermuda to a 7 day trip to St Lucia. However, the longer trips tend to include shuttles in the middle of the trip. All L/H at LGW generates 2 days off, bar the 7 day St Lucia, which gives three days off.
Part Time contracts are available across all the fleets, including 75% and 50%.
How many crew per pax is another thing the differs between LHR and LGW. I don't know the crewing levels at LHR but at LGW, it is 3 for the shorthaul aircraft unless the club load triggers extra. That is dependant on the aircraft type, the route etc and has so many variants it would take forever to list them all. The largest S/H aircraft we generally operate on has a max pax load of 147. On the 777, we have a Cabin Manager, 2 Pursers and 7 Main Crew for a three class aircraft and 1 extra Main Crew member for the four class. The Pursers work in the Club galley and the World Traveller galley and the CM has a working position in the services, as well as dealing with any problems.
We do get allowances for when we are downroute, but as usual, they vary. At LGW, we get breakfast free on the Short Haul nightstops, or a voucher towards a meal if we leave before breakfast, but not on Long Haul, plus we get a small overnight allowance on all nightstops. That stays the same, regardless of where we go and the O/N allowances are paid directly into our salary. At LHR, from what I know, it differs in that each trip is worth a different amount dependant on the destination. They also get extra payments for so called "difficult" destinations, although where IAH and DFW come into that, I don't know!
Finally, at LGW, we can bid for trips and days off. It is supposed to go by seniority. Does it work? Hmmm....
Hope that all helps!
Or in other words....What GG said!
