BA Recruiting
 

Hi All,

BA will be recruiting Cabin Crew soon internally first, on another matter there is also around 30 BA Cabin Crew quitting ( every month) for the last few months up til present...

It was reported that morale is so low there at the moment that 9 resigned at the ops desk within 1 hour the other day.

BA are not recruiting externally at the moment for cabin crew.
They are bringing back crew on temp part-time contracts first (of which there are many from the Business Response Scheme) ,and then internally under re-deployments.

At the rate of crew leaving, there should be recruitment soon, but i wouldn't hold your breath, as their current proposal is to remove even more crew from the aircraft rather than waste money on badly-needed crew.
(I.E. Lookout for 3 crew on the A320 with 2 cabins on a 50min flight and you get the picture).

Indeed you are correct Anti-Ice, the main reason reported is that the crew morale is low... :sad:

BA News ad
 

There has been an ad in BA News for the last few issues looking for CC to be seconded to LHR Eurofleet for either 6 or 9 months.

The ad didn't detail flying experience as a requisite so either it was presumed, or they are trying to redeploy staff within the organisation - even only temporarily.

cheers ;)

FF

BA has about 200 slots that it wishes to fill. There are at present just under 100 internal candidates that are awaiting training. However some of these interns are only offered 9 months employment as there are several issues pertinent to internal recruitment. The latest news is that the CC union has lodged a complaint in respect of internal recruits. Either way the issue is on hold as they cannot afford to release enough line trainers for the initial courses.

Whatever there will be recruitment of at least 100 CC and 200 ramp agents. it is delayed as it awaits board approval who are hesitant as they fear a reaction from the city if BA are seen to be recruiting when they have yet to complete the staff reductions under future size and shape.

Further to my last an advert will be included in the www.ba.com this week for CC and ramp agents. I am now informed the advert will appear today FRIDAY requesting CV's and rumour relates to requirement for several hundreds of CC, Good luck !

leaving BA??
Last week about 5 cabin crew left BA due to retirement (on average 29yrs service).
Morale might not be at its highest point but it is still the only airline to work for in the UK.:O :oh:

There were ads for CitiExpress recruiting CC in the local Manchester press over the past week or so.

Is anybody out there considering applying then?

I always said that I wouldn't apply again, and when I didn't get in with them a couple of years ago, I told myself it was a blessing in disguise.

Now a no. 2 in a very large and stable charter airline(UK), happy and secure.....So why do I keep going on to the BA website and look at that ad for Eurofleet Cabin Crew.!!

Just don't know what to do. Worried about the state of the airline, moral amongst staff, making the break after 8 years with BY and wondering if, God forbid that we had another terrible world event, that BA would turn around and say "bye bye" and become unemployed. But the temptation is still there niggling away.

Anybody gonna apply and if so, what's your circumstance....

Hi!

Well personally for me, i too also work for a large charter airline which i enjoy but my problem is they wont give me a pernament contract so i will be applying.
Think you'll find that they've placed the advert at this time of year to get all those on temp contracts to apply. Always better to have a little experience than none at all as it helps to show you can pass the training.
Only thing is for me it would mean a 500mile move down south on my own. Aw man!
Sometimes tho you gotta take that risk! Big enough risk being in the industry these days anyway!!

Kempus :)

ps. You can only apply for ba online now. they dont do "hard" applications anymore. And to top it off, the recruitment site is down and has been for the last 4 days. Gave them a call and they know about it and are working on it.

Hi All,

Now on the subject of recruiting, maybe someone can help me, as a student pilot ( PPL at the moment) i am applying for BA as a Customer Service Agent. Now i know the main role of the Job is Ie: Check-in , Boarding arriving/departing aircraft, information desk etc..

Is there any useful tips for the job, should i prepare for anything in particular apart from the usual killer questions? Any advice?

As a student pilot i think this would be a great insight for me to learn all aspects of the airline industry for a couple of years and not only concentrating of the flying side.

I hope im making the right decision. :confused:

From a past experience when I was looking for any sort of airline/airport work after getting my (F)ATPL. Don't go overboard mentioning you got a PPL or alike cos if the recruiter bods now pilots will do a bunk as soon as a flying job turns up and usually gets the dear john letter treatment !

Good luck but !

:O

Airway; very good idea. The more you know about all the aspects of the business, about customers and your fellow staff members in different parts of the organisation the more you have to offer any airline. You will have credibility with the ground staff and understand how your part and theirs interlink. definately a good foundation,- and interesting as well. Good luck.

Hi,

Probs be better in the wannabes form this question.

Well, i too in the future would like to get to the flight deck. Being a member of cabin crew has certianly shown me alot about the industry and how an airline works but perhaps most importantly, the role of an airline pilot. Seems strange but perhaps the least important skill to an airline pilot is his or her's flying ability(within reason).

I know alot of pilots who have started off as cabin crew/gound ops and have only become interested in flying whilst in that job.

Probs the best bit of advice is yes do it, you'll learn so much but please listen to what Jet A1 is saying! Best not mention you wanna fly at this early stage. When you get to know the crew(those in the back, on the ground, in the office, even crewing, we all play an important part) you can start putting training capt biggles or who ever for references and recodmendations.

Cabin crew is a good job, its fun, its different. I've met the most wonderful girl ever through it so please dont be put off by people automatically stereo typing you as thick and the rest!

Which ever way you go, i would certainly recomend the flying!, best of luck

kempus :)

BALboy's dilemma
 

I know exactly what you mean. I'm in a similar sort of position although haven't flown for about 4 years now.

I would like to get back into flying (I think) but want to do it with a "good & stable" airline. One thing that is holding me back is the basic pay - what was it, something like £9210. I can only presume that the allowances are pretty large to compensate.

I'm 30 next year - do I want to nearly halve my basic wage at this stage?

Crikey BMed pay a higher basic than that.

Anyone else thinking about jumping ship and going to BA?

cheers ;)

FF

I can assure you all that are thinking of applying for BA, the basic pay offered is £9200! For those of you thinking seriously about it, and thinking that the allowances must be HUGE...BA are just about to try and introduce hourly pay...which is being muted about as £1.90...so beware all of you, who are thinking of giving up good jobs with good salaries.:)

why would anyone give up a good job with good salary??:confused:

The number BA is requiring is 400. Those of you applying that have worked with companies requiring the CR check previously will do well to include a photstat of that with your application. As the present check takes 8 weeks.

Hi All,

The information i have in the sheet for "Customer Service Agent" in terms of wage is £11,232 + Shift Allowance £3,000 approx
I think this info is a year old...

This would be ok for me since im young and haven't got a family or any other financial burdens and still living with parents so my only financial matter is paying for my flying ( PPL ) :O

Now this £9200 that Calle Belle mention is that for the above position :confused: If it is then i will have to re consider, although i would really want to give it ago, and i was really looking forward to it...

No

The 9K is for cabin crew!

CSA's get about 15K

Have a look at britishairwaysjobs.com

It has the cabin crew wages/allowances stated, but not CSA's.

If money is your motive checkout flybmi.com, then have alook at about us, then recruitment.......they offer£16,500!

Hi,

Thanks, the money is important, but not a big issue, but £9k i dont think i could afford my flying with £9k.

Anyway thanks for the info

Would love to get back into the smart Paul Costelloe number but it would entail a move back to London from the north. Does anybody have a rough idea what an average monthly roster looks like, nightstops, standbys etc. And what about average take home pay including all the extras ;) !

What aircraft are you likely to be trained on and I know its a stupid question but what of LONG HAUL and the likelyhood of transferring????? :ok:

Hello all - I may be able to answer some of your questions - I am a Purser and a trainer at BA so will try to answer any questions you have and give you an honest - balanced view of what goes on and what you can expect.

So Tilly666 I'll start with you.

Take home on EFLHR you looking at averaging as a junior £1100 - £1500 p.m (more if you do over time - however the idea of employing to stop this). EFLGW £1000 - £1300.

Rosters - EFLHR and EFLGW both work on a seniority based bidding system, as a new entrant you should expect around 40% satisfaction. So if you priority is cash and you want 3-4 day trips you might get 1 (2 maybe). Again, in relation to nightstops, you can bid for a lifestyle and bid for there and backs - but there is no guarantee you will get them if there is a surplus of trips or visa versa.

Summer months are where all the cash lies and at EFLGW Juniors have been working their arses off doing lots of nightstops as more trip[s have been available and manpower is tight, earning £1400 - £1500 because of it. However in the winter you are not realistically going to get near that as more senior people will be getting what trips there are to have.

Oh...and as for longhaul - forget it!! Unless the ad offers you direct entry into it you will be waiting years for it!

Hope this answers your questions. As I've said if you do have more I will try to answer as best I can.

I agree lieintheshadows..

I thoroughly enjoy working for BA at EF/LGW, and have done for the past 5 years....its gone through a lot of changes, some good some not so good. But have to say that when other airlines were laying off, after 9/11 BA didn't. They offered various options under their Business Response schemes etc...

Having come to BA from one of the worlds largest charter airlines, I have to say that for me personally, it was the best move I have made. The money is not as good as it once was, and you do work hard...10hour 15 duty day, a minimum 12 hour rest somewhere followed by another 10hour 15 duty day (and 3 sectors crammed into that!). However, every so often you get a single sector to say Naples the whole day there and back the next day. And at EF/LHR you get to spend time in LCA/ATH etc....which in my charter days was a night flight and back (sometimes 3 on the trot!!) These trips are, to me, what working for BA is all about.

And the crews are the most friendly and welcoming I have come across.

So basically, if you are umming and ahhing, its not that the grass is greener but its a different shade of green.

Good Luck to anyone who applies, and I can assure those of you who are successful, you will be made very welcome on line
:D

BA Assesment and Interview Days
 

I applied online, and was called on Tuesday, and invited for interview next week. They called me here in Canada.

Assesments and Interviews are taking place on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday of next week. There are 4 sessions each day.

Good luck to all who attend! :)

Very impressive YYC F/A, i sent them and email yesterday requesting some information, and it didn't even took and hour to get a reply for BA. Very quick indeed :ok:

I just applied to BA then. Are there any other assessment days other than the ones you specified? It might be a bit tight to fly to London from Australia in a few days notice if I got offered an interview!

What do people think my chances are of getting an interview with BA if I apply with my Australian address? I do have an address in London and was wondering if I should use that on my application form instead?

Also, what sort of routes do the Short Haul cabin crew fly as opposed to the Long Haul cabin crew??

Sarah747.

BA's EuroFleet goes all over Europe in terms of short haul, Portugal, Spain, France, Italy etc... Just check the website and you shall have an idea...

the applications do not have a closing date so i suppose there will be more assessments in a near future, but give it ago and who knows...

Good Luck:ok:

A friend of mine was in the holding pool from just before 9-11. Mentioned the salary etc to her (she's currently flying with a regional carrier) and she said she'd rather stay put unless she was forced to move due to a P45. Not sure how many people would be prepared to make the jump bearing in mind the cost of living in the south east.

I looked at applying to BA. I too live in Australia and after reading the basic salary, it would hardly be worth it moving to the UK, then plus the cost of living over thre compared to Australia. Short Haul crew in Australia for the countries biggest domestic and long haul airline earn roughly 15,000 to 20,000 pounds a year, which is why it is so hard to get a job with them! This is why there are so many Australians working for airlines like Emirates and Gulf Air. Does anyone know what Virgin Atlantic are like to work for?

Hey folks,

Been asked down for tests etc and just wondering if any of you know what to expect?

Cheers,

Kempus :confused:

BA
 

Hi All,

I have already been offered a job with EasyJet and am moving back in November to start training. Earning only about 900 pounds a month, but it is affordable in some places to live therefore I am looking forward to moving home from Australia. Found a nice place for 300 a month. Down in London too.

Anyhow I just applied online to BA last week and they have rund me tonight to invite me to an interview! Can't wait! they are trying to fit me in towards end of Oct because I hadnt planned on moving back till Nov. The recruitment team are brilliant, very courteous and friendly.

Anyway the question I now put to everyone is would you prefer to work for BA or EasyJet supposing I got offered the job. I think BA would be fantastic being a bigger airline, bit more pay and long haul flights? What do you think?

Good luck though to everyone who have applied.

craic1510 :ok:

Hi craic1510 very busy bee at the moment aren't you :ok:

Long Haul flights with BA well, got a friend whos going to MEL ( 9 day trip ) very soon, maybe you should catch a lift from him :}

Anyway all the best with the move, and by the way did you try applying to Pacific Blue?

thanks for that. yeah i am a bit of a busy bee. its all fun though. i am really looking forward to it now.

so you have a friend coming back on long haul hey? are they cabin crew for BA? what are BA like to work for? Should i pick them or Easyjet when it comes to the crunch?

21 questions...

anyway - yes i did apply for pacific blue but think i was a tad to late. they had already picked the interviewees for that round. never mind. always another time.

cheers

craic1510 :ok:

Yup, he his long haul Cabin Crew ( B767 B777 and B747 ) if you want i can ask him to contact ( Via email ) you or vice-versa regarding flying with BA and the recruitment procedures etc... ( He is not registered with PPRune ).

anyway drop me a PM if u need anything

:ok:

Hi Craic1510. My advice is that your job is far safer with easyJet, and the pay may be low to start, but if you have flown before, you can expect to be promoted to purser within 6 months and then you willl be on £20K+ a year. Quick promotions at Easy.

Easy or BA?

Depends what you want.

Like I said in a earlier post your not going to see longhaul at BA for a long time unless it's direct entry.

Indeed pay at Easy is good but where do you go once you've got Purser? Can't see Easy starting worldwide routes - and that's where eventual promotion to CSD and where all the big money is.

A new longhaul junior can earn what a Easy Purser does easily.

Also if flying may not be your long term career, the options at BA are phenominal - management - ground ops - cargo - scheduling - etc etc.

I've just applied for a vacancy in North America - just think of all the bases around the world where vacancies come up. All these positions are advertised in the BA news and any staff member can apply.

What I'm saying is with a bigger organisation there are bigger opportunities.

Hi all,
Just a couple of things , many of the crew will goto Eurofleet LHR, the rostering there is NOT seniority based unlike EF LGW.
The leave system is however.

You get a mixture of flying, some short (GLA,CDG,AMS etc), some longer - Tripoli,Moscow.Bucharest,Athens etc (there & back) , and probably quite a few nightstops (Stockholm,Milan,Frankfurt etc).
Many 3 day 8 sector trips now, and 2day 6 sector with V short turnarounds!

The rostering is a bid system, the downside being it is finely tuned to maximize yr hours every week (up to 60 in a 7 day block)

With LHR being so busy from 5am- Midnight, you can also expect quite a few V early starts, and some pretty late finishes too.
Make sure this fits in with yr homelife!
Its not unusual to start the week at 5am and finish at 2330 on yr last day (if you have leave) otherwise it's 2000-2100.

It would be a lie not to say that morale is very low amongst BA cabin crew at the moment, many new procedures/practices have been placed on them recently,and the company is only just waking up to the fact that they have pushed things a bit far this year(hence T1/T4 walkout).
3 crew on the A320 was in the pipeline, with 1 person working 80 y pax every day :mad: on their own.

In general though, you are pretty well looked after, but also make sure you can get to / leave plenty of time to get to LHR every day,as god help you if you dare to be late!
(The M25 is a goner if you hit it after 7am).

Good Luck!

Go for easyJet. If you go to BA you'll forever be a junior, and when BA cuts back and makes people redundant as they invariably do when things go slack, you'll be first out. With easy at least you have a chance to climb fast within the ranks.

thanks very much for the advice. actually looking forward to easy. but havent got a job with BA yet. just itis good to way up the options should i be offered one. valuable advice guys! cheers!

craic1510:ok: