Virgin Atlantic

[cessnapete]

Doesn’t seem a happy place to join, having had a crew member stay with me recently.
Very little roster stability, last minute trip changes, some at the airport on trip check in. Maximum hours planned with mainly repetitive fatiguing Atlantic nightsops with the odd Lagos.
Although his fleet has an extensive Caribbean network, time off and trip bid choices rarely awarded, with only a couple of Caribbean trips ln last year or so.
It also appears seniority not apparent in B787 course progression, as more junior pilots allocated at random.
With such a seemingly poor rostering system, sickness seems the only way to regulate stress and fatigue at the moment.
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[StopStart]

Change the record there’s a good chap :rolleyes:

[hans brinker]

Doesn’t seem a happy place to join, having had a crew member stay with me recently.
Very little roster stability, last minute trip changes, some at the airport on trip check in. Maximum hours planned with mainly repetitive fatiguing Atlantic nightsops with the odd Lagos.
Although his fleet has an extensive Caribbean network, time off and trip bid choices rarely awarded, with only a couple of Caribbean trips ln last year or so.
It also appears seniority not apparent in B787 course progression, as more junior pilots allocated at random.
With such a seemingly poor rostering system, sickness seems the only way to regulate stress and fatigue at the moment.
​​​​​​,

max hours 750 / year....

[Riskybis]

Doesn’t seem a happy place to join, having had a crew member stay with me recently.
Very little roster stability, last minute trip changes, some at the airport on trip check in. Maximum hours planned with mainly repetitive fatiguing Atlantic nightsops with the odd Lagos.
Although his fleet has an extensive Caribbean network, time off and trip bid choices rarely awarded, with only a couple of Caribbean trips ln last year or so.
It also appears seniority not apparent in B787 course progression, as more junior pilots allocated at random.
With such a seemingly poor rostering system, sickness seems the only way to regulate stress and fatigue at the moment.
​​​​​​,

Just been reading through your past posts ......
not really a fan of VS are you :}
obviously I can’t talk for everyone at Virgin , but being on the 787 fleet is probably one of the best jobs going in the uk .
I do 3 , 4 (MAX) trips a month and fly with some real good guys and girls
Compared to my previous employer Big Air it’s a breath of fresh air and I never look back

[speedrestriction]

Aye mate, rolling 800+ hrs SH loco with plenty of newbies here - give me a second while I take out my fiddle and play a lament.

All the guys I know in Virgin love it.

[wiggy]

but being on the 787 fleet is probably one of the best jobs going in the uk .
I do 3 , 4 (MAX) trips a month..

Fair point given what's going ATM at BA...I think many there would ditch JSS in a heartbeat and take a bit of roster instability in return for a max of 4 trips a month.

[red9]

Fair point given what's going ATM at BA...I think many there would ditch JSS in a heartbeat and take a bit of roster instability in return for a max of 4 trips a month.

So how the hell did BALPA let JSS happen Wiggy ?

[Twiglet1]

Doesn’t seem a happy place to join, having had a crew member stay with me recently.
Very little roster stability, last minute trip changes, some at the airport on trip check in. Maximum hours planned with mainly repetitive fatiguing Atlantic nightsops with the odd Lagos.
Although his fleet has an extensive Caribbean network, time off and trip bid choices rarely awarded, with only a couple of Caribbean trips ln last year or so.
It also appears seniority not apparent in B787 course progression, as more junior pilots allocated at random.
With such a seemingly poor rostering system, sickness seems the only way to regulate stress and fatigue at the moment.
​​​​​​,
Not sure how long VS have been going, but those repetitive fatiguing Atlantic night stops have been going the same time, as well as those at BA and all the other Airlines I watch crossing the Atlantic on FR24. So whats different Pete Pilot where is all this stress and fatigue coming from or is fatigue just the in thing/word these days.....

[wiggy]

So how the hell did BALPA let JSS happen Wiggy ?

It's a long and somewhat controversial story..in order not to clog up a VA thread I've pinged you a precis by way of PM.

:ok:

[DDobinpilot]

It’s what you’re used to. And it depends what the rostering is like where you are.

Having done both I found long haul much easier. I also know many guys who were at short haul and went to long haul and hated it.

There are always moaners at every single airline claiming how they work harder than anyone else or have the worst conditions etc. Leave then? And find that the next airline they goto has more or less the exact same issues.

[cessnapete]

Ah, thats his problem, change fleets. Obviously a large difference between workload and lifestyle of the B787 and an A340 pilot.

[StopStart]

Yup and at the end of the year when the 340s go he’ll find himself on the 350 and be telling everyone how great life is. Meh.