BA application & referees
 

Hi everyone,

I am currently studying for the atpl and tonight I was looking at the BA application as I hope in a few years I will have enough experience to apply to them.

There is a part in the application which says, "Are you able to provide names and addresses of referees covering 5 years continuous work and academic history?"

I am a little concerned as I have never worked for the same employer for more than 5 years, have gaps in my employment history and I left school nearly 10 years ago.

Do BA request this for an airside pass or is it for a sort of character reference before they employ you?

If you don't provide this the application will not be taken further.

Would this mean I will have to stay with my current employer for another two and a half years in order to qualify?

Please help, many thanks.

It doesn´t say it needs to be the same referee, only give the names of people to cover those five years, even if there is gaps. Trust me, unfortunatley, this won´t be your problem to get a job in this day and age with BA, or any other company.
Good luck with your atpl, and don´t worry about this sort of details, you´ll have loads of time for that later on....

When i joined BA it was the same deal, 5yrs of references and having had loads a jobs it was a pain but made no difference. Some of the companies i had worked for had gone out of busisness and even one employer is in jail for tax fruad but again it makes no real difference. As long as you can cover the whole 5yrs be it through close family friends in certain jobs(tells you on the form which proffessions are acceptable) or your doctor to fill the gaps.

As richiya says, dont worry about it just yet!

kempus

Thank you guys.

Yeah, my problem is I think to far ahead, I need to take one step at a time and think about the recruitment process when it comes.

I guess the 5 year referees are for an airside pass as with most airlines nowadays.

Cheers.

No matter who you work for in the aviation world, you will to prove where you have been for the last five years to obtain an unrestricted airside pass.

It doesn't matter if you haven't been working, you just need to prove what you were doing. So I suggest you keep a log of dates, because they expect you to give details to the exact day.....which requires a lot of head scratching!!

Good luck with your training!

Thanks for the post flying dispatcher.

One further question, would I be able to use people such as my brother or sister-in-law to cover the dates?

Thanks!

Yep, for any airside pass, be it an aircraft cleaner, bagagge handler, bird-scarer, cabin-crew or flight-crew - everyone needs to prove what they were doing for the previous 5 years including any gaps between jobs of even a few days.

I am really surprised that you would ever let this concern you when you are supposed to be trying to do your ATPLs. Also, why are you so keen to work for BA and why on earth are you, at this stage worried about if you will get to fly for them? Have you any idea that working for other airliners can be just as fantastic?

Good luck in getting through your studies.

Hi fly-half,

I am not that keen to join BA, I was kind of using it as an example after looking at their online application.The referee thing was playing on my mind so I felt the need to ask on this forum and also I realise that most airlines are pretty much the same these days.

Anyway thanks for the post.

Excellent - I am really pleased to hear you feel that way. I flew to Las Palmas today, charter airline and the whole crew and passengers, handling agents, fuel truck guy were great and friendly and it just all goes together to make the whole thing work and the aircraft I fly is amazing. I hope you will get to where I am one day too. Glad to see you have an open mind about all the possibilities out there for you to achieve. Keep at it!