P1 Forever

Hi there,

With regards to doing one or two landings per month, then how does it work in a 3 crew flight ( 1 Capt, 2 FO's ). For instance, outbound flight to LAX - Capt does take-off and landing in LAX. Return flight to LHR - then which FO does the take-off and landing?? Does it go by seniority or a toss of coin?

Oh Scroggs, looking forward to that sample selection of rosters, please post on here when you get the time. Cheers!!!!

Downtown1994

Human Factor

I am not aware of which company you work for but I am can assure you that Virgin has it's fair share of people who would not speak positively about Virgin. I have worked for other companies and in other walks of life and I have come to the conclusion that some people are never happy unless they are complaining. Unfortunately those few tend to bring other people down to their level. I steer clear of politics and report only what I see and experience. The people that I see complaining are usually the same people who have been around for a long time and always include the old "This company is not what it used to be..." Show me a company that is! I can't comment on the way the company was.

P1

I reckon that I average about 3 landings a month on the Boeing. It really depends on your roster. If you have a roster which is filled with East coast trips then you wil probably do 4. On the 3 crew trips, which usually consist of a Captain and two FO's but occasionaly 2 Captains then it is a decision made in the briefing and done democraticaly. Usually the Captain will take a leg but again I have had trips when the Captain has given both legs away without having one himself. Quite often the decision will be easy as someone has just comeback off leave etc and require the landing. if all things are equal then a coin is used. If you are the cruise pilot then you will operate in the cruise one way and as PNF the other. It will usually mean that you are first in the bunk as well. If you live 20 mins from the airport then that can be a bit depressing as your not tired. For a commuter like myself... sometimes that is quite welcome.

A huge negative thing about doing so few landings is of course if you screw it up. Nothing is nicer than finishing off a good trip with a greaser and the odd compliment from the cabin crew. If you don't and you do a landing like I did in my line training where my fillings came out, then it can be a while before you can have another go and get your confidence back.

Hope that helps.

scroggs

Politics exist in Virgin just as much as in any other airline. However, in general most in Virgin are aware that we are all on the same side and that what's good for the company can also be good for the individual. The company does make quite an effort to be a good employer, and, overall, succeeds quite well. There are, of course, bones of contention between the flight ops community and the bean-counters, but the argument that resulted in our pay deal convinced the company that the flight deck are intelligent, determined to contribute to the success of the company and equally determined to benefit from that success. The result is a much more positive working relationship than we had before.

As for landings, on the Airbus you can't really expect more than one or two a month - and, with the amount of training going on at the moment, it's going to be a struggle to get that many!

I think we'll just ignore DTP's sarcasm.

FFP

Does Virgin have any reciprical agreements for staff travel with any other major airlines ?

scroggs

You can buy ID75/ID90 tickets on all major airlines, but as I'm not a user of Staff Travel at all (I travel for work, not pleasure!), I don't know what other deals there are.

crewrest

Re Staff travel: Virgin is a member of www.gozed.com which gets you quite a few deals.

Scoggs and Downtown have described Virgin pretty accurately IMHO.

FFP

Sorry, what's an ID75/ID90? I'm guessing it's a type of standby ticket ? Just working the feasibility of commuting and working for a major airline like Virgin . . . . .

northern boy

You have to have 6 months from date of joining to get BA/BM shuttle tickets and 1 year for others.

You can also get on the web sites and pick up confirmed seats for much the same price some of the time.

Standby travel is a nightmare. BA will always try and get you on ,god bless them, but be aware that if a BA hostie turns up at the last minute, he/she has priority over you!. I have also been turfed out of my seat before now because some fat businessman wants to get an earlier flight, ie the one I've been sitting on.
Midland are hopeless for standby, especially ex LHR. They have a nasty habit of cancelling flights when not enough pax turn up, putting EMB 145's on the LHR-MAN run at the weekend and sending off half empty airbusses when there are staff waiting to get on.

Personally I now buy confirmed tickets off the net most of the time. The stress was killing me. Also I like to know that I can get home after an overnight flight and not spend all day waiting. Keep a couple of standbys handy in case of unforeseen delays and of course your standby month.

As for the hotels, Ł30 if you can get them, and yo can only book 2 weeks in advance. During the summer months, forget it.

As for costs, yes it is expensive but cheaper than a mortgage in the south. I've been doing it for two years and so far its worked with a few notable exceptions. The only way to make it easier for me would be a move to the Airbus fleet. (later check in times and only one flight ex LGW). One day I hope!.

scroggs

Lots of people commute, and the subject is covered in one or more of the threads I linked to in my first post on this thread. As I find travelling a complete pain in the proverbial, I wouldn't do it - but I don't have the personal factors that make it a desirable option. On the other hand, I get the M25....!

Sidestick

Hello there Scroggs




-- now that you seem to be back in town, any chance of a few Airbus sample Rosters ??

Your posts re life in Virgin are hugely appreciated -- much of value and most useful : application lodged !

gnadirs

Hi there,

thank you guys for all the nice replies. Really helpfull!

Can anyone give a bit more information on what the "real" minimum requirments at the moment are for joining Virgin?

2500hrs does not seem realistic to me....

Being a UK company its only logical that most of the pilots are Britisch.....How difficult is it for other nationalities to get in ( off course nationalities with the right to live in the UK)

Thanks a lot,

G

crewrest

There are alot of people applying with Airbus ratings at the moment, that seems as important as the hours at the present time. This allows the company to allocate quick courses to the A340.

There are quite a few non-British in Virgin, I can't think that would be a problem.

Weather Report

My 10 cents worth if it`s of any interest - I joined Virgin 11 years ago after the Dan Air debacle (I was an F/O on the 1-11 when it all fell apart), I did four years in the RHS with VS before managing to scramble over the centre console into the LHS on the 400. I can honestly say that it`s been an absolute ball since day one. Every trip has been an adventure and the new joiners I fly with now are every bit as brilliant and entertaining company as the people I joined with. In my humble opinion this is the best job in UK aviation.

LVL CHG

Great post about Virgin. I have always been a big fan and I would love to join the 400 fleet some day in the distant future... A few questions:

1. What percentage of newhires are from Easy and Ryan?

2. If you have an A320 type and experience, will you "most likely" be allocated to the A340 fleet or is allocation random?

3. What is the likelihood of getting hired if you only have turboprop time (say Dash 8-400 time) vs. jet time? Does Virgin hire turboprop drivers (e.g., Flybe Dash or Eastern Airways Jetstream pilots) directly into the 400 or Airbus or do they want you to have jet time?

Hey Weather Report, having flown the Bac-111, do you ever miss the round dials and steam gauges vs. the glass equipment on the 400?

Cheers

scroggs

LVL CHG I'll try to answer your questions:

1. Don't know - and I doubt the recruiters would release statistics. I've met a few ex-EZ coming on line recently, but no ex Ryans. That doesn't mean anything though - I don't get to meet all new pilots!

2. As the A320 to A340 conversion is pretty straightforward (read 'cheap'), it's pretty much a no-brainer. It's not unknown for Airbus peeps to go to the 744, but it's rare. And we haven't bought 26 new 744s......

3. We have hired people with only TP time in the past (in fact, I was one, to all intents and purposes!), but I can't comment on current policy until I've met a TP driver or two who've been through the latest procedures. I would have thought that experience of modern glass equipment was more relevant than whether or not your aeroplane had windmills on the front!

gonadz

Entirely agree with Scroggs on his first two points.

Not so sure about TP time though. A friend tried to join us two years ago (about 5000hrs TP time, full ATPL, well known to several senior Captains). He was interviewed and asked to come back when he had some jet time. After two seasons with Sleazy he's now a Virgin.

Tried to assist another buddy (Ex RN rotary and loads of commercial TP time outside) earlier this year and they said they wouldn't even look at him until he obtained some jet time.

I suggest if you don't have the jet time you will be very low priority in the recruitment stakes - plenty of competition for places at the moment.

Of course it could all change very quickly if we cease to be a prefered employer.

Good luck

lexxity

standby can be a nightmare ex man with both ba and bd, the lhr flights are pretty generally chocker these days and a lot of bd long haul crew and flight deck commute and get highest priority. we always do our best to get you away and down to check in on time. After 6months you will get access to zed tickets, but be aware ba have lowered their prices, but have started charging UB tax on their tickets! That can get very expensive and the 1415 ba to lhr is no longer so that pushes spare seats on bd to the minimum. Weekend mornings are bad on bd due to the embraers.
You can always drive when the going gets tough, not to bad going out, it's the return thats the killer!
hope this helps.

meatball

I remember seeing an advertisement years ago with Richard Branson refering to Virgin Atlantic as "Where My Workers Are More Important Than You."

Excellent !

Unfortunately, my age most likely prohibits me from ever joining them; 50 and recently up-graded to LHS B 737.

I always thought Virgin would be the ultimate and I can see I wasn´t wrong.

checkthrust

First of all, nice one everybody, an excellent thread!

Anybody know of any Embraer skippers getting a look in? I meet the hous ok and have jet command time. To move to a Boeing or Airbus job and take a pay cut (move to RHS), or to wait? Any advise is appreciated!

Blue skies and Tailwinds

Downtown1994

Checkthrust..

I assume you are on the ERJ..

I can't specifically answer your question regarding Embraer Captains, but I can tell you that I know of at least 2 ex- CRJ Captains who have joined us over the last year. One at least had only CRJ experience.

As has been previously stated, it's jet time and more importantly it's glass. As the ERJ and CRJ are broadly similair then you should be right in the ball park.

Good luck.