Guys/Girls(?)
...wot Thunderbird/Yellow Sun et. al. have said...everything .... including the comment about northern bases, you
will be working out of LHR/LGW.
My understanding is FJ tend to go A320 for "around 5 years" before the offer of LH is made. Clearly there are exceptions.
As an ex FJ BA DEP from a long long time ago may I offer the following observations in the interests of "managing expectations"...
:
Your previous experience may determine the initial type you are offered when you join , usually due to ZFT requirements.
From that point on forget being "offered" anything, as in: "you've been in 5 years, we've looked at your records, you've an excellent background and training record, several Spec Recs.
.would you like to go to Long Haul"? ....BA doesn't work like that, it works something like this (apologies for teaching sucking eggs, etc, if it applies):
Fundamentally once you are "in" your FJ/Helicopter/Multi background will almost certainly mean f. all...you're now just a number on the master seniority list.
You can plan on being frozen on type for the first 5 years, unless the company needs to move you to a fleet of their choice. After freeze expiry you get an annual bid, where you have the opportunity to submit a bid for a seat/type change. The number of seats available to bid for is a function of the company's requirements for the forthcoming year. Most importantly, the bid is almost always based on seniority, which is determined solely by date of joining, though there have been exceptions, e.g. to the A380 where until recently previous Airbus experience was required.
Please, please, don't join BA on the A320 in the expectation that in five years time you will automatically be "offered" a slot on a long haul type...you'll be in the bidding queue for long haul seats behind the DEPs and the bright young early twenties FPPs who are joining today.
As a FWIW and IMHO, my idiot's guide to the fleets just in case you do get a choice on joining:
Join on the 787 and the world is your lobster (if you want longhaul).
777 best fleet of the lot IMHO but
AFAIK not on offer...
Join on the 747 and you'll possibly be able to engineer being long haul for a long time/forever - as long as there isn't a sudden run down of the fleet.
Join on the 767 and who knows where you'll be in 5 years (shrinking fleet).
Join on the A320 and you'll be based LHR/LGW and probably be on shorthaul for X years, where X >=5 ( and to be honest could be >>>>5)
Hope that helps and good luck.