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Old 5th Sep 2015, 07:08
  #11 (permalink)  
Dimwit Minion
 
Join Date: Aug 2015
Location: Shangri-feckin-lah
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These are my experiences.

Firstly do not listen to advice from anybody on the B78&, they have had the very best of RB and inhabit a different world. As an Airbus pilot you will be treated as a second class pilot.

I was told 55 hours a month, the reality is closer to 75. You will work every available day due to constant split-duties.

Generous leave of 57 days: The reality is leave is hard to get and will not be confirmed until too late to book anything. Also taking leave reduces your days off. The truth is closer to 42 days of leave.

Days off are often scheduled as single days off- useless.

Schooling, more expensive than I was led to believe, and the two International schools are pretty full.

Training: More checking than training. More on the Asian/Chinese than European model. Can be very frustrating. Line training is a daily exam.

Staff travel is generally okay on the regional route network, a bit hit and miss back to Europe. The annual Contract Leave Ticket is supposed to be confirmed in business class but priority is no better than an ID90, you can be bumped off and downgraded. If you live outside of the UK you will be routed via London no matter how inconvenient this is. Also be aware your 'confirmed' seat may not be confirmed until the very last minute. The annual Free of Charge ticket is NOT available until you have served one year so it seems in a 3 year contract you will only get 2. Not many inter-line partners so very limited worldwide travel.

The B787 fleet is a lot happier, better paid and works a lot less, however it now looks like you would have to complete about 5-7 years/3500 hours in RBA to get even a sniff at that.

Pay is definitely falling behind airlines paying in a reserve currency like the US Dollar, if you want to save in Sterling you have had about a 10% pay cut in the last year due to the strengthening pound.

Overall the airline does seem to suffer a lack of coherent/experienced/focused management in key areas. On line you are very much on your own as the operations staff are unwilling or unable to help you or able make a decision.

Brunei is very central for Asia / Australia and NZ but you do need the days off and leave to take advantage of it.

Overall impression is: many areas in need of improvement but nobody can actually be bothered to do anything. If there is a plan nobody is sharing it with the pilots. Plans for more Airbuses but no new routes being announced and anyway no crews to fly them.

As one of the above posts suggests money seems tight. Brunei itself is a curious mix of grand government projects, abandoned projects and boarded up shops. Rumour has it even Government owned businesses have been told no more money you must borrow from the banks.
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