Virgin 3.1
I see some of the departed Tiger A320s now sitting in Europe are coming back to VARA. Newer builds also.
A recent segment on the globally acclaimed 'A Current Affair' aired a few days ago. Interesting comment made by Jayne at the 6.23 minute mark 'jobs are safe'...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNC0V5IYFXY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jNC0V5IYFXY
Hi Biatch, first I heard of this was here on Pprune….the oracle of all things aviation. You didn’t see any drivers because we weren’t invited….typical……not that any would’ve taken up an invite. Maybe management, but they don’t really count, do they.
As usual a certain employee group doesn't make an appearance... its like they fly themselves!
Biatch is offline
Biatch is offline
They're not (at this stage) trying to drum up interest in working at VA as a pilot, and few ATPL holders are unaware of the company. It's an exercise is attracting retail/hospo staff to become FAs and ground crew.
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So NZ borders are opening shortly, has Virgin got any plans? I see they are doing Queenstown Ops’s in November, but nothing else. Seems like a missed opportunity. Any rumours?
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Friday, 11 Mar 2022, 03:01:03 pmfriend just phoned to say he just found out that both his outbound & inbound flights to NZ in July school holidays, had been cancelled & told by person at Virgin, that all these international flights canned until Oct. Air NZ has similar timing of flight going over & qantas has similar timing of flight coming home. Wonder if Virgin is talking to other airlines. Loads must be awful. Plenty of people (1000s) have just had their travel plans disrupted (again).
https://www.executivetraveller.com/c...nz-bali-fiji-u
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Friday, 11 Mar 2022, 03:01:03 pmfriend just phoned to say he just found out that both his outbound & inbound flights to NZ in July school holidays, had been cancelled & told by person at Virgin, that all these international flights canned until Oct. Air NZ has similar timing of flight going over & qantas has similar timing of flight coming home. Wonder if Virgin is talking to other airlines. Loads must be awful. Plenty of people (1000s) have just had their travel plans disrupted (again).
https://www.executivetraveller.com/c...nz-bali-fiji-u
Perhaps that is because VA has a list of around 650 pilots they must offer employment to before recruiting externally.
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Thanks Cypher. A quick search on the Virgin online booking system reveals that Virgin is actively taking bookings for Fiji during March. Bali flights are scheduled from the middle of June. If those flights actually take place is another thing.
Just seems very odd to have such a big market that Virgin was a part of left unserviced. I believe it may have been close to 30% market share pre Covid. As they say “ you’ve got to be on the field to win the game “
Just seems very odd to have such a big market that Virgin was a part of left unserviced. I believe it may have been close to 30% market share pre Covid. As they say “ you’ve got to be on the field to win the game “
Okay thanks. I know two Tiger pilots now flying for a different company and about four or five Virgin guys flying elswhere. So do they still appear on that list? Seems to me that there will be a lot less actual pilots available to return to VA when and if they need them.
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Could be off a couple but I counted 602 pilots still inactive. Hopefully all get the opportunity for redeployment but I do think it is going to take a fair few years!
some trainers are saying that within 18 months everyone who wants to come back will, but I can’t see that happening.
some trainers are saying that within 18 months everyone who wants to come back will, but I can’t see that happening.
Icarus
We have a ‘group date of join’ list (GDOJ) rather than a seniority list, but every one just calls it the seniority list. It is not a strict list but is the overriding factor taken into account for upgrades, transfers, change of type, etc. So if you’ve kept your nose clean then as opportunities arise it goes in the GDOJ order. Virgin, PAC BRO, VARA and Tiger were all on the same GDOJ list (pretty much in that order with some minor variations) when some of the pilot groups were made redundant. So if you’re on the list then you have the right to return in order of GDOJ, at your previous GDOJ position. All the redundant pilots still have access to Sabre and can put in bids for return. When positions become available, whether it’s a CMD or FO slot, then if you’ve bid for it and you’re next on the GDOJ list then it’s yours. Some pilots who have found other work have not put in bids yet. Some previous wide body skippers have opted for FO slots on the 73 just to get back in as the ‘right of return’ only lasts 5 years. After the five year period, for an additional two years (seven total) you will be accepted for a position as they come up but you do not get your original GDOJ recognised and you start on the bottom of pile. If it was me, I would be taking anything to get back in………just in case it slows down, doesn’t look like it will but you never know.
so in answer to your query, yes all the people who have found other work still appear on the list although many might not have an active bid to return in yet, for whatever reason. The only reason you drop off the list is if you officially resign but I don’t think anyone would be mad enough to do that until the ‘deed of return’ expires, just to keep the chance of the return up their sleeves. It will become a bit more strategic as time goes by as the music could stop again for whatever reason and some people could be left out, but that would be their choice I suppose.
hope that explains a bit.
We have a ‘group date of join’ list (GDOJ) rather than a seniority list, but every one just calls it the seniority list. It is not a strict list but is the overriding factor taken into account for upgrades, transfers, change of type, etc. So if you’ve kept your nose clean then as opportunities arise it goes in the GDOJ order. Virgin, PAC BRO, VARA and Tiger were all on the same GDOJ list (pretty much in that order with some minor variations) when some of the pilot groups were made redundant. So if you’re on the list then you have the right to return in order of GDOJ, at your previous GDOJ position. All the redundant pilots still have access to Sabre and can put in bids for return. When positions become available, whether it’s a CMD or FO slot, then if you’ve bid for it and you’re next on the GDOJ list then it’s yours. Some pilots who have found other work have not put in bids yet. Some previous wide body skippers have opted for FO slots on the 73 just to get back in as the ‘right of return’ only lasts 5 years. After the five year period, for an additional two years (seven total) you will be accepted for a position as they come up but you do not get your original GDOJ recognised and you start on the bottom of pile. If it was me, I would be taking anything to get back in………just in case it slows down, doesn’t look like it will but you never know.
so in answer to your query, yes all the people who have found other work still appear on the list although many might not have an active bid to return in yet, for whatever reason. The only reason you drop off the list is if you officially resign but I don’t think anyone would be mad enough to do that until the ‘deed of return’ expires, just to keep the chance of the return up their sleeves. It will become a bit more strategic as time goes by as the music could stop again for whatever reason and some people could be left out, but that would be their choice I suppose.
hope that explains a bit.
NO IDEA EITHER, thank you for your fulsome reply, I did already understand most of that but good to have it confirmed. So there is a very good chance that there are not 600+ pilots holding their collective breath to return to Bains Baby. Quite possibly significantly less.
It’s impossible to know Icarus. There are still around 600 pilots that are on the list not re-employed yet by VA. Do they all want to come back, who knows, but I would think most of them would. A few of the ‘near retirement’ ex wide body peeps might not come back, especially since some of them are down the list and would likely be looking at an FO slot in Sydney or Adelaide. Bit unpalatable for some maybe, each to their own……..
I imagine they would get most people back if they had a start in the next year or so but beyond that people will start to lose interest. QF are recruiting soon so anyone on the younger side of the equation would probably be trying to get in there.