British Airways - Wannabes & Recruitment

[lovethesky]

no they cant!! but they can roster you days when u dont get used!! i cant see alot of maincrew taking unpaid leave for 3 - 12 months, i dont think many people can afford it!!! im hoping that they will start to offer the odd week or few days like they have done in the past!!! id love a month off and be able to go to oz!!

[airbus777]

no ams....you do not turn up for work!!you get "availabe"days on your roster and you have to call in from 6pm the day before an availale to find out your duty for the following day.....occasionally you get a "non-op"...i.e extra day off!!

[airbus777]

ams.....we also get a telephone allowance for the calls you make to find out your duties!!

[Matt101]

Also AMS I know there is a airport/airline staff travel card available fom BAA, though I went to LHR on the HEX only last week and staff showing their usual ID still get the train ticket half price (at teh HEX counter). If this has changed in the past 7 days I appologise.

This is how it was when i used to work at LHR anyway.

[BA Boi]

kikko:

yes, i suppose that you may be correct about the drop-off in numbers of cabin crew required from october onwards, due to a reduced flying programe on EF LHR.
however, NOTHING indicating such has been communicated to the shorthaul community (as far as i am aware (i am longhaul crew)) by either management or BASSA. so i would be inclined to take it all with a pinch of salt.

and on your second point: YES, YES, YES.

redeployed staff within the company would ALWAYS take priority over ANY new entrant to BA/BA cabin crew - and rightly so.

:cool:.

[Londonphilou]

Guys, I am an external applicant and waiting in the holding pool. I spoke to a friend earlier who is main crew on LHR WW and he told me not to read too much into that and it wont affect us getting our LHR courses in due time. BA always offer unpaid leave and lately people who wanted unpaid did not get the opportunity. Its a not a permenant thing. And on top, a lot of people would like to take unpaid leave and also a lot leaving at the same time every month. Some months could be 50 while others could only be 5. So BA have to keep a balance with the numbers. Its a fact we are not going to be called that soon but things consistently change there and we can be called anytime. Its very frustrating but if your heart is in in LHR, there's nothing you can do other than waiting. We are probrably looking at early next year but then who knows!

[airbus777]

ams.....they just slot you in where they need you!!
If for instance you have a double available on your roster you can call up a few days before to see if there is anything going that you fancy!I personally just leave it up to them yo fill in.....always fab to get the early ZRH,GVA or BSL there and back...early report payment,breakfast and lunch allowance and you clear by 14.00!!

[Jabejaha]

Surprise Surprise!

LGW Interviews have been cancelled in August, as a precautionary measure due to the planned protests at Heathrow. Can see why, at least they are doing this but still part of my thinks they are using it as an excuse.

[lovethesky]

i always phone up to try and fill my avaliables. i would rather have a trip and ££££££ and know what im doing rather than wait till 6pm for a ba surprise.

[lovethesky]

when u get avalaibles u can phone up a couple of days b4 to see if they have anything, you can only phone up if you have 2 or maore avaliables in a row. u normaly get avaliables following a standby, on average u may get 4 or 5 a month. when u phone up sometimes they have nothing some times only there and backs. it also depends who u get on the phone, some of the schedulers are less than helpful.
an early report payment is about £8 u get it when u report before 7am.
you u will taught all this in training so dont worry to much about it now.

[MancRed]

First course date given out to re-deployed staff today 24th sept...when more get confirmed will let you know
jarvis

[apaddyinuk]

AMS-LHR...

IT IS ALWAYS WORTH LEARNING ANOTHER LANGUAGE....If not just for your own self improvement. Im personally learning Arabic...dont know why but just figured its a language I would like to know!!!

I also have a bit of French and 12 years of Gaelic...although to be honest I have never EVER used the latter at work! LOL!

[pepito.perez]

Hi guys!

Just got a phone call from BA, my starting date is going to be october 8th!
So my waiting game is over!. So happy.:D
But it's not going to be for lhref.
Actually it's for lgwsf. I would like to go lhr, but I cannot afford a longer wait, and to be honest I don't find lgwsf such a bad deal. It's much better than the one I have right now.
Anyone else for lgw on the 8th of october??
AMS, try wiz spanish, the language of love.;)
Cheers!

[UFGBOY]

Got e-mail for intvw for LGW this am - beginning of September!!

[jwilli11]

Hey also got my training date for the 8th October for LGW Short and Long Haul. Does anyone else out there live in Bournemouth? Really looking forward to starting? Am not sure where to stay for the 5 weeks anyone else out there got any ideas? Jo Jo :D

[batriple7]

Congratulations to those who have been given start dates. Please advise when you had your interview?.
Mine was in mid April so be interesting to see if they are working through by interview dates or not.

Thanks

[GODDESS OF DAWN]

To all those who now have a course date for LGW SF .... Congratulations and the best of luck. :ok:
To AMS-LHR
I totally agree with Pepito Perez.... SPANISH ... is the language of LOVE....
GOOD LUCK AMS... you start your course in a few days time ... Gonna miss all your questions. :ok:
DAWN :D

[batriple7]

Had THE phone call this afternoon giving me a start date of 8th October so things are happening at last.

So delighted I am no longer swimming around. Good luck to everyone else. I am sure all will be given dates shortly .

Four long months of waiting over thank goodness:D

[tinks.]

Hey guys ile also be starting on the 8th oct, they rang me about 4 weeks ago and said my start date was going to be 3rd sept but then rang me 2 days ago and said they course had been put back to the 8th oct my interview was in april, did this happen to anyone else? really hope they dont move it again. But anyway atleast gives me a bit more time to prepare. Well done all u guys for gettin strat dates cant wait to start flying with u all!

p.s i booked the gatwick guest house for my training, its about 10 mins from aiport and looks really nice!

tinks xxx

[blueskybird]

UFGBOY, i also got an e-mail today saying ive been invited to an interview in sept, hooray!!!!!
im so happy as this is the 2nd time Ive applied to ba - 1st time was back in 2005 - didnt get an assessment that time was absolutely gutted :(
however, that was then :)
ive booked my assmnt for the 5th, when hav you got yours?
also, im so sorry to have to ask again, but what should i expect to take home as cc for lgwsf? (if im successful of course...)
i realise initially it'll be poor as i saw it somewhere on this forum but ive tried for 2 hours now and i just cant find it.
many many thanks for any future replies, i'd really appreciate your time :ok:
best of luck to evry1 else who have an int coming up:O

x x x blueskybird x x x

[DC-10]

Congratulations and good luck to everyone starting at LGW in October - the waiting will pass quickly and before you know it you will be flying! I have been online for a couple of weeks now and loving it - a great mix of long and shorthaul and some amazing people to work with!

[TheoAD]

Is this for cabin crew or pilots?? :confused:

[Off Stand]

Cabin crew, hence it is in the CABIN CREW foum.

[UFGBOY]

:cool:Check ur pm's .....

[missdoo]

Has anyone got any info, news or rumours regarding all of us poor ones still swimming and slowly drowning in LHR holding pool?????

I'm starting to believe that there'll be no courses within the 12 months. Do they ever extend the 12 month job offer? Has it ever happened before that people in the holding pool ended up with nothing?

[Londonphilou]

Rest assured, I have heard that LHR courses will be running probably in Jan or Feb or even earlier. Then again thats just speculations. They won't let those already got accepted wasted..it costs a lot to do recruitment and time consuming too..

[missdoo]

Thank you Londonphilou!!!
I feel better now even if it's only just a speculation... Any encouraging words help at this point!!!

[blueskybird]

Hi every1,

out of interest, ive seen the LHR training course dates on cabincrew.com and i just wondered if anyone knew when the lgwsf course dates were, especially from dec07 - march08 ??

any info would be great!

cheers :ok:

[lhrtolgw]

Londonphilou,

I've read you comments and feel compelled to respond.

You previously stated you have a friend on W/W who you perhaps think has some inside information? Well, I have to tell you that generally speaking, crew don't have any idea as to the direction BA plans to take and for this reason, please don't hold out for something which will possibly not be an option - LHR.

Your friend seems to have told you that LHR courses will probably start again in January/February? How does he/she know this? The airline industry changes on a daily basis and certainly our HR people are unable to plan this far ahead in terms of recruitment. I can't help but think that your friend is trying to encourage you, which in itself is great. However, accepting 'rumour' at face value may prove to be a major mistake on your part (once you actally join you'll appreciate just the rumour network operates!).

If I were you I would just accept the offer of LGW where yes, the money is pretty ****ty and where you work very hard however, you will, at some point, get the option to move up to the Golden Runway. If you sit on your hands now you may lose out completely - yes, previously people have waited in the pool for 12 months and then been kicked off.

I'm sure your friend means well but take what he/she says with a pinch of salt and don't always hold out for something that may not necessarily materialise. As with everything in life, make your own decisions and live by them.

The very, very best to you and everyone else applying/waiting.

[newbagr]

thats right! how would u possibly know that they are planning to start new courses jan/feb? it could be true but not even recruitment would know that alone your mate! stick to your decision which is fine but please dont encourage other people to do the same and give them false hopes! I am not gonna say about the strong rumour that recruitment will be done via Gatwick from October cos this is pure rumour even if BA has promised it in the past but if this is true then I doubt there will be new entrant courses for LHR EF in Jan/Feb. So all options are open without anyone being able to predict!

[tinks.]

Hey guys

i know this is completley changing the subject but i was wondering if anybody could give me a list of what routes lh and sh currently fly from gatwick or where i can find this info? i know ile prob get told this on training but im terribly impatient!! ;)

any info would be great

thanks guys :ok:

[batriple7]

I had an interview at Cranebank on 10th April for cabin crew. This is a long shot but does anyone know 2 ladies by the names Gillian who is a veterinary nurse and Andrea who came from Windsor who had an interview in the morning.

In all the hustle and bustle and nervousness of the day I didnt manage to change email addresses with anyone.

Would love to know if they were successful

[kikko]

Just to reiterate the only answer I got from BA by email from N. West from recruitment. It 's little and in itself it doesn't give us much of a clue either way, but it's at least official and it's not a rumor.
I personally have decided that it will be LHR EF or nothing, so if it won't happen I know that's what I have decided in the first place. The matter is just to know how it' s worthy or not worthy for you to take the risk.

From previous post:
I sent an E mail to BA asking about LHR EF course dates and this is the reply I got:


Thank you for your email.
Unfortunatley I have been informed that there are no Eurofleet positions coming up until the end of the financial year. Of courses if this changes, or once we hear of any future courses we will of courses be in touch.

[kikko]

Hi AMS,

Yes I am prepared to wait, becouse I've got no choice really, but in the mean time I wont' hold my breath and won't miss "real" opportunities.

I know the aviation business can change a lot in a short space of time expecially when talking about huge companies like BA, however as I value other people time (and thanks BA for giving me their time!) I do also value mine and maybe if I had been informed beforhand about the uncertainty of the job (hold poole, being offered other job location and contract, or maybe just being offered nothing at all at the end of it) I might not have taken the effort.
At the end of October I will have to take career committments with my current job and hopefully by then things will be a bit clearer about what's on hold for us on "HOLD", if it won't I already know which way I'll go.

Unless you want to work for BA no matter what, I would go for what I really want (BA or else..) whilst keeping my options OPENED.

[Melany]

Well said kikko.

[Londonphilou]

Kiko, well said mate.
And Im sorry if I have come accross to be giving people false hopes by mentioning those 'rumours'. I feel its a sensitive subject right now for some and especially for those who switched to LGW. I wonder why. Rumours or not rumours, we all adults, you make your own conclusions and decisions at the end of the day.
Good luck to those who have switched to LGW. You were given a choice and you took it. And we chose to wait. If it does not happen, so be it.

[galanjal]

I'm in the same hold pool, very odd place to be. got the job but not quite! I'm holding out for LHR too. actually would prefer LGW if only the money was better.

[MancRed]

AMS....It can be who ever you want...
Jarvis

[galanjal]

you make some very good points. I dont think london meant to mislead anyone, just what he/she had heard and then posted. this is pprune, we discuss and share. its all valid :)

[pollymagou]

Yes, Londonphilou expressed her opinions based on "rumors" but so did LHR TOLGW.....they were just different rumors, so one is not more true or valid then the other....
However there nothing wrong to write or read about rumors as I am sure that being all adults we are perfectly capable to make our decisions based on what suits us best.
Facts are not so until they happen....so it's totllly impossible to have "official" infos before they are released from BA.

Sorry for stating the b.......obvious,

[GODDESS OF DAWN]

Hi there,
Has anyone in the LHR EF Hold pool been given a course date yet? :bored:
Is there anyone out there also BA re-deployed staff waiting for LHR EF course date? If so pls PM me as i'm curious. :hmm:
Thanx.
DAWN :)

[BA Boi]

AMS-LHR,

no, no 'grand tours' of Terminal 5 have taken place for cabin crew. only for heathrow customer service staff (ground staff in the terminals).

and, as far as i can tell, there won't be. it would be a logistical nightmare. having to off-line 13,000 LHR based cabin crew for a day for a terminal familiarisation isn't something that i'm sure that the company is keen to do - what with all the operational difficulties that we've been through recently, and i'm sure of which there is more to come before next spring.

however, you may get a look around on your course. although i'm not aware of this happening so far. you'll be on your course when BAA hand the keys for T5 over to BA in early/mid september, so things might change for new entrant courses.

however, as far as i'm aware, we will all be getting a DVD familiarisation package of T5 fairly soon.

[Londonphilou]

Goddess, don't worry no one has been offered a course date yet. The earliest it might happen is Nov/Dec but thats only speculations. Up to you if you like to wait. I know most people are.

[GODDESS OF DAWN]

:) Having positive people like you around in the forum really helps.
I am definately waiting for the LHR EF course as well no matter what.
Thanks for being there to cheer us up. You're great !! No matter what others have said some of us do appreciate your comments.
keep it up. :ok:
Thanks.
DAWN :)

[Londonphilou]

Steady Dawn, some people might start jumping on me already in case Im giving you false hopes..hehe...
Well, my best friend just got back from a LA flight and he flew with one of the trainers. She told him to tell me rest assured, there will be LHR courses but she did not know when for sure.

[kikko]

I thought it would be interesting to know when the people who have already been offered a course date for LHR EF had their interview...and by the way do they really call poeple in order of their interview dates?....

[Londonphilou]

I think its in the order of when you were offered the job. Many people who had interviews on the same day got offered the job on different days. Not sure why.

[blueskybird]

hi every1, i was just wondering what the staff travel was like at BA?
do you get a certain % discount off he flight prices, e.g. how much would if cost on staff travel to go to florida, australia, south-africa?

many thanks, :ok:

[batriple7]

Sorry I do remember someone talking about criminal record checks but cant find the messages now.
Can anyone give me a rough idea on how long it takes to complete.

I am an external applicant who has not lived in UK for last 12 months so have to send off for the forms, they cannot be completed on line.

My start date I have been given is 8th October and I am worried if there is a delay with the CRC process it will delay me starting on the date I was given.

What would happen if the information needed was not submitted to BA in time?

Thanks in advance

[flyinghigh81]

batriple7 - not having your certificate back before the start of your course wont mean your start date being delayed. Im training with people now who are waiting on certificates so dont worry!
I'm not sure how long it will take to get your check done but as the certificates only last a few weeks I'd wait a few more weeks until you send the forms off, or maybe give disclosure scotland and ask how long it will take?

[flyinghigh81]

Blueskybird - concessions at BA are pretty good, remember that taxes are different from various airports though which can make a big difference to prices! You get standby tickets so depends how your nerves are if you want to make much use of them - you have to be prepared to run to the gate and sometimes will only get on by having a crew seat.
After 7 years you get a free ticket and then i think its after 10 you get a better ticket - I will leave that to someone who understands it more to explain as its my partner who has those concessions,ive got a while to go yet!

An example of a fare - a couple of years ago we got tickets to Mauritius for around £100, Bangkok was around £120 for two of us.

Also it works on seniority as to who gets on the flights.

hope that made some sort of sense!

[simon773]

yes...concessions are good in BA, you get unlimited ID90s which means you pay 10% of the fare and the taxes: for example a return flight to Miami will cost you about 140 pounds. I always managed to find a seat and sometimes in a premium cabin.You also get staff tickets on all major airlines and five tickets on Oneworld for your family members.
You can also book ID80s which means your seat is guaranteed.
You can nominate three family members and they get the same conditions or your partner if you live together! :ok:

[galanjal]

wish that were true Londonphilou. I am in the holding pool and friend of mine had her interview 3 weeks after me and is already training. I had an e mail the morning after my interview saying I had been succesful so thought it was all going to move quickish. but a few months later here I am still waiting for the call! by the way, I too like your positive outlook, keeps me sane and hopeful :ok:

[blueskybird]

thanx for the info on the staff travel flyinghigh81 & simon773 :ok:

counting down the wks till my interview...sept 5th...roll on!!

good luck to anyone else out there with their up coming interviews ;)

x x blueskybird x x

[skywatch77]

galanjal,

I don't believe your friend had an interview 3 weeks ago and is now training for LHR, it must be LGW? I've been waiting nearly 3 months for LHR and I don't want to hear that someone had an interview 3 weeks ago and got onto a training course for LHR so soon. :ugh:

[galanjal]

did not say her interview was 3 weeks ago, said it was 3 weeks after I had mine which was almost 3 months ago now. still frustrating though as 'congratulations' e mail clearly says that course dates will be allocated in strict order, clearly not! must say as the waiting drags on I get less hopeful of ever starting!!

[sweety]

yes...concessions are good in BA, you get unlimited ID90s which means you pay 10% of the fare and the taxes: for example a return flight to Miami will cost you about 140 pounds. I always managed to find a seat and sometimes in a premium cabin.You also get staff tickets on all major airlines and five tickets on Oneworld for your family members.
You can also book ID80s which means your seat is guaranteed.
You can nominate three family members and they get the same conditions or your partner if you live together!

ID80s are bookable only after certain amount of years in service for CC, we were told. Being a very Junior CC, you better not go to very popular places at peak times as you will have loads of people above you. I think BAs travel concessions are a joke, personally.:hmm:

[kikko]

Galanjal what you are saying is very interesting....in fact I think I had gathered the same story from other people in the hold poole, and to be perfectly honest I don't think is always the case of not being able to pick up the phone straight away (some said have been skipped as they were unable to take the call...)....however lets' keep our hopes up:ok:.

IF SOMEBODY HERE KNOWS what the rules REALLY are (as they certainly are not the ones stated in the congratulation letter....) we would all very much appreciate to know them.

[missdoo]

Hey guys, unfortunately there are no rules. In theory they are supposed to call in order of interview dates, that's what said on the email we get when we are offered the job. However, it doesn't always work that way. For example I was skipped over by accident and they never actually called me at all. They even admitted it themselves when I eventually got to speak to a manager to find out what was going on. My interview was in April for SH LHR, everyone else who was successful from that day started July 9th.