Speedbird Pilot Academy - Funded

[Tinytimtim]

Anyone know how long you stay on £34k for?

At 40 I could take the initial 2 year hit by paying mortgage/bills with loans/credit cards but if the salary was £34k for 4 years etc it would probably be a step too far unfortunately. I don’t live anywhere near London so would have to pay for accommodation there whilst working (relocating isn’t an option unfortunately)

Before any keyboard warriors come at me - I know how good of an opportunity this is and the eventual salaries etc but I’m being realistic and responsible with my finances/family

[PPRuNeUser0203]

So do we think 20,000+ people hitting refresh on the BA website looking for the "Apply Now" button to appear will break the internet today or what?

[Nino24]

Originally Posted by Terrence Trent Derby

So do we think 20,000+ people hitting refresh on the BA website looking for the "Apply Now" button to appear will break the internet today or what?

hahaha I think so! I would’ve thought the application opened after 00:00 or at 9am today. I reckon maybe end of today.

[abhi.18]

Originally Posted by desertghost

Regarding the salary and bond - isn't the usual starting salary for an FO closer to £50,000? Seven years on £34,000 living in/around London after 18 months with no job sounds miserable. Or is that figure just for year one?

Exactly my thought. I wasn't able to join the live session but I'm suprised no one asked this. Anyone have any news on this?

[abhi.18]

Originally Posted by desertghost

You may not have to repay for training but will be on significantly less pay than your colleagues... would make sense though as BA would make back the money spent on your training and then some.

But £34000 for 7 years? Thats not financially sustainable right?

[Taco Duck]

The BA website says a starting salary of £34,000, so it will go up year after year I imagine.

[Planner01]

Originally Posted by desertghost

Regarding the salary and bond - isn't the usual starting salary for an FO closer to £50,000? Seven years on £34,000 living in/around London after 18 months with no job sounds miserable. Or is that figure just for year one?

£34k in London and you'll be struggling.
Even £50k in London is not enough now. It will have you renting a room for £1000 a month in a flatshare. (Yes, that's what a room now costs with bills in Zone 3/4/5)
This is likely starting around mid £30s then progressing each year, but over X years the typical salary level minus a set amount to repay costs. This is usually over 3 or 4 years. On the lower salaries you'd want to be living outside London in a flatshare and heading in bound the the airport.

[rudestuff]

Originally Posted by desertghost

Regarding the salary and bond - isn't the usual starting salary for an FO closer to £50,000? Seven years on £34,000 living in/around London after 18 months with no job sounds miserable. Or is that figure just for year one?

Think of it like you would a fixed rate mortgage - you'll be refinancing to a better deal anyway. With 200 hours you need 1200 more to get an ATPL. At which point you'll have far more options open to you. As long as your next job covers the bond payments then who cares? In reality the pay should go up fairly quickly. In my first job the cadet salary was 50%, 66%, 75% with 100% after 3 years.

[Rolla123]

Will they be asking the motivation question on the online application? Also has the application opened up yet?

[Angle_of_Attack]

Originally Posted by desertghost

If the application process is so rigorous and the cadets so high quality why not pay them a regular (100%) salary from day one?

Because you are not as experienced as a pilot applying DEFO. It's a bit absurd to expect to make the same salary as an experienced pilot, straight out of flight school.
You don't have the hours in comparison and the salary should reflect this. You start on a cadet salary and it goes up incrementally each year as your experience grows.

[Planner01]

Cost. 60 annually means £6 million per year spent on cadets which IAG isn't going to give for free.

[Angle_of_Attack]

Originally Posted by Planner01

Cost. 60 annually means £6 million per year spent on cadets which IAG isn't going to give for free.

70. And that figure is a drop in the bucket compared to annual profits.

[Planner01]

Originally Posted by Peter Ahonsi

Sorry but, how can you do A Level maths with no GCSE

QUOTE=CaptN;11504823]A few things from today's Q&A session:

- ​​Srictly 6 GCSEs or equivalent qualifications, nothing higher will be accepted ie if you had 5 GCSEs with no maths but had maths A-Level you won't be considered.

- Contractual bond for seven years.

- Applications must be completed by the end of the 25th.

- If you don't already have a Class 1 medical BA will fund it if you are successful.

- No deferred places.

- They are planning to reopen the scheme again in March 2024.

- Number of openings: 70.

- The course is for a full ATPL and not an MPL.

The course will get you a CPL with ATPL theory passed, often referred to as a frozen ATPL (CPL fATPL) as in your theory passes are frozen until you have enough hours to apply for an ATPL. An ATPL is what you can get once you have 1500 hours (some criteria about what those need to include) and is the licence you need to be Captain. Both MPL and CPL fATPL allow you to apply for an ATPL when you meet the criteria. The only difference is if you have an MPL, your ATPL will be restricted to multi pilot operations which can be removed with a few hours instruction in light aircraft.

[Planner01]

Originally Posted by Angle_of_Attack

70. And that figure is a drop in the bucket compared to annual profits.

Doesn't matter. Businesses act like businesses. It's the same across every airline.

[Angle_of_Attack]

Originally Posted by desertghost

Understood but 34,000 won't leave people living in London with enough to pay rent, bills, feed themselves and actually get to work. Seems like they need to up their pay all round.

this is the pay minus allowances, which would bump up the total figure by about 10-15k annually, and each year the salary increases incrementally until you reach full pilot salary.

[Planner01]

Originally Posted by Angle_of_Attack

Because you are not as experienced as a pilot applying DEFO. It's a bit absurd to expect to make the same salary as an experienced pilot, straight out of flight school.
You don't have the hours in comparison and the salary should reflect this. You start on a cadet salary and it goes up incrementally each year as your experience grows.

You will have the same hours as a direct entry FO fresh out of an integrated course. Pilot pay doesn't work on experience. It's based on seniority at the company. Spend a few years as a FO in another airline then move over to BA and you start at the bottom of the pay scale the same as someone fresh out of training.

[Planner01]

Because they are mainly targeting younger candidates with no dependents or mortgage, who can likely live with parents or happily live in a flatshare. £34k is poverty in London but you will be best living outside and driving inbound to the airport. Keep in mind that a room and bills in London is now around £1k a month.

[Angle_of_Attack]

Originally Posted by Planner01

You will have the same hours as a direct entry FO fresh out of an integrated course. Pilot pay doesn't work on experience. It's based on seniority at the company. Spend a few years as a FO in another airline then move over to BA and you start at the bottom of the pay scale the same as someone fresh out of training.

Have you looked at requirements for DEFO positions? those fresh out of an integrated course wouldn't meet the requirements, hence why graduates from the academy get offered a position on a CADET salary.

[Planner01]

Originally Posted by Angle_of_Attack

Have you looked at requirements for DEFO positions? those fresh out of an integrated course wouldn't meet the requirements, hence why graduates from the academy get offered a position on a CADET salary.

Whitetail and Newly Qualified Pathway are basically direct entry but with the A320 type rating bonded and deducted over X years. The academy has a lower salary because you'll be repaying the bond which I guess will be a 25k deduction over 4 years. The salary for all these pathways will likely be direct entry FO salary minus a given bond repayment. Academy entry will have higher bond repayments and therefore more of a deduction form the base FO salary. I spent years running similar programmes in recruitment at an airline so fully understand how it works.

[Angle_of_Attack]

Originally Posted by Planner01

Whitetail and Newly Qualified Pathway are basically direct entry but with the A320 type rating bonded and deducted over X years. The academy has a lower salary because you'll be repaying the bond which I guess will be a 25k deduction over 4 years. The salary for all these pathways will likely be direct entry FO salary minus a given bond repayment. Academy entry will have higher bond repayments and therefore more of a deduction form the base FO salary. I spent years running similar programmes in recruitment at an airline so fully understand how it works.

That's not the same as DEFO. If it was, they wouldn't have needed to create the NQPP / Whitetail pathways.