Hi Jack
some really good questions and having been at BA now 18 months i'd say a lot of your assumptions are right!
I'm LH and never worked so hard in my career and the tiredness is a killer if you aren't the type that can just sleep anywhere!
EASA has certainly made getting good chunks of time off a lot harder add to which if you leave a gap of more than 3 days you risk being forced assigned anyway! Lots of Trip 2 days off trip 2 days off trip 2 days off and after a while you just don't feel recovered.
Bidline going who knows how the new system will be until it comes in but the sceptical side of me thinks it will be much like a Blind Line with very little control especially if junior but time will tell.
The new boss definitely has cost cutting on the agenda how much of that will come our way no one knows but one of the biggest things as a newbie in BA that surprised me is how low morale is on the line, i guess for many the reality of being in BA and not being immune to the downward changes going on is starting to sink in for many. That said the people you fly with are mostly great and no different from any of the other airlines I've worked at.
I'd say the command gradient is shallow at BA you are given a lot of responsibility on your sector as an FO which i think is good for progression.
If you want a big corporate and the security that goes with it then i guess BA gives that a big tick but i came from a bucket and spade company where the airport was 35 mins away and i was home every night and felt like my flying skills were much sharper than they are now! Never felt as tired as i do now and was Parked back outside my house within 55 mins of shutting engines down, now I'm lucky if i am at my car within that time.
All i'd say is BA certainly is not the holy grail it once was but you know that already, but many don't and i think once the honeymoon period is over some will be in for disappointment. The current work load is not sustainable full time in my opinion unless you want serious health issues or death early into your retirement which i guess is why many are going earlier than planned at the top! I flew with a skipper who was 75% a few months back, he said he's working harder 75% than he was full time 6 years ago! I have a mate at VS and he doesn't work anywhere near as hard. I guess do what works for you. Hope that helps.
