OpenSkies recruiting rated & non-rated B757 FO/SFOs

[Niall Toibin II]

Hi, here are some answers to the above questions

- Up to date T&Cs

Only French contracts on offer, no more British Airways European (BAEL) Contracts. This means new joiner’s need accommodation in Paris as no positioning or hotel is paid on this contract and commuting is not easy or cheap to Orly. Under French rules, after each transatlantic crossing you need 36 hrs off (two local nights), this at your cost! Original BAEL pilots can fly back to backs (two transatlantic rotations separated by one local night in BA parlance) They mostly work 6 days on 5 days off with hotac and positioning paid for by BAEL.

On a French contract you get one block of 4 rostered days off a month, YES, just 4 rostered days off a month!! In addition you may get up to 5 additional ‘white’ days per month, i.e., blanks on the roster which you may or may not have to work at long or short notice. These are not counted as days off until the day!! The white days depend on sickness, and a constantly changing ad-hoc charter program. It’s difficult to plan much other than for the 4 day block off. You can get lucky with the white days. If you’re living in Paris it works ok, hopeless if your trying to get home elsewhere after a flight.

Non French nationals on the French contract will have to pay French tax and pension contribution. It’s a great pension provided you pay into it for 15 years!! Otherwise you lose the lot when you stop working in France and it’s of no benefit outside France. You will probably also need to keep your own contributions going in most other EU states - you need to check.

- According to PPJN Open Skies crew bases are ORY/BRU/AMS/LHR, is this correct?

No, only one base on French Contract – ORY.

BAEL pilots remain based in LHR/AMS/BRU. This gets around the French rules preventing back to backs and gives the company more flexibility. How long it lasts is anybody’s guess. The French unions want it stopped and the Fench Goverment want theseguys paying French Tax. EZY, RYR and City Jet all ran into this issue.


- Rostering/days off/leave etc.

Roster is issued on the 15th of each month for the next month. So by the 14th of each month you only have two weeks of a roster. As mentioned above, you get 4 rostered days off a month. The remaining days off are white days (blank days on roster) you may or may not get used. You might average 4 days off and 5 unused blank days a month if your lucky but the distribution (a day here and a day there) makes commuting very difficult and expensive. Realistically you are going to have to live in Paris most of the time although some manage to commute same day up from the South of France - Oh and the main reason you get phoned on white days(excluding pop up charters) is when there are no shows caused by late trains, tech commuter flights or foggy airports!!

- Atmosphere/company culture.

Tough going for everyone with some very big most merger issues going on.

Sorry to the guys looking for work but the question was asked. Its really down to BAEL pilots and L’avion pilots fighting each other and the company. Both are on different T&C’s and roster arrangements as well as a massive pay differential. At least 1000 Euros or more a month less for French contract for the same job and no hotac/travel allowance. Understandable animosity among mixed operating crews - this has caused a number of CRM issues. Silence can be golden!!

On the ground, rostering is planned by Ex L’avion staff so there is a constant suspicion of favoritism. BAEL pilots all worked last Christmas, not a single French Contract pilot to be seen!! That kind of stuff. It really is a big mess.

With mainline crews joining soon, see below, it is set to get worse; three pilot groups, BA Mainline, BA European, Ex L’avion, all on different deals, all flying together!! This is all the result of the disastrously planned merger and integration and shows no sign of improvement.

Another factor which hasn't helped is the recent appointment of a new Director of Operations who is an ex Ryanair manager. Pre merger Open Skies was almost a mirror of BA. Sensible, calm, nice place to work. Now it’s a mirror of Ryanair and run with exactly that well reported style of management – very much a blame culture. Open Skies have also adopted Ryanair’s SOP’s, almost word for word according to some that have worked there and this has caused uproar among all the pilot factions within the company. In fact the only common ground among the crews is a universal loathing of this new kind of management style.

- Future expansion plans/fleet planning?

Rumors of a Montreal service from ORY next Spring??

Under BALPA/BA rules BA mainline can and will be supplying up to 25% of the Open Skies captains, just like at GSS. Some sixty BA SFO’s have recently applied for DE Commands so a very long time to command expected, probably 4 to 5 years minimum for new joiners.

On the subject of Command, the pass rate is low. OS have just run an assessment program with some very interesting feedback. Out of 12 applicants just 2 passed the assessment! It’s a very old fashioned sim sesion according to those that have been through it. Very much in the spirit of throw everything at the bloke and see how long it takes him to fall over, then choose the guy that lasted longest!! Not nice by all accounts!! Makes you wonder how many will actually pass the course, but thats for another post!!

- Does a gentleman's agreement exist between Open Skies and BA with regards to recruitment?

No – far from it… Check out the BALPA bust up with the BA over Open Skies initial Pilot reruitment. Its unlikely BA will take OS pilots- too much resentment within main line but this may change with the pending influx of BA Captains.

To summarize, the recruitment process is heavily weighed in favor of locally residing pilots with a command of the French language. The adver states French Language usful but since all the manuals, communication is in English its odd why they would put that in the add. With the influx of BA mainliner pilots there is likely to be a desire to keep the Anglo French balance weighed in the appropriate direction!!

The flying itself is ok, easy but can be tedious with just two destinations. Our ‘senior citizen skippers’ love it though!!

In summary, if you have a job, stay put. If you dont, give it your best shot.

Hope this is of use, good luck...