Dash8Driver.
My first point: - are you seriously only looking at two companies??? ... Nope, just those are the only 2 windows I have caught so far that are in the UK.
Pay is an important factor, as are conditions... Pay is important-ish. I have solid job prospects in London that would offer far more than flying. I agree it's a factor but I'm not in it for the money.
FlyBE also have jets, and it is often heard how the management there want to go pure Embraer. You may want to dig a little deeper in your research. - I did not know that they wanted to move towards Embraer, I'll check that out, thank you!
Sadly it would be a BIG decision to move out of the UK and not an easy one to move too far from London.
You say BA is larger so you'd rather go there, what's better about a 'larger' company? I understand and agree with all the rest.
Good luck with your training and career and I hope your first aviation job is something close to what you want. - Thank you very much, I plan to work hard to ensure I get as close as possible to my dream job.
Officer Kite,
"you simply have to grab whatever you're bloody given" - I'm afraid I have to completely disagree, I have good options outside of the cockpit that would pay me enough to fly for fun however I DO want to fly for a living. Does that mean I'll take ANY job and drop everything else for it and not consider my long term prospects? Not a chance.
OP this isn't aimed at you but I've noticed a few people discuss each airline's perks... I partially agree here but we all have to have a goal and taking our 2nd, 3rd, 4th option straight off the bat just doesn't make sense before atleast TRYING to chase our dream. I'm very aware how tough it is and I wonder if I might rather NOT fly commercially and fly as a hobby instead of turning it in to a job I dislike.
Norhern Monkey.
Do flybe have a future as a company?... Interesting point. They are back in solid profit this year their CEO is ex-EJ and cited as the source of a lot of good work. He's made a huge difference at Flybe and I do believe they are on the up. It's still something I need to consider and where does it leave me if they do go bust?
According to my research from various sources, time to command is 3-5yrs. Flybe itself states command can be applied for after 2500hrs. You should be flying 900 per year so in 3 years you are at the 2700 mark.
Surely if job security is your only goal you might as well just go for a different job? Surely this career is more about the passion for flying. If you're only other reason is your exit route I just don't think that makes sense.
Vikdream,
Time for captaincy will be important in the future, now you haven't even started training yet so you don't even know whether you would be eligible... Why would I not be eligible? Without going in to too much detail and making huge assumptions I have a very well respected management and leadership background with qualifications to match. What are the other requirements other than hours? I'm not trying to show off here and hope I don't sound arrogant, i'm just unsure why I wouldn't be eligible. Also, you say in the future, in Flybe we are talking 2yrs training and 3 years flying. If you are not planning roughly 5 years ahead I think you're doing yourself a dis-service.
in the future for a job in Indonesia flying something much smaller or even less than that... I just won't. I have a lot of other attractive employment options, at the moment I would rather fly but it isn't my only option and i'm not just willing to take plan D straight off the bat.
Summary,
Lots of people are suggesting BA but there doesn't seem like there is much real substance. Assume you are in the ideal situation and have BOTH options and have never heard of either company before. Compare like for like, WHY BA over Flybe? What are the pros and cons?