BA DEP A320
 

BA website
https://jobs.ba.com/jobs/vacancy/new...3/description/

£18k for the type rating required

Good luck to all

From the PDF linked at the bottom of the job description:
- An average ATPL Ground School score of 85% and above passed at the first attempt

You can always apply and see what happens.

Averaged 92% but 1 retake still ... I guess the game is over before it even started :(

£18k is scandalous, and that’s not fake news?

If if you can avoid it, do not pay for type ratings.

Its really not. I remember thinking my average was the most important thing in the world; I have no idea what it even was anymore. I know lots of guys from flight school with numerous fails who are flying all over the world for some great companies. It may preclude you from the odd role, but in general it has little impact; certainly beyond your first job.

So don't let it get you down! Good luck!

First the sponsored cadet programme was canned, now they're charging for type ratings.I bet not many people predicted a day when the type rating at Ryanair would be 3x cheaper than at BA.......

I'm surprised there's anyone left in the recruitment team, I would have thought most would have walked by now to avoid having their own reputation tarnished by this madness. To emphasise, this is an airline who just this week announced 2.6 billion pounds profits. Investing in 100 new pilots type ratings would cost (much) less than 0.1% of those profits, but it would appear that any sense of social responsibility has now been long forgotten.

Another sad day for aviation....

The recruitment team have worked very hard for years against very strict recruitment/cost policy, so that they can open up recruitment from different paths, including low houred modular pilots like yourself, and people still moan. Yes, a type-rating cost isn't ideal but it's a means to a pretty good career if you can stand it. How much is paying for your own ME/IR training these days with no job at the end of it? The recruitment team didn't want it, but this is the best they can get in present climate. They're still working on other recruitment paths as well.

Have a word with yourself. A career at BA is now open to thousands of fATPL holders when it previously wasn't - hardly a sad day for aviation.
The recruitment team are working hard to open up these avenues, including cadet schemes. The appetite is there, it's a case of getting approval from on high which is the current difficulty at BA.

Your GCSE’s certificates including Math’s, English and Science (excluding General studies and Critical Thinking) grade C and above plus proof you have 112 UCAS points according to the 2017 UCAS point system or equivalent. For international academic comparisons, see: naric.org.uk

Can anyone explain me a bit more about this requierement? I am not really sure what it is...

I would go a bit further than "isn't ideal". In most industries paying thousands of pounds for your own training is unheard of. BA hire experienced non-rated DEP's and have internal fleet transfers all the time and of course don't charge for those. Singling out 200-hr cadets is simply a money making scheme, taking advantage just because they can get away with it and other airlines do the same.

To be clear, I'm not blaming the recruitment team. In my (very limited) conversations with them a few years back they seemed to genuinley care. I imagine they're trying their best and with good intentions. But at some point you have to take a stand, you can't simultaneously represent something (ie BA recruitment) whilst denying all responsibiltiy for the negative parts. Yes you can argue they're trying to change things but on this and previous evidence (the 100,000+ MPL etc) things are getting worse not better. Hence my thoughts that some might sooner resign.

At the end of the day I'm sure they will get plenty of applicants and it's great opportunity for those who get in. It's good that BA is open to modular cadets again. Trying to defend the morality of the scheme though, regardless of how many internal battles are going on, is a non-starter IMO.

The choice is the simple - have this avenue with the Type Rating charge, or not have it at all. Which would you prefer?

How does allowing modular CPL holders the chance to join BA mean 'things are getting worse?"

The reason people are paying for training with no job guaranteed is because airlines are no longer funding the cost of training for pilots. People training are putting their life savings on the line to train and then an airline can't even show a bit of faith in the people they are hiring to pay for them to get trained on their fleet of aircraft? I know this isn't unique to BA, but its just a bit galling in the context of IAG reporting massive profits (although coming from a corporate background I can see the difficultly faced in getting investment from those high up in the business).

You also have to admit, a bonded or funded scheme would attract better talent because there is now an additional barrier to people applying.

I appreciate the optimism. It's frustrating because i know for sure that many FPP cadets had even more than 1 ATPL retake and many more again even had to retake CPL and ME/IR skills tests. They are now enjoying successful careers as BA pilots and it hasn't hindered them in that regard, yet for some reason BA are not even making the smallest of concessions for those that maybe just had a bad day in the exam room ... i can understand if someone had 4 or 5 retakes because that's indicative of something more serious, but just 1 retake though is more about something going wrong on that particular day alone

Of course it would. If BA offers its staff an inflation only pay deal, funded by 'productivity' in these times of record profit, I suspect the chances of a funded scheme are remote!

Regardless of the rights and wrongs of this scheme, for those thinking of applying make sure you're clear about what happens to your 18k in the (unlikely) event you don't meet the required standard. Are you employed before you start? Is there a money back clause if it all goes wrong and if not, are you willing to take that risk? It's a lot of money to invest without guarantees.

BA is not the only option either, all the airlines below hire modular pilots with either a free rating or a bond with no upfront payment. Paying for a type rating doesn't have to be the norm.

Jet2
Flybe
BA Cityflyer
Aer Lingus
Loganair
TCX / IAGO

In short, do your homework :ok:

"Still moan"? You make it sound like BA is struggling financially but still choosing to offer the best route into the industry for aspiring young pilots. Yes, a step in the right direction this latest development is. But a step in the right direction from what? Certainly not from something industry-leading. Airlines making much less money than BA are offering far superior recruitment options. One only has to look at the insulting pay offer from BA to realise that Cruz isn't interested in investing in people. Insincere emails thanking me for my hard work over the summer don't pay my mortgage. It's not a dig at the recruitment team, incidentally, who I know work tirelessly (themselves under-resourced) and want to offer excellent opportunities. I have nothing but respect and admiration for their tenacity in a climate of cost cutting at all costs. But you can hardly blame people for being more than slightly disappointed by what's on offer (especially those who still don't have a spare £18k lying around).

Rather than tell others to have a word with themselves consider why any one would pay for a type rating to add to the training debt they no doubt all ready have and then have to try and find accomodation in the South East? This is far from opening up a career in BA to thousands, it is just a further financial barrier.

(3 types on my licence, never paid a type rating yet)

Good for you.

Ultimately it's their choice whether they add to that debt, but I stand by my opinion that BA is more open to low houred pilots than it was before.

Does anyone have some more information about the actual process? What will happen after you apply?

Anybody know any details of the salary for this? Trying to assess whether it's worth me paying the £18k TR or not. If prefer to keep private, please PM me.

Has anyone heard anything since submitting application? I believe recruitment closes today but I haven't heard anything since I completed the online assessments

Anyone had interviews yet?

I am sorry to burst your bubble, but Ryanair aren't keeping their promises, as expected. Be very careful and make sure you read the contract in detail before signing it.
You will be on a reduced salary until you reach 500+ with the company, they won't tell you that until later. The 75K is "average", depend on your base and contract etc. You will also have to fork every cost associated with you starting the job. I have just renewed my airport car park for example and it cost me an arm and a leg. If you factor the money spent on car park, ID costs (they say they give you back, I'm still waiting), uniform, accommodation during training(even for during your recurrent sim checks you have to pay), food/drinks daily, you'll be earning the same as a BA FO.

BA will offer loss of licence insurance, car park, life insurance, hotels whilst on duty including training, medicals, ID costs, crew meals etc....
Also, the 5/4 works if you're based home or somewhere commutable to/from home. Most likely you won't get the base of your choice! Only one guy from my type rating got his home base of choice. You will lose two days commuting and staff travel is not available until you complete six months. Also, jump-seating is for operational use, some captains get funny...
No night-stops, which is nice for someone who has children but you cant help to feel like a bus driver ( subjective).
The environment at my base sucks, you'll get abuse from LTC's(many shouters out there) as a lot of them hate the company but are "stuck" to their high salaries. They genuinely don't like training anymore but its a good gig money wise to end their careers. People are miserable, cabin crew a bullied by the company and every week I speak to one or another who were "let go" because they dared calling sick when...they were sick.
Another example of how much of a joke the airline is, the past two days, crews were told to pack a pillow due to the disruption in Portugal( fuel tankers strike), as they may have to sleep in the crew rooms/aircraft. They cant even provide hotels for their crews during disruption...

Trust me, if you can get the 18K, do it, you'll be better off long term!

Thank's for adding. That said, just clarifying certain realities about the Ryanair deal. Financially, the investment is much larger than €5K euros, and it takes a while to recover as your salary is reduced. Work/life balance is poor, morale is low within the work force and it's an incredibly negative place to be. People keep going on about 75K this and that...I'm yet to meet an FO on the new deal that makes that much after tax. You spend so much money on basics that I doubt it's true you get to that figures before year 3.
Captains get paid well and get the leave they want etc, but that's another argument.
The salary at BA will be higher and you'll feel looked after. I know it may not be perfect, but based on my experience and others, I can categorically say that RYR does not care about it's workforce, is nothing new.

They won't pick the bill but the hotels are often 5*. Some long-haul destinations in the Caribbean out of Gatwick, the hotels are all inclusive so you don't pay anyway. However, you have crew meals whilst onboard, something that does make a difference in comparison to RYR, just do the maths based on how much you eat.

Plenty of BA pilots commute, not only from the UK but Europe too. There is plenty of info on this subject on the other thread(Terms & endearment), take into consideration that commuting is not for everyone.

Yes you can use staff travel for commuting, but still your responsibility to get to work on time and rested, no matter what airline it is. Staff Travel won't give you priority just because you're going to work, you need to plan accordingly. There are ways to check in the system how busy the flight is, you can message the operating captain etc.

You can get Business or even First class with BA staff travel. You can either purchase a basic staff travel ticket which is something in the region of 10% of the fare plus taxes, or a premium ticket which is 30% plus taxes. The premium gives you Club load priority.

I have lots of friends at BA and often use the BA staff travel myself, it works just fine and it's a great perk to have. You can add friends or family or both (up to 3 I think).

At RYR you can jumpseat when going to work but that is also based on a standby basis, if there are no seats and the captain won't release the flight deck jump-seat, you won't go anywhere. Most of the times is ok, but very busy during the summer. You must be in uniform at all times and wait until boarding has finished, and at some bases the process can be quite complicated because you need to go through normal passenger security.

I hope this answer your questions! Again, some people will prefer on to the other.

Has anyone had a reply from BA other than the 2 online tests?

nothing just saying you have been successful and will be in touch

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