Its a really interesting debate on here, I'm going through it too albeit from a difference stance.
I applied to the Easyjet MPL last year and got resoundingly rejected. I did bounce back to be selected to join the BA Future Pilot Program. Some of the above has made me consider (depending on my allocated start date) whether I should try again at easyJet.
For me the pros (quite obvious!) and the cons (less so in some cases are) :
Pros:
Stability - BA isn't going to double its fleet over the next 10 years, but you can also bet it wont halve it! The compulsory redundancies at BA speaks very loudly.
Fleet- I'm not sure I want to do long haul permanently. For me the very best option would be Gatwick Short Haul, with the NYC A318 thrown in occasionaly. Best of both, a bit like Thomas cook. You have the choices at BA.
Training - The type rating is included in the FPP.
Prestige - I'm sure we won't admit it, but sublminaly it matters. Saying your a BA pilot/captain at pub, nightclub, dinner party or golf club is certainly a conversation starter!
Pay - The pay is good and more importantly predictable
Permanent - Your permanent from day 1, which isn't the case for most cadets and DEP these days.
Cons:
Risk - You are taking a huge risk that the current seniority and pay scale will be around in 20 years time. Remember we are talking about 2035 - 2040 here, so a lot can change. All it would take would be for BA to do a Mixed Fleet for Pilots on a LCC pay scale and your 20 years of loyal service are suddenly devalued. (At this point having earned hundreds of thousands less than a LCC) They could say the existing payscale will be run down with all promotions on new terms with a different pilot group. For those that say this will never happen, even with todays employment/union law its impossible to prevent new new groups on differnt terms joining. Look at the Cabin Crew and Openskies despute as evidence.
Financial - It wasn't that long ago that everyone at BA was asked to work "for free" because of the financial problems. Its not clear they are quite there yet in regards the deficit and profit targets.
Relations with crew - Still can't quite believe that BA asked pilots to fill in for striking crew and some actually did it. This one will take a while to get over!
Competition - Emirates has hundreds of wide bodies on order, which can't all go into Dubai. If it decided to buy its way into Heathrow or Gatwick and setup a hub, how long could BA compete given the efficiency of the fleet and other overheads?
Culture - I might be a victim of the press here, but it seems every month or so you hear about BA pilots in the press. Ie not doing ground checks properly, reading charts, sending inappropriate photos, murdering their wife, rude messages on ecam, suicide. Is this a problem at BA because the culture says your the best of the best and can get away with things? I really hope not and I appreciate that this is a tiny minority.
For those interested in the selection. I gained a lot from getting a note book, comfy chair and reading the whole of the DEP thread on here. However the main differences from it and the FPP selection (which I guess will be similar to the DEP)
1. The interview is very long, I was in there for over an hour. Expect the usual why do you want to work for BA etc. Over half of the time was competancy based questions, expect for questions on times when you did show the compentancy and when you didn't. Ie when you failed a customer.
2. The numerical / verbal reasoning didn't seem as challenging as the old ones. They were definately different as the time /question numbers stated in the DEP was different. Everyone else on the day felt the same, although we has all been screened on those at our FTO, so maybe we were already the best at them. The majority did finish the tests.
3. The aptitude tests, we only did 2. One was similar to the radar test described, the other was completely new. It was basically a capacity test, with lots of multi taskings. Think of your worse day in the office when everything is going wrong. It was based on a hybrid ECAM screen, so as qualified pilots you should be fine!
4. The group exercise(s!). One was a traditional exercise, which you would expect. The other one actually involved doing something with your hands. I won't say the exact thing but if you think of a traditional "bridge building with paper" then its not that far off.
Good luck for those going for it. If things work out we should see most of our Careers together.
Last edited by dontforgetthecowls; 15th May 2014 at 06:42.