British Airways Future Pilot Programme.
Join Date: May 2008
Location: London / Milan / Rome
Posts: 5
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Moving on
Afternoon all,
I applied via CAE Oxford (OAA) and had my assessment day on the 8th January. I unfortunately didn't get through, passed the majority of the exams but a few areas were not upto scratch.
The day I got the email I was sat in the BA Lounge at Gatwick and was obviously disappointed. During my subsequent flight to Venice I mentioned to the cabin manager that I applied for BA FPP and was kindly invited to the flight deck at the end of the flight. I spent 10 minutes with the flight crew talking about the day and they made me feel so much better. They know how hard it is and saw my passion, eventually I was booted off by the Italian turnaround manager.
I had the debrief and like many people here I was very impressed by the care and attention taken by OAA. They were fantastic and supportive and it is very therapeutic understanding one's weaknesses. I have since brushed up on mental maths!
To those that have criticised the cost then you truly need to appreciate the cost to businesses to staff and facilitate things like assessment days and courses. They are a derivative of one of the most volatile industries around, when airlines go bankrupt then flight schools suffer.
Also the money issue should not be the thing that stops you from applying. You will still need to fund FPP, privately or via loan, just like you would need to a private scheme. FPP pays you back over the first 7 years of your employment. £5k in 9 years time is not the same as it will be today. The money is irrelevant when it helps you acheive your dreams. Here I am today kicking myself for not paying £3,000 to go on Concorde in 2003!
Good luck and congratulations to those that get through!
I applied via CAE Oxford (OAA) and had my assessment day on the 8th January. I unfortunately didn't get through, passed the majority of the exams but a few areas were not upto scratch.
The day I got the email I was sat in the BA Lounge at Gatwick and was obviously disappointed. During my subsequent flight to Venice I mentioned to the cabin manager that I applied for BA FPP and was kindly invited to the flight deck at the end of the flight. I spent 10 minutes with the flight crew talking about the day and they made me feel so much better. They know how hard it is and saw my passion, eventually I was booted off by the Italian turnaround manager.
I had the debrief and like many people here I was very impressed by the care and attention taken by OAA. They were fantastic and supportive and it is very therapeutic understanding one's weaknesses. I have since brushed up on mental maths!
To those that have criticised the cost then you truly need to appreciate the cost to businesses to staff and facilitate things like assessment days and courses. They are a derivative of one of the most volatile industries around, when airlines go bankrupt then flight schools suffer.
Also the money issue should not be the thing that stops you from applying. You will still need to fund FPP, privately or via loan, just like you would need to a private scheme. FPP pays you back over the first 7 years of your employment. £5k in 9 years time is not the same as it will be today. The money is irrelevant when it helps you acheive your dreams. Here I am today kicking myself for not paying £3,000 to go on Concorde in 2003!
Good luck and congratulations to those that get through!
Last edited by nonsoloinglese; 5th Jun 2014 at 09:04.
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Gran Bretaña
Posts: 143
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
The number of candidates historically taken to waterside is generally 3 x the number of places for each FTO.
First year: 90 places in total, 30 per FTO. Each FTO sends 90.
Last year: 72 places in total, 24 per FTO. Each FTO sends 72.
This year: 60 places in total, 20 per FTO. Each FTO sends 60 ?
The cost of selection only covers the FTO selection costs (and maybe a bit of profit too?). So the costs of the day at Waterside are covered by BA. The purpose of the FTO is to filter out the candidates, so I can see why BA want to limit it to the best x candidates.
Maybe FTE get some brownie points from BA for doing a more rigorous selection procedure and therefore send less than the limit? There are dangers in that too though..
First year: 90 places in total, 30 per FTO. Each FTO sends 90.
Last year: 72 places in total, 24 per FTO. Each FTO sends 72.
This year: 60 places in total, 20 per FTO. Each FTO sends 60 ?
The cost of selection only covers the FTO selection costs (and maybe a bit of profit too?). So the costs of the day at Waterside are covered by BA. The purpose of the FTO is to filter out the candidates, so I can see why BA want to limit it to the best x candidates.
Maybe FTE get some brownie points from BA for doing a more rigorous selection procedure and therefore send less than the limit? There are dangers in that too though..
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Gran Bretaña
Posts: 143
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
LastPastthePost, FPP2 doesn't have an even split of 24 per FTO. Certainly less than 20 in total at FTE, with the second group having arrived within the last couple of weeks (two more groups to come).
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: EGLL
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
That's great to get the confirmation from someone "on the ground". This sort of information passes through so many people that it gets twisted. Could it be that some pulled out / failed medical etc?
Someone at OAA this year said they had 25 from the FPP2..
Someone at OAA this year said they had 25 from the FPP2..
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: Gran Bretaña
Posts: 143
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I'm not aware of anyone having either pulled out after having accepted, or failed the medical, but don't quote me! If it runs for long enough then statistically it'd most likely happen, but there must be some contingency in place for such events.
Pretty sure the plan was that they took the best candidates irrespective of which FTO they'd be headed to, but really (again) the only people who could confirm that would be BA recruitment.
Like any cadet scheme, they'd want to phase it so that graduates start coming out of the FTOs at the ideal time to fit in around type ratings and line training, so it must make sense to have a relatively even spread between the three schools. That said, if one school had more than the others, the only people it'd likely inconvenience would be those graduates who might end up with a longer wait after finishing at their respective FTO before then carrying on to a type rating. You'd think it might benefit the individual schools to have more students coming in through their doors, which could be an incentive for them to send the right people to Waterside in the first place, but realistically the FTOs can't lose out as they have such a constant stream of self-sponsored cadets anyway, not to mention cadets sponsored by other airlines.
Pretty sure the plan was that they took the best candidates irrespective of which FTO they'd be headed to, but really (again) the only people who could confirm that would be BA recruitment.
Like any cadet scheme, they'd want to phase it so that graduates start coming out of the FTOs at the ideal time to fit in around type ratings and line training, so it must make sense to have a relatively even spread between the three schools. That said, if one school had more than the others, the only people it'd likely inconvenience would be those graduates who might end up with a longer wait after finishing at their respective FTO before then carrying on to a type rating. You'd think it might benefit the individual schools to have more students coming in through their doors, which could be an incentive for them to send the right people to Waterside in the first place, but realistically the FTOs can't lose out as they have such a constant stream of self-sponsored cadets anyway, not to mention cadets sponsored by other airlines.
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: London
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Hi all.
Congratulations to those who are through to the final stages of the FPP selection process - exciting times up ahead!
I am a serving Army Officer who is considering a career change and wondered if there were any other serving/ex service personnel who had applied for the FPP scheme? I've noticed from the BA website that leadership is a sought after trait and so wondered if things such as Sandhurst etc have helped in anyway?
Cheers in advance.
Congratulations to those who are through to the final stages of the FPP selection process - exciting times up ahead!
I am a serving Army Officer who is considering a career change and wondered if there were any other serving/ex service personnel who had applied for the FPP scheme? I've noticed from the BA website that leadership is a sought after trait and so wondered if things such as Sandhurst etc have helped in anyway?
Cheers in advance.
Join Date: Dec 2010
Location: UK
Posts: 394
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I imagine all the invitations will be sent at the same time, as I think that's what happened last year. And 15th is a Saturday, so not sure who told you it might be then? Is it really likely that they'll send out the invitations on a Saturday? I thought it would be a conventional working day. Maybe this Friday... 
Join Date: Apr 2013
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 6
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I contacted CTC early last week, and was told the 15th, which did make me wonder considering it was a Saturday, but considering some candidates were being invited to the first assessment with CTC over a weekend, it also seems legitimate...
Join Date: Feb 2014
Location: UK
Age: 33
Posts: 9
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Absolutely irrelevant!
By the sounds of it, BA send out the invitations to the final assessment not the FTO's. I'd bet a small fortune that they don't send out invitations over a weekend, I reckon tomorrow will be the day though
By the sounds of it, BA send out the invitations to the final assessment not the FTO's. I'd bet a small fortune that they don't send out invitations over a weekend, I reckon tomorrow will be the day though
Join Date: Dec 2013
Location: EGLL
Posts: 47
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
From what I understand the fto's send a file for the top x candidates to BA. If there are 60 slots, then I imagine 80 are sent and the ones either side of 60 are discussed in detail. The lucky ones get invited for a free lunch at Waterside...
The reject list is passed back to the fto for them to pitch self sponsorship to.
If I was a betting man/woman (delete as appropriate) I would say the lucky ones will receive an invite Tomorrow or Monday.. The rejected people a day or so later..
The reject list is passed back to the fto for them to pitch self sponsorship to.
If I was a betting man/woman (delete as appropriate) I would say the lucky ones will receive an invite Tomorrow or Monday.. The rejected people a day or so later..
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: UK
Posts: 29
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
wilso10,
I wouldn't rule yourself out for not wanting to read 101 pages of this. I can help with question 1. Quite a few of my FPP colleagues started with no flying experience at all. Never even a trial flight. There are people with 300 hours on the other hand! If you can demonstrate your motivation to fly without previous experience then there's no reason why you shouldn't stand a good chance. Also from what I understand, there's never been an even split of successful applicants between the FTO's. At the end of the day BA will take the people they want, even if that means taking more than initially planned. All the best.
I wouldn't rule yourself out for not wanting to read 101 pages of this. I can help with question 1. Quite a few of my FPP colleagues started with no flying experience at all. Never even a trial flight. There are people with 300 hours on the other hand! If you can demonstrate your motivation to fly without previous experience then there's no reason why you shouldn't stand a good chance. Also from what I understand, there's never been an even split of successful applicants between the FTO's. At the end of the day BA will take the people they want, even if that means taking more than initially planned. All the best.