Recruitment woes at BA.

[Hot Wings]

No surprise I suppose but there has been a lack of qualified pilots rushing to join BA! It also appears that A320 rated applicants are not doing well in the BAC111 sim check (6 recent failures from BM).

Anyway, its still worth coming to BA if:

- you want to earn less than the cabin crew
- you want to wait 15+ years for a command
- you want a crap pension
- you want to work every weekend for the next 5 years
- you want to be despised by all other employees (including your own pilot management)

On a more positive note, BALPA is trying to do something about the pension.

[Roobarb]

I’ve just received a letter from the Lord Protector telling me that recruitment has been going very well.

So it’s true then.


I’ll take on the opposition anyday. It’s my management I can’t beat!

[sawotanao]

How can 6 current BM A320 pilots fail the sim, does that tell us something about BM training.No wounder there struggling to recruit pilots.

[maxy101]

I reckon most blokes on the -400 would fail the B1-11 Sim if asked to do it again now!

[eagerbeaver]

i flew that sim for my check with NOW, you have to keep your mincies peeled 'cause it can get out of shape very quickly, the seats are awful as well. Having said that i thought it was brilliant sounds like a submarine at crush depth.

[Wizofoz]

easy has had exactley the same problem getting Airbus guys (including some VERY experienced ones) through the check on the 737-300.

Fly-by-wire is just so fundementaly different from a conventional aircraft that

1) You can hardly blame the guys for losing their basic skills when they haven't had to use them for years

2) It's ridiculous recruiting Airbus pilots to fly Airbus aircraft on the basis of whether they can fly a geriatric Bac 1-11 (put 'em in a Tiger Moth-That's what I say!!)

Best way to assess an Airbus pilot? In an Airbus sim!!!

[Kaddyuk]

Had to read this topic twice.

Where is the benefit of examining Airbus Pilots in a BAC1-11 Sim or any other sim not of an airbus orientation?

Its like sitting a pure maths paper when you studied mechanics. They are similar but different...

[sawotanao]

Suppose its down to cost then....but surely BA can afford a few scairbus slots!
eagerbeaver check your PM's

[lamina]

I went back on a basic jet after a year flying a Airbus and struggled for the first hour just trying to get my scan going again, let alone the fact that a trip to the gym should be a prerequisite to get the bicepts in shape again

The Airbus is a great aircraft but fundementally very diferent from generic jets, so a bit odd if BA want Airbus pilots that they check them in a 1-11 sim

[Lou Scannon]

Why an earth don't BA use an old Lightning Sim or perhaps there might be a DC6 one lying around somewhere.

They could fail even more applicants then.

I presume their trainers/assessors are from Marks and Spencers, after all, one management job must be the same as another!

[763 jock]

Can't see the point in advertising for rated people and then sticking them in a 1-11 sim. Surely the idea is to assess their skills on the type which they are bringing to BA for free.

[Shake]

I am sure that there's more to the sim check than to just see if you can pole BAs cheapest sim... more likely they're also assessing you're potential for assimulation into the collective...

Stickle bricks next...resistance is futile, welcome to the Bores.

[Human Factor]

In the past, the 1-11 sim was used to give everyone a level playing field during their assessments. However, that was based upon the fact that no specific type rating was required and the successful applicant would be given a full type rating on his/her new type.

It does seem a bit of a waste of time though if we want A320 rated people who have been flying the jet for x years already. All they need, after the interviews, should be a couple of sim rides to get used to different SOPs.

[thegoaf]

If anyone followeing this strand has access to a book called "The One-Eleven Story published by Air Britain they will find an enthralling chapter in it called "Flying the BAC One -Eleven" written by a Cpatain Douglas Brown of British Airways. A couple of quotes from it will explain the difficulty that any pilot of a later generation will have in using the 1-11 simulator:
1. "Many converting new Captains more used to Pratt and Whitney press and go techniques spent some time mastering the art of starting twin Roll-Royce Speys, an action requiring some 23 separate switch selections."

2.ATC are more used to dealing with a later generation of aircrfat capable of finding any given spot on the globewith a little button-pushing to the flight management system. On the 1-11 this is transformed into a flurry of maps, a guess at the wind and a rough DR (dead reckoning) heading which strangely enough usually managed yto get us there."

[Jagbag]

Sim check

Can anyone in the know post the simulator check profile?

Just incase I am called - though I doubt it.

[maxy101]

Ahh...good old Dougie...mind you he's still a good bloke to fly with (on his one trip a month)

[Jet II]

Just out of interest - who's still got a 1-11 sim. I would have thought that they would have all been scrapped years ago.

[CrashDive]

This might be of use - Trident Sim - wherein it's very good value for money and worth it even if only just to say that you've experienced it, but in any event very good ( imho ) for brushing up on basic stick & rudder, scanning, trimming, patern 'A' & patern 'B' exercises, etc.

[Jet A1]

Good old St Thetic in DUB was still going a few years ago at Aer Lingus. Spent many an airport standby flying it around.

Not sure if it is still going. I was told they are not using it nor selling slots any more !

Good fun but !

[Carnage Matey!]

Apparently BA have been inundated with applications. I can only assume that the recruitment staff have a very small capacity bucket if they can be inundated by 165 applications.

Mind you, I fly the 320 for BA now and I don't think I could pass a check ride in a 1-11 without lots of practice.