Virgin UK - Crew Discussions
 

Any Virgin Atlantic crew out there who are going to apply for VB exchange 5?:rolleyes:

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! :O



Jim

Hi
 

:O 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

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!

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

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

well, just look at the thread before yours lol

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

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.

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!!

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.

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.

Cheers Varga Girl,

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

Many thanks

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.

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.

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. :mad: 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.

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

Staff Travel
 

Hey jam123,

Here's how it goes:

1. You can use concessions for your family and friends. It is split into 4 categories and different restrictions apply to each. For instance, your spouse may travel with or without you on Virgin and other airlines. Your nominated companion (other than your spouse) can travel without you on Virgin and very few other airlines (from handy ones BMI and Aer Lingus). Your family can travel with or without you on Virgin but NOT other airlines. And then you have 4 companions who can be anyone, they must travel with you and can only travel on Virgin. In addition to those you can take up to 4 people with you who are not on the list when you travel Virgin. As to surname - they don't have to have the same surname but you may be asked to prove they are your family if they don't.

2. It's split into zones but I suppose roughly it does come to about 10% of the FULL fare. Say, to travel within Europe with taxes you'd probably pay about 50-60 £ for a return trip.

3. Yes they will get stranded. If it is about your spouse, since they are permitted to travel on other airlines, they can have back-up tickets. But your family would have to plead with other carriers like BA to take them on, which they occasionally do, but most likely they would have to wait for the next Virgin flight hoping there is space on it for them. I've just had a friend stranded in LA for 3 days because of that, so be ready. Flight loads can change very suddenly due to cancellations and all sorts.

4. Mates and Mates Plus are confirmed tickets. Mates+ you can get for anyone who is on your staff travel form, mates you can get for anyone you like. They tend to be about 10-20% off the normal price. Mates+ about 25-30% off.

Hope this helps!

Thanks Sirual80 for your very informative reply.....

Just one point, do family (siblings etc) qualify for the ZED fares?

Thanks

jam123

Thanks Mz Guilty!

thanks for clarifying the parking thing -- Yes, that sounds like what they told us in the interview. (Parking at only one airport and then shuttle between)

Returning to Virgin Atlantic
 

Hi,

I used to work for VS in 2002 and only stayed for 5 months as I was very young and thought I would be better at a smaller airline.

However it has been my biggest regret ever, I have tried to come come back twice but never passed the first stage of the interview.

When I had my leaving interview my Crew Line Manager Sam Rashid said that if I ever wanted to come back just let her know, unfortunately she has now left leaving me not many options or any contacts.

Can anyone help or have any advice as I would love to work for Virgin Atlantic again. :confused:

Thanks


Jon

Hi Jon

Sorry to hear you can;t get back into Virgin. I actually did 6 years service then took a career break, and I can't believe that I have tried twice to get back in but keep getting turned down!

I honestly don't know why Virgin are being like this! It feels like they want to give other people a chance because we left!

Just keep trying, I am sure it will pay off in the end!

Oh, just a thought, but maybe you could talk to another CLM or even recruitment and see what they suggest.

Good Luck

Holiday entitlement
 

Posting on behalf of my daughter - a recent starter (late last year)

She wants to book leave in June 07, which will be after the end of her probation period. As with all holiday/hotel bookings they are filling fast and require deposits etc. now.

The Virgin system has come back and said her leave request is being queued and they will be able to tell her in April/May whether she has been granted the leave.

This means she could loose the monies that have to be paid upfront as no indication can be given that the leave will be granted. This seems very strange to me (an outsider to the industry).I quite understand that leave is on a first come/first serve basis and that there cannot be too many people off at the same time but surely a clear indication can be given that she is (or isnt) first in the queue for the particular period in question and therefore going to get the request granted or refused. This sort of limbo state of "we will tell you later" looks inefficient and bad for morale to me.

Of course this could be all wrong as I only have one side of the story

Leave isnt actually allocated on first come first serve, its down to seniority and unfortunately as your daughter is so new to the company she is not as likely to get the leave she has requested if its a popular time to take it. As there are so many crew above her in seniority.
Unfortunately many other new crew will be in the same situation and i'm afraid it is a case of waiting to find out. This will only be because she is in her probation though. For the 2nd half of the year she will be able bid and get her allocation at the same time as everyone else. On the other hand if she doesnt find out untill may, then that will surely mean that the only month left for her leave to be given will be in june, as she has to take her leave owed to her before the 2nd half of the year.
One of the downsides of this job is that nothing is guarenteed and its never a good idea to book or pay a deposit untill you have it in writing.

Holiday - that's another randomly generated aspect of the job
 

This leave issue is indicative of this company i'm afraid. My fiancee was told by her CSM that she was unlikely to get leave for our honeymoon and that she would try for the day of our wedding but wasn't hopeful. Good motivation for employees.

On top of this, I am a little shocked if not appaled that she was put into a hotel in Barbados where there have been assaults and not only were the some crew put into rooms that did not have locking doors, they were not located together.

Virgin Atlantic seems to have a really good reputation, though if the way my fiancee has been treated is common then i am not surprised that so many people leave.

Also, I would like to point out that if V-swap is getting over 86,000 swaps in a year it is not something to be proud about, your scheduling obviously isn't working effectively and there are a lot of people wasting their off time sorting it out on their own!

In a World where the human factors part of flight safety is key, how long before a major incident will bubble to the surface? It's simple, if you look after the people who work for you, they won't go sick over christmas and they won't leave!

I half agree with your comments majorspanner,
There is no need for them to be so akward about taking time of for your own wedding and honeymoon, As long as you can prove you are defo getting married (you'd be suprised what some crew will do to get guarenteed days of!) They say that you will have highest priority over any other seniority, however when I wanted the time of for my wedding they said the same, that they couldnt guarentee :ugh: but it wasnt a problem when I spoke to the actual individual who is in charge of sorting out wedding leave. I think the csm's can sometimes enjoy being a bit difficult

However with regards to vswap, it was the best thing the company ever did. There is almost over 4000 cabin crew in the company and they cant possibly know who prefers what flight/days off etc.. Equally a lot of people use vswap to change their flight on the same day eg. bom for ewr, its not all about days of. I think it was a very positive move for us.

I couldnt comment on the bgi hotel as I hadnt actually heard of any incidents happening there, when I stayed there there were locks on all doors, every hotel has locking doors, do you mean there was no chain or deadbolt?however if that is the case it definately needs to be addressed.

Majorspannermonkey.
Think you need to have serious chat with your fiancee as you're so clearly not happy with her doing a job in which she doesn't get every weekend off! Possibly sort this before the wedding!
I actually think that the fact that Virgin allocate leave in seniority order is great seeing as seniority counted for bugger all else now and V swap is definitely the best and most helpful thing the company have ever done for us. There are a lot of things that Virgin do that really p*ss me off (don't even get me started on CSMs!!) but V swap is great, to be able to completely change your roster is something that not many other companies would allow.
You can get unpaid leave for weddings-your fiancee would need to speak directly to crew records (address on IFLY). No point speaking to CSMs as they know nothing!
Just out of curousity, does your girlfriend feel as annoyed by Virgin as you do?
Don't mean to be nasty-just you seem very negative about a lot.

I agree with you Varga Girl, if his fiancee really feels that the company is so bad, then she knows where the door is, generally at either L1 or L2:) :)

There are other issues with leave and stuff, and yeah at times the CSMs are not the people to talk to, Crew Records deal with all that, and I would recommend going direct to them! For the woman who's daughter works for VS, you are told at the interview that you are NOT guaranteed any holidays when you start flying for us.

VSwap best invention ever as it helps those at LHR get more LHR flights and vice versa at LGW. As a system that is understood within the company, probably better if you dont work for us then you dont discuss it as you OBVIOUSLY do not know the reasoning behind it or how it works!! It may be an idea that before you go off on one at the company your other half has chosen to work for, you should maybe speak to them about the issues!

With regards BGI, that is something that is being dealt with internally!

virgin rostering...
 

hello everyone!

this may have been asked before but i cant find the thread.

i've heard from galley fm that crewing cannot roster you for the same flight twice in 1 month, does anyone know if this is true?

also since when has the florida 2 rule apply to cc?
i thought that was just for the f/c :hmm:

cheers :ok:

Yes U can defo get same flight more than once have done numerous rosters with multiple mco/jfk/ in fact this month I have 3 jfks and 2 shanghai's. Florida rule been around a while for cabin crew at least 5 years.

bluestar,

Florida 2 has always applied to our cabin crew as far as I know...

As far as destinations are concerned, i think the rule is no more than twice in the same month can we get the same destination. Unfortuantley tho, i think Virgin classify ewr and jfk as different destinations! :ugh:

thanks for that, heard so many things, but in the past i have swapped mco's and had only 1 day off, they didnt say anything, maybe it was a one off. :confused:

Hi guys, has anybody heard the rumours regarding the pay deal CC89 have just rejected? 2% over 18 months but with 2 MONTHS OF STANDBY IN A YEAR!!!!! If this is true they must really hate us all.

Heard that because they threatened strikes etc, BA juniors are now on basic of 18k!

This may just be galley fm but I'd love to hear if anybody else has heard anything.

Dual-based - where to live??
 

As we are dual based at Virgin...was just wondering where those of you who have worked there a while live? Nearer Heathrow or Gatwick? I've just got a job with Virgin (woohoo!) but stressing about finding accommodation. Relocating from Glasgow :) Getting something temporary near Gatwick for the training, but after that, I reckoned I'd be better off near Heathrow as more flights go from there. I know it's a long way from Gatwick then, but I think it'd be better being near ONE, than in the middle and fairly far from BOTH.

Anyone have any pointers...areas with good links to both, or just general advice on which one to live nearer? Would really, really appreciate hearing your experience of it!

Thanks :)
Jill

Hi r.s.

There's no truth in the rumour of 2 months of standby a year. If anything it is likely to move in the opposite direction (a return to 1 block of standby a month rather than a whole standby month).

The recent threatened BA strike was not directly related to basic pay. It was centred around a new sickness policy, pensions and Purser positions on the 747.

Don't you just love "Galley FM" ;)

Hi Virgin Girlie,
Congratulations on getting the job :ok:
We are dual based at LGW and LHR. There is no easy answer to the question of where is the best place to live as we have crew who live all over the UK (and some even further afield).
For the training course I would advise staying close to LGW as there is a lot to take in everyday without the added stress of a commute to/from The Base .
Although most of our flights depart from LHR you will be probably be rostered a fair amount of LGW flights as well because of the high number of Cabin Crew (formerly known as Junior) positions on the LGW based 747s.
Virgin operate an hourly shuttle bus service between the LHR and LGW so it's not too difficult to get from one airport to the other.
Hope this helps :)

Thank you! :D And thanks for the help - that has definitely eased my mind! Just getting a bit stressed with the old relocation stuff! Lol:eek: I'd completely forgotten about the shuttle in between, that was a great help to know, makes me worry a lot less. Will take your advice and look for somewhere as close as possible to the Base as I don't want the added stress, you're right. Is the Base far from the terminal? And the Office? Or is that the same thing, lol.

Well I'm off to look for somewhere to stay, again, thanks for your help :)