British Airways DEP Selection - THE lowdown Part 1

[carbheatout]

the current round of recruitment is for SH only. That means either LHR 320 of LGW 737

Can I ask why they also ask for 757/767 people? Based in what you say BA will re-train them on the 737/A320?

[Wirbelsturm]

BA have the resources to re-train you very quickly onto whatever they need. If you hold a 757 rating then you qualify for ZFT onto the Airbus thus negating the need for costly base training.

The last 757 goes out of service next month and the hull reduction means there are plenty of surplus pilots for the 767.

Just to add a little, if you are desperate for LH and join DEP on the 777 then you will be at the bottom of the seniority list. As those who joined prior to you on the SH roster come up for fleet transfer they will join the seniority list and thus the bidding list ABOVE you, pushing you down further. Not a nice place to be for 5/6 years as some of the junior FO's who were DEP onto LH in the last recruiting phase have discovered.

[Propellerhead]

There will be no DEPs onto LH for the forseeable future, there are too many unfrozen internal candidates. BA will only take LH DEPs if there aren't enough internal candidates eligible (or in exceptional circumstances if they can't release internal pilots from their current position due to training capacity overload). I guess if loads of 767 pilots bid onto 777 next year there might be a few vacancies as it isn't that popular a bid compared to 777/747.

[P-T-Gamekeeper]

BA may recruit LH next year if it is struggling to attract the best candidates against Virgin when they start their recruitment. AFAIK there is no hard rule stating BA must offer vacancies to internal bidders before external recruitment on to LH. I joined BA as a DEP on the 777 4.5 yrs ago and am still loving it, even with the current stagnation.

That said, the man one place above you on the master seniority list will always be senior to you, and initial fleet is only for 5 years, so I would definately reccommend taking the earliest fleet offered.

Good luck everybody.

[bigdunc]

"there will be no DEPs onto LH for the foreseeable future"

Trawling through these and other posts it is apparent that as recently as 6 weeks or so ago all former hold pool DEPs received an official letter confirming that

"there maybe be some modest recruitment in mid-late 2011"

And now not even two months on people are booked for interviews! This is a quickly changing landscape. I don't mind speculation but let's not dictate things as gospel eh guys?!

[skyflyer737]

For those interested in who's been invited, I applied 2 days after it opened and was not previously in the hold pool, and was invited to assessment last Friday. Assessment is in 2 weeks' time.

[south coast]

Since I am happy in my current job I havent kept on top of BA advertising for jobs, was there a deadline for applications, as on the BA website it appears there are no pilot positions currently.

BA and Virgin would be the only company I would leave my current employer for, hence the interest in future employment with BA.

Thanks.

[P-T-Gamekeeper]

I believe the BA pilot recruitment site will often open, then close, whilst applications are processed. It should open again soon.

[Wirbelsturm]

AFAIK there is no hard rule stating BA must offer vacancies to internal bidders before external recruitment on to LH.

Priam rules state that if there are vacancies on a fleet where a pilot has a transfer bid into and that transfer is valid, i.e. not in initial type freeze or conversion freeze and able to bid, then that transfer is to be completed before external recruitment onto that fleet.

As the majority of the last recruitment was onto the SH fleets, with a 5 year initial freeze, which is finishing now for many SFO's then the internal bid this year will see quite alot of movement. Hence this recruiting will be for SH. Next year? Who knows it's anyones guess with the new aircraft coming along soon (ish).

[VJW]

I wasn't in the hold pool before, neither did I apply before. I applied on the sunday, I think it opened on Friday.

I hope that doesn't rule out people who applied before me= a no, but if BA go through the applications in order, then it could.

Sorry if thats bad news for a few people on here. Just lucky for me I guess (so far)

VJW

[DoctorEcam]

I think that the 8 questions rule doesn't apply.Since many pilot applied they might be giving priority to those holding a Jaa-Uk licence instead of calling people from other jaa states who will need to change their licence later on(If they want us)
Am i right?Probably...

[VJW]

you'll never know the answer to that

[Propellerhead]

As you say, I'm sure they want the people that can start asap, bearing in mind most will have to give 3 months notice after all the assessment days / final decision has been made. They may also need people on one fleet earlier than another.

How easy is it to convert another JAA licence to UK, and what difference does it make? Do the CAA just do it for a fee or do you have to pass UK air law or something?

[VJW]

just admin- pay the fee supply the paperwork, and provided you either live in uk more the 185 days a year (and to prove that ALL they look for is a UK address on your application-if you don't believe that, then PM me) or you work for a UK operator, which I believe BA is.

[Busbar]

Just got the e-mail earlier today inviting me for assessment For everyone's information there are lots of dates in November to choose from.

Good luck to all

p.s. I am not ex-hold pool and I have not applied before

[Lubeoil]

Hello Busbar
Are dates available all through November.
Thanks

[babotika]

When did you submit the application Busbar?

S.

[ChocksAwayUK]

On the afternoon of Wednesday 6th October according to previous posting.

[757_Driver]

I was in the hold pool, applied the day it opened and have heard nothing either way . 757 rated.
Not sure what order they are going through the applications.

[south coast]

Sorry guys, I am a bit confused as I have just been on the BA website and there appear to be 'no vacancies' in the 'technical and operations' section.

Was there a deadline for applications?

And, where is the link on the site to be able to fill in the online application form?

Thanks