I was very surprised to hear from several Aer Berlin FO's that they have all been sent an email offering them an assessment with BA for a minimum two year contract on the 747 or 777.
Anyone know of a similar deal for UK pilots with Lufthansa?
BA just held some roadshows in berlin, however there is no special deal. Just that they can return after two years with BA (if they manage to get in) to Air Berlin if they want to, at their original place in the seniority list (a deal that has been offered with the unmentionable middle east airline and turkish airlines as well). Apart from that they have to jump through the same hoops as anyone else, once the next recruitment window opens. It was mentioned that around 300 pilots are needed this year with around 100 already recruited, 250 to the a320 fleet and the rest to 787 and 747, but the 787 spots are probably already taken.
Difference between BA and Lufthansa is that BA is growing and actively recruiting, whereas Lufthansa is shrinking and probably seeing redundancies in the future, with a backlog of around a thousand cadets that are waiting for their place in a Lufty flightdeck.