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Virgin UK - Crew Discussions

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Virgin UK - Crew Discussions

Old 9th Jan 2007, 08:56
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Virgin UK - Crew Discussions

This thread for those already employed by Virgin UK to discuss whatever...
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Old 9th Jan 2007, 09:59
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Any Virgin Atlantic crew out there who are going to apply for VB exchange 5?
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Old 10th Jan 2007, 16:20
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Any VAA People!

Hi Guys!,



Don’t know if there’s any VAA people here that can help out – we are trying to get hold of the current John Rocha uniform blouse – nothing else from the uniform! For a memorabilia / textiles project. Will pay £30-£40 if anyone can help! Drop us a message!



Thanks peeps!



Jim
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Old 12th Jan 2007, 17:45
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Angel Hi

Hi All,

I think I belong on this forum now as I have just accepted my position as a IFBT for Virgin!
I also think that I may get more relevant info to some questions from those of you already flying for Virgin.
I was wondering what the breakdown of time away for different trips would be. I am going to be an Inflight Beauty Therapist so will only be flying on routes out of Heathrow.
I am married and my husband would like to know how much time he is likely to get to spend with me now! (I don't know whether a little or a lot would make him happier?!)
If anyone could let me know I would be very grateful!

Emmy Lou X
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Old 14th Jan 2007, 04:40
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I start on monday, as normal cc, but i seem to remember them saying that we will all get 9 clear days off a month. some flights, you might arrive back to LHR at 6.00am, and have the rest of the day off, that is not an RDO, as you still worked for 6 hours that day. this would then be followed by 2-3 days off. make sense? this would be regardless of which routes you operate. they also said that we would get about 4-6 trips a month. so that means the average length of a trip is 3-4. Basically work 3-4 days, then get 2-3 off from what i can calculate. Good luck with your training!!! see you online!
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Old 18th Jan 2007, 12:47
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Crew flight allocation

Dear anyone,

Sorry to butt in on your forum though my fiance has worked for virgin for a rew months now, worked christmas and new year as well as every weekend in Jan. She has got her roster for Feb and has again been stiffed with every weekend, a bit of a pain as i work away during the week.

Also although she is based at Heathrow, she gets as many Gatwick flights, adding more that the '1 hour' rostered onto her timesheet

Is this normal practice for Virgin to give all the unsocialble flights and inaccurate timesheets to thier new junior crew and is it going to get any better.

Many thanks
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Old 18th Jan 2007, 16:40
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Hi All,

Are there any married long haulers out there who can tell me (honestly) whether their job affects their relationship?
I am new to Virgin and have not worked for any other airline. I am going to be an IFBT and would like to know how things work.

Emmy Lou. xxx
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Old 18th Jan 2007, 16:58
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well, just look at the thread before yours lol
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Old 18th Jan 2007, 21:08
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majorspannermonkey,

Good question...

Firstly, just to clarify, your fiance is not based at Heathrow. She is based in London. Which means she will be rostered flights usually only out of Heathrow and Gatwick. Juniors get quite an equal split of flights from Gatwick and Heathrow.

When she is promoted to Senior she will get mainly flights from Heathrow due to the fact that there are less seniors on Gatwick flights.

She can expect to work every Xmas and New Yr until she has enough seniorty within her rank to successfully bid for the time off. (Probably around
3 yrs).

Weekend flights are not rostered to junior crew members. Some months she will work every weekend, some months some of them, and occasionally she might get them all off! It is random (tho I agree it doesnt always seem like it).

Im sure her roster is not inaccurate, and just to let you both know, commuting to and from work at her base (London) is not counted in her accountable "work hours". The crew bus does run to a scheduled journey time of 1 hour 10 mins, and almost always that is correct (traffic permitting of course!)

I hope thats cleared up some of your concerns...

VB
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Old 19th Jan 2007, 13:37
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To Virgin Boi,

Thanks very much for that, it does clarify a few points though it all seems to be extremely random and generally unplanned. To bring into context, I have no problem with the xmas and new year and as the other half, I also have no problem with her working weekends.

What i do have issue with is that with 3000 crew, it can't be that difficult to give an even and fair spread accross the month for everyone rather than relying on perhaps next month being different on a random basis?

With regard to the bus and the roster, the roster adds an hour onto the report time and does not take into account the bus timings. Therefore, the acutal report time required is generally before the time stated on the roster.

ps. if she is based at london rather than heathrow i expect she can therefore park at both car parks?

To Emily Lou,

We are not married yet, though will be this year. I am in the military and am currently away during the week until May and am also off to the US for 3 weeks in Mar. Therefore, our current situation is not the best, especially as we also need to attend at the church. I have been and will be next month though at some point I expect the vicar will want to see both of us!

I remain open and hopeful that the situation will improve and can only remain supportive.
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Old 19th Jan 2007, 20:43
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Smile

Thought I'd try and put a bit more of a positive spin on things!!
You can park in both carparks(LHR and LGW), I find this a hell of a lot easier than missing a bus by 10 minutes and having to wait another hour for the next one when you're knackered after a flight but it's probably cheaper to use the bus!! As for weekends, it is completely random and I know it can be a bit of a pain but when your girlfriend can request, with a bit of tactical requesting, she should be able to get at least two weekends off a month (eg. requesting an LA on a Monday, should give her the weekends before and after off!) Also, if your weekends are that precious, she could always go on Vswap and do back to back trips for extra days off!
It's not perfect but I've worked for Virgin for nearly 5 years and me and my boyfriend have made it work-the best bit about it is that he comes away with me on trips a lot then it's like a mini holiday that I'm being paid for!! Just hang in there till the concessions kick in!!
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Old 19th Jan 2007, 23:30
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Majorspannermonkey

I am in your situation. (Me military, she Snr Crew).

It is difficult and there will be times when you do not see much of each other.

But you do get used to it.

It does help in a kind of way as you get breaks from each other but it is very had for family when you are away on det.
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Old 20th Jan 2007, 03:40
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Varga,

Just wondering about parking at both airports?
I was told I had to chose one or the other? Could you let me know what is involved with both? Do I have to pay for one in that case?

thanks.
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Old 20th Jan 2007, 09:30
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Cheers Varga Girl,

I will see if we can try that and try and work the system.

Many thanks
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Old 20th Jan 2007, 18:51
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Re parking.

You have to choose Lhr or lgw as your car park, however if you have a flt out of lgw you are allowed to park there. but if you choose lgw as your main car park you are only allowed to park there and use the bus service to Lhr.Hope this helps.
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Old 20th Jan 2007, 22:20
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Cabin Crew Safety Training Instructor.

Been browsing the Virgin Recruitment site and i've come across an ad for safety training instructor, was wondering why there is an external advert for this as i thought that most airlines only took internal crew for these sorts of positions ?
Was thinking of applying as my current airline has no training opportunities and thats really the field that i want to get into was wondering if any current VS crew could shed any light on the position as the advert doesn't say much about the experience requried for the role, although it does say experience as operational crew is essential but not training experience.
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Old 21st Jan 2007, 11:12
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See Replying with quotes thread
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Old 21st Jan 2007, 11:15
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See Replying with quotes thread
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Old 21st Jan 2007, 12:47
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The car parking arrangements changed in March 06. You now only get one parking pass. If you choose LHR, you can no longer park at LGW. You need to catch the bus which runs around every hour to hour and a half. Add to that you need to leave extra time in case you hit traffic and miss the bus, it adds a lot to the day. In reverse, you often land and just miss the bus back, so you have to sit around for an hour and wait for the next. It's a major pain and does not count towards hours and fatigue. Not sure how legal that is. If Virgin won't provide a pass for the correct airport, then you'd think they'd have to allow the extra travel time you are expected to do.

As for weekends, you get one off a month, but this can be Fri-Sat, Sat-Sun or Sun-Mon. Crew who have been there a year can bid for one trip a month, or one time off a month. Many tend to bid for a four day trip on a Monday, which means they get two Sat-Sun off a month.
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Old 21st Jan 2007, 17:46
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VS staff travel

Hi there

I would be grateful for someone in the know could to tell me how VS staff travel works. I have been on all of the threads and there is very little on this subject.

1) I know you get 7 free tickets (only tax to be paid) per year after your probation but can you use these for your family too? and what does family constitute? i take it brother,, sister, husband, wife, mum, dad, children etc do they have to have the same surname?


2) if you want to fly to a destination where virgin dont fly then how much do you pay on another carrier? is it 10 % and does this also extend to the family?

3) I understand all tickets are on a stanby basis, but what if you manage to get outbound seats for your family but then not on your return does it mean they are stranded out there???

4) and finally virgin offer a scheme called MATES amd MATES PLUS. how much do you pay for these tickets and could it be any of your friends?

I would be very grateful if someone could answer these burning questions

many thanks

Jam123
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