Originally Posted by BEagle
By the way, Virgin Atlantic isn't the airline it once was.....
Virgin was never the airline 'it once was'! The rose-tinted backwards-facing specs have transformed earlier days at Virgin into a non-stop, alcohol-fuelled romp with hot and cold running hosties and first-class travel between piss-ups. Ah, if only it was really like that back in the day... OK, it had its moments, but really that's when it was little more than a flying club that got by on a wing and a prayer and an inordinate amount of luck.
I've been at Virgin 13 years and, while I still enjoy the job, it doesn't fit the descriptions I hear or read of it from those who've never been here! It may not be the 'giant' that the newspaper article mentioned (those Virgin
PR people are good...), but it is a big organisation with a very hard-nosed attitude to business. Pilots are simply a (bloody expensive) business cost, and not gods to whom the rest of the airline gives obeisance. Sadly.
I've posted many times on the reality of longhaul airline life - do a search; you'll find them - and I've no reason to change anything I've said. There are many issues which detract from the utopia we'd love to achieve, but on the whole it's not a bad life if you can take the tedium that is an inevitable part of longhaul flying.
However, it may be too late this time - I suspect that article came out after the window for application closed. BA will be recruiting soon, I've no doubt, as will the lo-costers - but read as much as you can here about any airline you might wish to try before you commit pen to paper.