Alan, mate, glad to hear it's all going well. Thought you were only allowed to be trained on three aircraft at a time?!?!?

Is the training for the A319/320 pretty much exactly the same (does it all fall under one?)? These planes are, effectively, the same aircraft - just one shorter than the other - so I imagine that the features and facilities of each are very similar.

Keep us updated mate, and I hope to get to catch up when I arrive in London.

Cheers,

All the best.

place to rent round stanstead
 

I'm having to move to stanstead next year and was wondering whether any of you have a place going up for rent or whether you could give me some advice on where to stay and where to avoid...I'm from the north so know f**k all bout London and so forth.

i'd appreciate any input.....

thanks

Laurennatalie,

Bishop's Stortford is very close to STN and there are buses which run every 15-30 min to the airport and the journey takes about 20-25 minutes.However this is a very expensive town to rent a room expect about 350 sterling/month.

If you drive you can look into Braintree or Chalmsford (about 25-35min drive) where the prices are a little more reasonable.

Other towns around the Airport are Great Dunmow and Stansted both of them like Stortford well connected to the airport but expensive.

If you feel like driving about an hour you can look into Colchester which is cheaper to rent a place than the others mentioned.

I would avoid Harlow,not the safest place.....

Good LOOK

Watch out after yesterdays statement re 2nd runway
Aircrew are up for lynching within a 10 mile radus of EGSS.

Mind you you might pick up a good 4 bed detached house for a very good price if you want to buy!!!!!

Renting a flat in Chelmsford can be up to £500/600 pm due to direct LDN connection. Braintree not mush better, and its a crap drive to EGSS from Cford and can take up to 45-50 mins and more in rush hr

Try the following:- http://www.teamprop.co.uk/
and http://www. rightmove.co.uk, team is good for local essex.

Cheers :ok:

Colchester isn't a great place at the moment due to the fact you've got to drive down the mostly single lane A120 to get there, usually at least an hour if there is any traffic. It will be alot better when the new dual carriageway opens up next year, expect a journey of around 35-40 mins then.

Don't go anywhere near Harlow as clearfortheoption says, an absolute hell hole.

In answer to your question Eddy regarding the A319/320, it's counted as one 'licence' yes.
The 319's are very similar to the 'new' A320 that BA have, they also have a few older versions of the A320 where the SEP equipment, galleys and 2rear toilets have a completely different layout. Hope that's sufficient info:O

Thanks Exmax!!! The older A320s.... Those are the former B-Cal planes, right? In that case, I guess there are only 10(??) in that configuration.

Cheers,

Eddy

Thanks!!

Stortford seems to be the most popular option generally. So I'll be narrowing my searches down to that area.

Cheers for all your input!

Lauren

Accomodation LHR
 

I'm going on course at LHR mid January and was wondering if anyone knew of any B & B's in the Heathrow area that give discount to crew.. and if so do you have phone numbers or websites.

Cheers guy's

Hi there. You might wanna check out www.mminn.net. They are just off Bath Road - about a 20 minute walk to Hatton Cross.

They should be able to offer you GBP20.00 a night for an en-suite room without breakfast.

I start training 22nd December (Monday) and that's where I'll be staying (rate based on 6 week stay).

Good luck,

ET

Eddy, you certainly know your stuff!!

I was s/h crew for a couple of years, that's how I know.;)

I'm worried now! Everyone seems to know so much!!!! Is that info in the package you get before training? I've not received mine yet. :( Still can't wait for training though! See you all there! :)

Hi Sarah! Hope all's good and you're looking forward to the trip!

The package you'll get is surprisingly small. Saying 30 hours of reading, I expected box loads of stuff but the whole thing comes in just a small envelope.

I only got mine YESTERDAY and I start training MONDAY so don't worry about not having it.

What I am worried about is that the pack tells you that you MUST have been to the uniform fitting place BEFORE the course starts.

I am going to call BA today and double check this, as there is no way that I can make it before the course. I'll update you.

The reading is really quite interesting. All about abbreviations (any experience in travel or aviation will help you greatly here, as you're likely to know many of them already), fleets, uniforms etc. Good read.....

I can quite believe that it will take about 30 hours to work through - including activities - but don't think it's a MAJOR issue if you haven't had a chance to finish it before you start.

I'll let you know about that uniform thing, folks.

Ed

EDIT - Just spoke to Uniforms. They aren't actually fitting people at this stage, because they have run out of stuff!!!!

Show up to your course in smart/casual wear and you'll be fine. The training staff have been made aware that further recruits won't have uniforms immediately.

Right guys regarding the uniform issue my advice is to go ahead and try to organise a date to pick it up anyways.

I am starting my training course on 24th December and managed to book an appointment on the 22nd December. I asked about the problems and they said there shouldnt be any.

Dont know if we spoke to the same people Eddy!?!?! LOL

Also as ever good advice given by Eddy regarding the paperwork. I only got my paperwork within the last week or so and I start as above.

Having worked for BA before I know what the training is like and I can assure you that as long as you are willing to put your head down and concentrate and take heed of what the trainers have to say there is absolutely no reason why anyone shouldnt pass the course. This applies whether or not you have worked in the airline industry before or not.

Good luck to all those applying or if you have a course good luck for the course.

Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year to all!!!!!!

:ok:

hi guys! well where will i start?

everyone just chill & ill tell ya wot i know! lol

UNIFORMS-
Uniforms in average sizes r sparse @ moment- but on the way! i would advise you 2 book an appointment for a fittin anyway so that @ least u get some of ur uniform. im average size- well sort of 6ft2" tall-38chest/32waist 15"collar etc- i got all my uniform & our group (23of us now!) we are all in uniform from week1.
you dont actually NEED to wear it until a) everyone has theres b) into your 3rd week of trainin-which i am goin in2!
so dont worry if you have not been 2 uniform stores before you start the course!

diclosure-scotland- PLEASE make sure you have filled form out correctly & sent this away with payment ASAP as there is meant 2 be a 10week backlog!!! i sent mine over 6weeks ago- only got confirmation of receipt like 5days ago!!!!

Pre-course work books...
try & read over most of these- concentrate on step1-customer service & geography (mainly on brands & exec club etc)
the trainers will take you thorugh the exams before you sit them!!

ive had over 98% for every exam-so if i can get through it any1 can. its not easy- but if u work-listen-enjoy course then you will do great!

just finishin avmed just now- got exams on monday- which shld go fine-fingers crossed then str8 in2 s.e.p with wet drills & fire trainin on tues/wed before xmas.

im really enjoyin it all- although can get slightly stressful- just got my first flat with my friend i met on course(im all grown up-heehee) and the move 2 london has been well worth while!

good luck everyone- any questions then send me private msg.
Alan.x

Hi All

Firstly - congratulations to those of you who have been successful with BA! I'm sure you'll all have a great time both during and after training flying with one of the world's most respected airlines.

Secondly - All this excitement has stirred me up enough to think about applying too! Big move (but a couple of aussies here have done it, so why can't I?!)...but hey, change is good!

Quick question - how long after you submitted your online application did you heard back from BA? And how much notification were you provided to attend an interview (being in SYD, it's not like it's down the road or anything!)

Once again, well done and enjoy yourselves! You all deserve it!

My one day at BA
 

Hi guys,

just thought i'd post some info about my training. it started on 17/12. i was on a lhr euro fleet course. after some scheduling and pay info i decided that euro fleet wasn't for me. a lot of people in my group were unhappy about getting put on euro fleet (as most had their hopes up for LGW WW - some had even been told that our course and Mondays was for WW). the trainers told us that there were no more WW courses planned at present.

I felt like morale was already pretty low as people had left good jobs and other great opportunities to come to BA. Some were now just stuck there because they couldn’t go back to their old jobs etc. it’s a pity BA were so unorganised. The trainers said they new it was a euro fleet course 2 weeks b4. the trainers didn’t even tell us it was euro fleet until a guy asked the question. They just thought we already knew. Don’t get me wrong, the trainers were really great people (as were all the staff I came into contact with at BA) who knew their stuff, it was just that they didn’t have the backing from management or the recruitment department.

Anyway I went up to admin to resign and was at a table talking with a guy from BA who was saying, unfortunately there are no WW courses we could even switch you into. The next second an old first class meal trolley went past with a big box on it that said LGW WW 22/12. I told him to turn around and he was really shocked. Anyway to cut a the next 3 hours into 30 seconds, BA can’t switch your fleets so I had to leave.

I also found out that the head of training who welcomed us to BA saying how wonderful everything was, resigned after she left our class room. Some of the trainers have as well because they don’t have the support of management.

I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news – just wanted to give you as much info as possible. Good luck to you all. Just wanted to let you know what was happening. Congrats to everybody who got in. Only 6% make it through recruitment. (and to those staring on Monday – have a ball!)

PNH :)

Justwannabeapilot,

Good luck with BA and let me know how you get on........I bet you are missing the orange uniform.....

Take care....I will sen you an email at some point....

Ciao

CFTO:cool:

Hey Mr Seatback!!!

I reckon you should apply for BA!!! I'm so happy that I took the chance and flew over ther for the interview!! Best thing I've ever done! :)

I only had 2 weeks notice from the time of being offered an interview, to the time I had to be there, so everything was a bit of a rush, getting a ticket etc, but it was still enough time. They've been really accommodating with me, allowed me to change my training date even, for a later date as I couldn't get a flight over, so you don't need to worry about that. They accommodate your needs.

After reading the post about the LGW WW course starting on the 22nd, I'm really annoyed I changed my training course date, cause I was originally offered the 22nd! Oh well, I'm honestly happy with LHR Eurofleet, or LGW WW, I don't care! I like the idea of being based at LHR, but then I like the idea of flying on the 747's, so either way I'm happy! :)

Anyway, enough of my rammble!!!! Thanks everyone for the info about uniforms/training etc. It's REALLY helpful! Actually, one question...with that disclosure Scotland thing, if there's a 10 week backlog, does that mean that we can't fly until they're through and done?? If so, I'm gonna be grounded for at least 5 weeks, cause I'm not gonna get my package until I arrive in the UK cause BA have now redirected it to my London address!!!!!!

Hey guys and gals,

Im also looking at applying for one of the BA Positions. Ive gone through the recruitment website and checked everything off except for the GCSE part.

My question is does anyone know how to convert an Australian TER (SSABSA) to GCSE. The site says they will check on the day to see if you qualify but i dont think ill be flying 18hrs just to get turned down (as iv read before that BA are really strict on this). I've got a C+ in Mathematics Applications and a C+ in English Communications, I don't even know if these courses are suitable as they are not the normal 'maths and english'. Teach me for doing something different :8

Oh one more q'. Can anyone tell me what GNVQ stands for ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks