British Airways

[Grass strip basher]

I suppose most of the current crop of "oldies" up for retirement at BA are on the old defined benefit pension scheme so unless it is compulsory to stay on why bother.... I can't imagine there is that much financial incentive in doing an extra 5 years like there would be on a defined contribution scheme..... I know the BA door has only just stop spinning from where my old man dashed through the exit when he turned 55.... will be very different when us wannabees get to that age...

[adwjenk]

Hi

Great BA have selected to increase there retirment age.
But as mentioned this will have slowed down the hireing process therefore less pilots need.
So it will be at least 5 years before they re start there cadet scheme but will the airline industry have slowed down by then with regards to recrutment?

Andy

[scroggs]

Under legislation due to take effect next year, BA's flight deck crew retirement age will rise to 60 from next year, and may rise further in the future (Virgin's is already 65 by optional contract extension). This change has been known about for a very long time, and will certainly have influenced BA's current policy of not resurrecting the cadet scheme.

BA are currently not particularly interested in taking ab-initios anyway; the 24 they are taking this year (from a variety of schools) are a very small proportion of their total pilot requirement. As we have pointed out several times before, when you lot are prepared to spend up to £100K on your own training, why should BA (or anyone else) offer to pay it for you?

As for BA's manning requirements for the future, I understand that many of those who can go at 55 will still do so, even though they could stay. BA are not expanding, but the cost-saving measures they have taken over the last 4 years have left them short of pilots. Assuming nothing drastic happens in the market, it seems reasonable to assume that BA will continue recruiting at roughly their current rate for the next few years.

Scroggs

[Flymat]

Hi all,

I am looking for some unbiased information about BA. So please don't make the company look worse than it is nor better.

- Does anyone have experience with the training at Cranebank ?
- How long does it last approximately from the first day till the first pax flight ? Are you paid during training ?
- When working for BA on short haul, is commuting possible ? I know it doesn't matter for BA where you live, but is it actually possible ? Does BA arrange something for commuters ?
- How about scheduling ? I heard from BA that their rosters are one of the main advantages of BA compared to other companies. But how does an average roster look like when you just join BA ?
- I read a lot about seniority and that ik takes many years to become captain. But what is a realistic scenario for this ?
- Is staff travel so badly organised as some say ? I can understand some flights are very hard to get, but in average ... how is it organised ? Do you have advantages for partners as well ?
- Are there any good reasons why not joining BA ? To me it seems like one of the best companies to work for. Of course there certainly are some disadvantages too, but perfect is not to find on earth I guess.

Quite a list of questions, but I hope I get some serious responses on this.

Cheers,
Flymat

[Craggenmore]

Flymat,

Right now there are a multitude of threads in the Terms & E's forum (page 3 for example) and also on this forum that deal with every answer to your questions and a whole lot more.

Try the search facility if you haven't already....

[davecr]

Hi guys!

Just got the best phone call of my life! I passed the sim assesment for BA and soon I'll start my JOC!

Now for my question - what base/aircraft can you currently expect as a SSP?

Dave

[Beast_Of_The_Cockpit]

Sorry for the foolishness...

What does SSP stand for?

[davecr]

Self sponsored pilot

ie... low-houred.

[36533]

Dave,

Congratulations, well done for getting through the selection.

I believe that as an SSP you can expect either Airbus out of LHR or 737 out of LGW.

A couple of questions for you:

When did you do the day one selection, and how long after your sim ride did you get the call saying that you were sucessful?

Thanks

[Beast_Of_The_Cockpit]

Thanks DaveCR.

And well done to you. Good news.

[davecr]

Day one 2nd week of October, got a call that same evening to report back next morning at 0700

One week between sim and result!

[woof]

Well done.

Were you an Oxford / Jerez / Integrated chap?

Brilliant news.

My brother is a BA chap andsays that you'll almost certainly be on the 737 or Airbus. Location?

[wobble2plank]

Tough one to answer that.....

A320 Family = LHR
737's = Gatwick

Good luck

[davecr]

Thanks guys, that's what I figured. Just wondering if they're still recruiting for both the airbus and the 737.

@ Woof - Yep, I'm an integrated chap! Not from a British flight school though PM me if you want more info. Did some photo-flights after graduating, around 30 hrs, but that's about it.

[Dozza2k]

Congrats,

The JOC is a great experience, really worthwile and good fun.

Expect to wait a few months on completion of the JOC, my wait is just under 4 months, Airbus for me but rumours say that most/all SSP's are going to 737 from feb onwards.

D2K

[OBK!]

Congratulations on getting to the BA! Where abouts do you apply for British Airways?

[davecr]

@ Dozza - Thanks for that! Can't wait to get started on the JOC. Actually I heard the waiting times are getting shorter and shorter as the list of "students" in holding pool is slowly getting smaller.

[BigAir]

I hope theres a load more on the 737 from feb onwards - ties in with what i think is happening as no one new has appeared at the bottom of our list for a couple of months now and the rate i am building hours will see me having some time off next year unless the get some other newbies in to work hard.

Congrats on getting in though, If given a choice i would say head down to LGW - really friendly bunch of people down here, an aircraft that will bite your backside if you arent on the ball and a great learning experience. As a junior pilot you probably get more choice of lifestyle on the 737 with our bid system as opposed to bidline on the airbus. Swings and roundabouts really, but other advantages of lgw are minimal holding, younger captains - so fewer grumpy oldies (none that i have flown with yet anyway). You sometimes feel a bit like an isolated limb from mainline BA, and the next 18 months will be a telling time for LGW shorthaul but with that in mind i would say that within 3 years you wont be flying a 737 so good to get the experience whilst you can.

Enjoy the JOC, if you go to CTC the foods exellent - i put on half a stone in 3 weeks.

Enjoy

Bigair

[zerograv]

Davecr

Congrats on getting a position on the JOC course.
Well done!!!

(just kidding) KLM seems to be recruiting. May be
you could leaving your position vacant for me

Did a check on BA's web site and couldn't anything
regarding applicants from integrated courses.

Congrats,
Zerograv

[davecr]

Thanks! Seems like you have to be recommended by your FTO to get into the SSP programme for BA.. Unfortunately BA only takes students from a limited number of flight schools.

Dave