important to speak to someone relatively junior (<4yrs or so)in BA if you're seriously interested. Terms are very much seniority driven; both pay and lifestyle poor for those at bottom of bid-line food-chain but very good for those at the top. For young whippersnappers perhaps this isn't the end of the world but those joining in later life will need to calculate whether they'll enjoy enough good years to justify the initial pain. BALPA can help if you've no mates there to ask. (you should seriously consider joining anyway if you're set on civvy street)