Ok, so I went along and listened to what was on offer. Quite a wide range of experience in the room, but pretty soon became apparent that they are after the young blades.
Started off with a nice chumley warner chat about the difference between the middle east and the UK. Might have been useful for anyone who has never been to the UK, but was largely pointless for most in the room. Then progressed onto a run through the fleets and rosters, followed by the pay and staff travel.
It's F/O positions only and you go in at year one pay along with the spotty 18 year olds. They are offering about £4000-4500 / month after tax (including flight pay ). The T's and C's are pretty impressive as you might expect, in particular the control you have over your roster and therefore your life. Even as a junior F/O you can manage your roster ( especially long haul ) so that you work when you want to, even to the extent that its possible to have as much as 35 days off in a row if you play it right. Obviously you would have to build up a credit of worked hours to do this but auto trip swaps, overtime and leave are all easily managed on line with no need to contact crewing.
Most of the BA recruitment team where very nice open down to earth people, there was one knob who just had to remind us that the success rate is only 10%, " we don't take anyone ". He also managed to look completely surprised to be asked if BA would be flying successful applicants to London for the tests and interviews. ( the answer was no ). Also, there is absolutely no credit given to previous experience as far as your entry pay (and ) I imagine bond is concerned. You will do a short course type rating if already flying any Airbus or the 777.
Apparently there is a holding pool already but experienced bods will bypass it. Short haul minibus commands are up for grabs within 3 years of joining.
So, in summary, if you are happy to be dialled back to zero but want to be treated with a bit of respect and retake control of your life, go for it.
For us crusties, ( and I was not expecting anything else ) its a no go unless you really have had enough and can take a 70% pay cut.
Good luck to all.
BS
