About a year in
I'm about a year in on shorthaul having spent several years at a regional airline. There's lots of positives to BA which have been covered above like the generally nice Captains and crew, the roster stability etc. I have to say the biggest thing I miss about my old employer was the fact that in a smaller operation with regional bases you are flying with your mates everyday and build a really strong network of pals.
I certainly miss driving into work and flying with guys who I actually meet up with outside work, who I have around with their families for Sunday lunch etc or go for bike rides and pub lunches with. BA can feel really anonymous and isolating and it's literally rare to fly with the same guy twice within a year. It's taken quite some time for me to start to get to grips with this but then I'm a people person and building good relationships with people at work has always been important to me.
It's not that the people aren't nice because they are but starting a new job and a new type and feeling like you're the new boy at school every single day certainly gets wearing so just keep that in mind. It's not something I gave any thought to before I joined but it's been the single biggest challenge at least for me. I still miss the 'sixth for common room' banter of my old crewroom, the wit, the mockery and the flirting with an extensive array of delightful young cabin crew!
No regrets though and I still walk around that union jack tailfin and still feel genuinely thrilled that I achieved my boyhood dream and made it here! I feel proud to work for BA for sure and I love the strong customer service ethic that runs through everything they do i.e. I think they still really care about the catering, the customer service etc and for me that's an important element to the job - I like to work for a company whose product I believe in.
Hope that's helpful but it is a point I think nobody else has made amidst all the talk about bidline, days off, hotels and salaries.
Desk-pilot