British Airways Future Pilot Programme.
 

Just thought I'd share this :suspect:....

Via the 'British Airways page' (Facebook :yuk:):
Would such a publicity-generating action direct from British Airways suggest that a second run of the programme is on the horizon? :ok: I for one, am hoping so...;)

I would think so, CTC said BA plan to restart FPP before the end of the year. Either way, I will be applying.

An excellent scheme for what is still one of the world's best pilot employers, and it can fast forward you career by 20 years for the successful few.

Probably a long shot - but does anyone know roughly, how many total applicants vs successful applicants there was last time around?

Apparently there were 95 successful candidates and more than 1000 applied on the first day...

Think I may also apply for this one (if run again), good on BA :).:D

6,500 applications in total (though probably half of which never stood a genuine chance)

The press releases at the time said that, as a result, only around the top 3% were successful

Thanks for the replies :ok:

3% is tough going, though not unexpected.

Well done to all who were successful.

What where the requirements last time around??

Age and everything

Do they accepted other nationalities??

Yes they do (did?) accept international applications, subject to the appropriate level of English.

Not sure what the international qualification requirements are though, but for UK applicants it was 3 x A-Levels @ BBC, 5 x GCSE passes incl Maths & Engish @ B, or a 2:1 degree.

But that was last time around...no idea what it will be this time!

Having received 6,500 applications last time, I can not imagine the entry requirements will be any lower than last time. Possibly make the requirements higher to help cut down on applications?

Although I expect that they will keep them the same to keep them fair - I would be annoyed if someone with A level BBC got onto the scheme last year, and then someone with the same grades couldn't even interview this year.

They are going to have a spelling test on this intake.

Rooles you out then MJ

What flight qualifications do you need? Or is it a full scholarship?

No flying experience required whatsoever, the course is the usual fully integrated courses run by OAA, CTC or FTE Jerez (though, again, this is what it was last time, no indication definitively on which flight school until it opens again).

Having said that, it would be interesting to see how people justified an interest in a career in aviation and flying at interview if they didn't have even a few flying hours under their belt...

Age
 

Am I right in saying that if the course opened this year that you would had to have been at least 18 in February of this year to apply?

Don't get hung up on the minimums. I can guarantee you that last year's intake was incredibly strong and I would be very surprised if anybody who was flirting with the minimums got very far.

Remember, this is an incredibly competitive program and you must accept that for every person who has just met the minimum requirements and can demonstrate motivation, there will be someone else who has far exceeded the minimum requirements and can do the same.

@ Berksflyer

In a normal recruitment process your argument would stand fair.

However, remember that BA are an airline and therefore not looking for uber qualified nerds, but future captains. Does a first or straight A's a good captain make? I would personally argue not, far more weight will be placed on the aptitude tests and a person's experience, otherwise the minimum requirements would be far more stringent in the first place to save them wasting time.

Only my opinion of course, which has no bearing on the BA recruiters!

I wouldn't get too hung up over the educational requirements, they want to see that you can prove your motivation by demonstrating the traits they look for by having some life experiences. Yes, aim for good grades but they aren't looking for "overqualified nerds", as Libertine Winno put it. ;)

Having strong academics will certainly not hinder though, generally speaking the standard was high enough last year for BA to be very selective. Academics will have been part of this, but as the above posters say, perhaps not the most crucial aspect of their selection criteria. I would have thought that evidence of leadership and teamwork qualities are equally if not more important. Last year's batch was made up of a significant number of career changers, including the RAF guys, who perhaps had ample examples of the skills that BA look for.

Best of luck to all applicants.

There were a number of successful guys last year who had bare minimum academic grades. From what I recall, they were verified on the assessment days then never mentioned again!

I've heard this year that they don't plan on taking on anywhere near the same amount as last year though, so it makes it all the more competitive.

Good luck!

@17PA

Good job in getting that far!

But yeah BA can be highly selective, I think most young aspiring pilots want to fly for BA so they can pick and choose who they want.

I suppose the saving grace for everyone else is that this year there won't be a whole load of newly-redundant ex-RAF trainees!

Got the email off BA's recruitment website this morning, looks like a closing date of the 13th December

Would make sense about less numbers, given the buyout of bmi. Most of those guys were A320 rated I seem to recall, so in theory at least BA would require less short haul pilots in the short term (which the cadets would become).

Will be interesting to see how the programme continues in the future. When it was launched last year it was designed to recruit around 400 cadets over the next 4 years...

From the BA FPP website...

"We will be opening the website for applications on Monday 19th November 2012. We will close the website for applications on Thursday 13th December 2012, unless we receive an overwhelming number of applications in which case we reserve the right to close the application window early. If we have to do this, however, we will make it clear on this page that we are closing the application window early and will email everyone who has started an application to give them 48 hours’ notice of the window closing"

The educational requirements seems to have changed:

"You will need:

5 GCSEs at Grade C or above, including English Language, Mathematics and a Science (single or double award), excluding General Studies.
PLUS

either 3 A-Levels at Grades BBC or above, excluding General Studies.
or an Honours Degree at 2:2 (or higher) or a pass (or above) in a higher degree such as MSc, MA, MPhil, DPhil, PhD, MBA."

This should be good news for many applicants.

I too have just read the requirements and wanted to double check i wasn't seeing things!

The degree specifications have been lowered from a 2:1 to a 2:2.

Did anyone apply last year, got through to the assessment stages but sadly didn't get beyond this stage? (like myself).

Will you be reapplying again? id like to hear particularly from any females too but please, do reply if you are a male.

Thanks

Hi there,

I applied Last year and went down to the last 300 At heathrow only to be cut at that point. I dont understand why they have lowered the entry requirements.

Are you going to re-apply?

@16mklong

As discussed above, I don't think they place too much on the academic requirements but far more on your personal skills, experience and the aptitude tests. They are looking for future captains after all, not Astrophysicists or Neurosurgeons, so why cut off lots of potential candidates who don't have a qualification that they aren't actually that bothered about?!

British Airways Future Pilot Programme 2013
 

Is there any particular advantage to 1 of the fto's vs the others save personal preference of the locations. For instance if they all get allocated 1/3 of the spaces might one be a less popular option?

Also does anyone currently on this program know if there are facilities for married couples to live together or do you need to be on campus?

Most jobs aren't looking for geniuses, but most jobs of comparable responsibility (ie. graduate jobs) ask for a 2:1 plus 300+ UCAS points as a minimum. I think BA are selling themselves short in lowering the requirements. They would have no shortage of quality applicants asking for the same as most graduate jobs.

For anyone who is considering reapplying this year:


Will re-applicants be welcomed to the next FPP opening?

Absolutely. This is a very competitive scheme and we'd welcome applications from anyone who applied last year.
This was asked by someone using the live twitter, in case there is anyone not in the know.

I think there is a lot of truth in the comments referring to the academic requirements. My interpretation is that the emphasis is only to aid as an initial filter on applications.

If they placed a lot of emphasis on having straight A's or even a degree and they held a lot of weight at the advanced stages of selection; one would think they would specify subjects too. A 1st in Media Studies is not comparable to a 1st in a core dicpline such as Mathematics, Physics or Engineering (that's another debate not approriate here!).

Either way, due to the nature of this scheme, most, if not all, will have a strong academic ability. The selections days certainly put you in your place; think little fish, big pond.

I hope talkpedlar joins this thread in the future, he certainly provided a lot of balanced, useful tips and opinions last year.

What happened to those in the BA hold pool currently waiting outside of this scheme?

Also, shame they are not doing any schemes who already have the license and lack the experience

BA do a separate graduate scheme for roles such as engineering, procurement, finance etc and the requirements for those are very much in line with other graduate schemes (2:1 in a relevant degree, 280+ UCAS points etc)

I agree that if they placed more weight on the academic stuff then they would specify degree or A level subjects, but seeing as they don't it can only be assumed that they use these as a general indication of academic ability rather than an essential requirement

Anyone with spare time available this Saturday (3 Nov) might like to visit the Professional Flight Training Show at the Sofitel, Heathrow T5. There will be a presentation by BA on the Future Pilot Programme: 2012 LONDON PROFESSIONAL FLIGHT TRAINING EXHIBITION

This isn't a graduate job though.

Granted most successful applicants did have a degree of some sort, but there are a good number of others who only had bare minimum A-levels or equivalent. Much more emphasis is placed on evidencing non-technical skills that could have been acquired through a number of avenues, not necessarily University related.

Not at all, people who have a CPL IR and no job were naive for parting with 100K without understanding the market.

This gives those who never normally have the chance of become a Pilot a chance to do it, with a loan tied to their income. It hopefully will stop airlines being a bit of a middle class Lads club for those that can afford it.

The only people who lose out on this are those who have no flying ability but have the cash to keep throwing at the examiner until they get lucky and pass their CPL, IR.

This is a great way to get some new talent into BA!

Good luck to all!

They were told that there was no plan to recruit them in 2013 and that positions would be prioritised to the FPP cadets. It is extremely unlikely that any positions will be generated for the remaining DEPs assessed by BA.