Life at BMed
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Life at BMed
Would any of you kind peeps at BMed please enlighten me as to life at BMed. Its one of the airlines over the past years that has interested me a lot. Now that I have a number of jet hours under my belt I am considering applying.
You guys enjoying it?
Thanks for any info received
You guys enjoying it?
Thanks for any info received
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Can't beat the exotic destinations.... I'd love to know more too about schedules (say # flights per week), interesting layovers, flying the Airbus and overall morale. Can anyone compare BMED to a previous airline experience - what was better/worse?
Cheers
Cheers
Join Date: Jun 2001
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I left some time ago because of the length of time away from home, at that time it was only 8 days a month off in UK although I believe it is a bit better now thanks to BALPA. As it is medium haul and many destinations only served 3 times a week then your work is never limited by flying hours as you are spending a lot of time on the ground down route.
I have to say though that BMed is an excellent training airline and that you will find no better grounding in airline flying. i.e. from LHR to some pretty demanding foreign destinations.
Now that the job market is picking up again I would anticipate the turnover there increasing again as evidenced by their recent ad in Flight for FOs and DE commands.
I have to say though that BMed is an excellent training airline and that you will find no better grounding in airline flying. i.e. from LHR to some pretty demanding foreign destinations.
Now that the job market is picking up again I would anticipate the turnover there increasing again as evidenced by their recent ad in Flight for FOs and DE commands.
Join Date: Jul 1999
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As with all companies it is quite easy to find fault, also it is not the most glamorous or well paid company. That said it has many good points which far out weigh the bad points.
At present we have 3 A320 and 3 A321. The current recruitment is for the 7th aircraft which arrives early next year with a total of 10 aircraft planned.
You get 10 days off per calendar month (9 in Feb), 5 weeks leave and 8 bank holidays. Looking back over some representative rosters (i.e. without leave) I average around 16 nights at home and 14 or so nights away per calendar month. The trips vary from 2 days (of which there is 1 a week) to 3, 4 & 5 day trips. A couple of the 4 & 5 day trips have a shuttle in the middle of them, otherwise the trips consist of 2 sectors out then 1 or 2 days layover then 2 sectors home.
Report times are excellent, the earliest report is 12:30 and last arrival back to LHR is around 14:30. The relatively late starts and early arrivals mean that you arrive at the destination in the early hours of the morning and have a wakeup down route sometimes as early as 00:30 U.K. time; however this does mean leaving home late and arriving home relatively early.
Most people average around 550 hours per year so it can be slow building hours, but command can be quick for those people deemed suitable. The hotels in the main are to a good standard and are generally Sheraton, Hilton or Intercontinental. Some layovers can be very quiet depending on the crew whilst others can be very sociable.
As I mentioned before it is not the best paid (I can’t remember the salary scales) but FO starts around £37,000 and Captain around £63,000. Allowances average around £500 per month all in, i.e. no additional flying rate or meal allowances. Pension is money purchase with company contribution of only 7.5%, this rises to 15% for captains after a number of years.
As I mentioned earlier it is very easy to find fault but overall I am very happy there, as are most of the pilots. It is not for you if you don’t like time away from home. The above are obviously my own thoughts and others may give a more negative view however I hope they are of some help. There are certainly worse companies to work for.
At present we have 3 A320 and 3 A321. The current recruitment is for the 7th aircraft which arrives early next year with a total of 10 aircraft planned.
You get 10 days off per calendar month (9 in Feb), 5 weeks leave and 8 bank holidays. Looking back over some representative rosters (i.e. without leave) I average around 16 nights at home and 14 or so nights away per calendar month. The trips vary from 2 days (of which there is 1 a week) to 3, 4 & 5 day trips. A couple of the 4 & 5 day trips have a shuttle in the middle of them, otherwise the trips consist of 2 sectors out then 1 or 2 days layover then 2 sectors home.
Report times are excellent, the earliest report is 12:30 and last arrival back to LHR is around 14:30. The relatively late starts and early arrivals mean that you arrive at the destination in the early hours of the morning and have a wakeup down route sometimes as early as 00:30 U.K. time; however this does mean leaving home late and arriving home relatively early.
Most people average around 550 hours per year so it can be slow building hours, but command can be quick for those people deemed suitable. The hotels in the main are to a good standard and are generally Sheraton, Hilton or Intercontinental. Some layovers can be very quiet depending on the crew whilst others can be very sociable.
As I mentioned before it is not the best paid (I can’t remember the salary scales) but FO starts around £37,000 and Captain around £63,000. Allowances average around £500 per month all in, i.e. no additional flying rate or meal allowances. Pension is money purchase with company contribution of only 7.5%, this rises to 15% for captains after a number of years.
As I mentioned earlier it is very easy to find fault but overall I am very happy there, as are most of the pilots. It is not for you if you don’t like time away from home. The above are obviously my own thoughts and others may give a more negative view however I hope they are of some help. There are certainly worse companies to work for.
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Interesting posting, Don Coyote. Do you have any idea whether they are looking for type rated co-pilots only at present, or will they consider turboprop, etc, experience, with reasonable hours?
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TM,
Will take turboprop guys. Last intake had quite a few ex-RN rotary types. I think Airbus type rated guys are hard to come by at the moment. I've been with BMed some time and agree with DC's comments
Will take turboprop guys. Last intake had quite a few ex-RN rotary types. I think Airbus type rated guys are hard to come by at the moment. I've been with BMed some time and agree with DC's comments
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Favourite Destinations/Layovers and Why?
Great posts Don Coyote and Mactor. I very much appreciate your comments. In terms of enjoyable destinations/layovers, what are the preferred destinations for flight crews?
Conversely, what are the least desireable layover destinations in your opinion? Clearly some of your layovers are in somewhat "hostile" or possibly "Westerner-unfriendly" areas - in that case are you just confined to your hotels or can you get out and walk around (in a crowd)?
Personally, I would find just flying back and forth to Paris, Belfast and Milan quite boring after a while - that is why I prefer BMed's list of "interesting" destinations (I hope you will add a few more in the next years). I have always thought flying 5-6 sectors per day (especially out of LHR) would be too exhausting... That is why I think BMed's type of flying and interesting destinations would be appealing to a lot of people.
Thanks for your comments.
Conversely, what are the least desireable layover destinations in your opinion? Clearly some of your layovers are in somewhat "hostile" or possibly "Westerner-unfriendly" areas - in that case are you just confined to your hotels or can you get out and walk around (in a crowd)?
Personally, I would find just flying back and forth to Paris, Belfast and Milan quite boring after a while - that is why I prefer BMed's list of "interesting" destinations (I hope you will add a few more in the next years). I have always thought flying 5-6 sectors per day (especially out of LHR) would be too exhausting... That is why I think BMed's type of flying and interesting destinations would be appealing to a lot of people.
Thanks for your comments.
Last edited by LVL CHG; 26th Oct 2004 at 02:07.
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BMED
The address for recruitment is on the website I believe.
In terms of destinations they are all okay. Personally I don't enjoy Tehran but the rest of them are fine. Some of the 3 day trips are awkward to arrange your sleep patterns but the hotels are fine and usually have a gym.
You are not confined to the hotel and are free to go around and enjoy yourself, but just be careful as you would in any major city.
I am not sure whether we have finished recruitment for this year. There have been some direct entry commands and the rest have been new FO's to replace promotions.
Recruitment will probably start in the summer of next year for a new aircraft in 2006.
In terms of destinations they are all okay. Personally I don't enjoy Tehran but the rest of them are fine. Some of the 3 day trips are awkward to arrange your sleep patterns but the hotels are fine and usually have a gym.
You are not confined to the hotel and are free to go around and enjoy yourself, but just be careful as you would in any major city.
I am not sure whether we have finished recruitment for this year. There have been some direct entry commands and the rest have been new FO's to replace promotions.
Recruitment will probably start in the summer of next year for a new aircraft in 2006.
