BA Longhaul Roster
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BA Longhaul Roster
Hello all,
I am considering applying for BA longhaul.
Lifestyle is a big issue for me and my family (two young children).
Is there any BA longhaul pilot out there who would share his roster with me? What about commuting to/from Europe mainland?Also any comment welcome.
Thanks.
I am considering applying for BA longhaul.
Lifestyle is a big issue for me and my family (two young children).
Is there any BA longhaul pilot out there who would share his roster with me? What about commuting to/from Europe mainland?Also any comment welcome.
Thanks.
Bae
Your roster is very dependant on the Fleet you end up on ( 777 vs 747) and also your seniority, you really need to see a Junior guys/girls roster.
FWIW the junior pilots on the 777 do almost entirely short ( maybe 6-7 X 3day ) trips, to the Gulf or Eastern Seaboard of the US, with perhaps two days off between ( or back to backing trips if they are struggling to make the monthly target known as CAP). The Senior guys may do slightly better but they as yet don't have a lot of long trips on the Fleet.
On the 747 there are more longer trips to spread around, but the junior guys will still probably be doing 1X5 day trip and 3/4/5 of the shorter ones......
Re: commuting from the European mainland; entirely possible, not always easy, but lots do it.
Your roster is very dependant on the Fleet you end up on ( 777 vs 747) and also your seniority, you really need to see a Junior guys/girls roster.
FWIW the junior pilots on the 777 do almost entirely short ( maybe 6-7 X 3day ) trips, to the Gulf or Eastern Seaboard of the US, with perhaps two days off between ( or back to backing trips if they are struggling to make the monthly target known as CAP). The Senior guys may do slightly better but they as yet don't have a lot of long trips on the Fleet.
On the 747 there are more longer trips to spread around, but the junior guys will still probably be doing 1X5 day trip and 3/4/5 of the shorter ones......
Re: commuting from the European mainland; entirely possible, not always easy, but lots do it.
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Plan to fly around 800 hours per year. Extra work can mean more. Your contract is effectively for the full 900 hours (actually 1043 credit hours but it amounts to the same thing), unlike our cousins with the red tails who are contracted for 750 hours.
Bae
You would probably need the triple guys/girls to help here, since that's probably where you would end up as a DEPs, as I'm on the 747 I can only give one point of view. It should be a minimum of two days off, it will sometimes be more. Also bear in mind some of the three day trips have early reports, meaning you may have to commute to London the night before, on the other hand many of them also have early finishes ( e.g. getting in from the States breakfast time), so as long as your commute is fairly efficient you could get a fair proportion of day three of the trip actually at home - swings and roundabouts and all that.
You would probably need the triple guys/girls to help here, since that's probably where you would end up as a DEPs, as I'm on the 747 I can only give one point of view. It should be a minimum of two days off, it will sometimes be more. Also bear in mind some of the three day trips have early reports, meaning you may have to commute to London the night before, on the other hand many of them also have early finishes ( e.g. getting in from the States breakfast time), so as long as your commute is fairly efficient you could get a fair proportion of day three of the trip actually at home - swings and roundabouts and all that.
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Go for it! Take the job, if it's offered!
Then get preggers (sex change op worth a try) and get BALPA spend loads of members cash to get you part time and loadsa time off.
Sorted.....cushy life.
Then get preggers (sex change op worth a try) and get BALPA spend loads of members cash to get you part time and loadsa time off.
Sorted.....cushy life.
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Can we be absolutely clear about forced draft please!
You only have to work if they can get hold of you. There was a post a while back about a capt with a big red phone which if it rang on a day off he knew it was BA cos they were the only ones with the number!
It's only a game folks.
You only have to work if they can get hold of you. There was a post a while back about a capt with a big red phone which if it rang on a day off he knew it was BA cos they were the only ones with the number!
It's only a game folks.
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BAE,
Personnally, I think BA is still a better place to be in many respects. I look back at my experience in a major airline and experience in several start-ups and developed lo-co's. For apparently many people working for BA or thinking about working there, the long wait to command is an issue and force draft appears to be a problem. But hopefully this is where the DEP's come in to save the day. Working hard should not be a factor, since everybody else works hard.
But what about pay increases combined with seniority (read lifestyle), decent travel priviledges , SH+LH ops? That, in my view, is the way to survive a long airline career!
Lo-co's careers are overshadowed by a career in a major airline in many ways. Command is usually, and understandably, the only career goal because of money and for some...ego. Lifestyle in lo-co's (better pick of holiday, WE's,better trips...) usually does not improve with seniority and sadly is not given the attention it should have.
Some people seem to have lost perspective of where BA working conditions stand in respect to other carriers around them.
If you go for BA...it probably won't be a bad thing, I guess you can always return to the good ol' lo-co's or charters. I too applied for longhaul with BA, since it is the only way out of a system where lifestyle just does not seem to improve. In my view, BA's seniority system is a developed system, as is the airline, and this gives a chance of getting a lifestyle and paypackage that can improve with seniority.
Good luck !
Personnally, I think BA is still a better place to be in many respects. I look back at my experience in a major airline and experience in several start-ups and developed lo-co's. For apparently many people working for BA or thinking about working there, the long wait to command is an issue and force draft appears to be a problem. But hopefully this is where the DEP's come in to save the day. Working hard should not be a factor, since everybody else works hard.
But what about pay increases combined with seniority (read lifestyle), decent travel priviledges , SH+LH ops? That, in my view, is the way to survive a long airline career!
Lo-co's careers are overshadowed by a career in a major airline in many ways. Command is usually, and understandably, the only career goal because of money and for some...ego. Lifestyle in lo-co's (better pick of holiday, WE's,better trips...) usually does not improve with seniority and sadly is not given the attention it should have.
Some people seem to have lost perspective of where BA working conditions stand in respect to other carriers around them.
If you go for BA...it probably won't be a bad thing, I guess you can always return to the good ol' lo-co's or charters. I too applied for longhaul with BA, since it is the only way out of a system where lifestyle just does not seem to improve. In my view, BA's seniority system is a developed system, as is the airline, and this gives a chance of getting a lifestyle and paypackage that can improve with seniority.
Good luck !
Even caller ID won't save a new DEP.
A blind line holder will have TAS days on his/her line. This means a contactable time on the day before any days off. Nothing to stop a long trip being assigned into the days off.
So where's the attraction for someone wanting a lifestyle?
No days off known in advance.
Poor pension.
900 hrs a year.
Work every weekend.
Stay at the bottom of the list for years after 2006.
Many years to command.
Deal with amazing mismanagement.
At least 5 trips across the pond a month.
The days off problem may be mitigated if forced draft is proved to be illegal in European law.
I'm not saying don't do it, just warning that life will be very hard if lifestyle is important.
A blind line holder will have TAS days on his/her line. This means a contactable time on the day before any days off. Nothing to stop a long trip being assigned into the days off.
So where's the attraction for someone wanting a lifestyle?
No days off known in advance.
Poor pension.
900 hrs a year.
Work every weekend.
Stay at the bottom of the list for years after 2006.
Many years to command.
Deal with amazing mismanagement.
At least 5 trips across the pond a month.
The days off problem may be mitigated if forced draft is proved to be illegal in European law.
I'm not saying don't do it, just warning that life will be very hard if lifestyle is important.
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BLR 4.4.2.1 actually states that you can arrange for a third party to collect your message during your time of contactability during TAS. Your answering machine is considered to be a third party. So if you are careful, you cannot be forced to work on your days off, even when contactable, because they cannot do that via a machine.
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Is it not true that under BLR, trips are offered in decreasing seniority first, and if not taken, FD starts from the bottom?
So the first call you get should be an offer, not FD.
So the first call you get should be an offer, not FD.
P_T etc
I think that sadly, in the opinion of the BidLine guru's that is a long standing myth, best not pick up the phone.
Now, about the European Working Time Diirective.............
I think that sadly, in the opinion of the BidLine guru's that is a long standing myth, best not pick up the phone.
Now, about the European Working Time Diirective.............
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The intent is that FD should only be applied in extremis. This could be read as meaning when there are no volunteers, and so straight draft would have to be offered to all volunteers first.
At the moment FD is very frequent because there are not enough pilots, and so it seems they are taking no chances and Forced Drafting absolutely anyone they can get hold of! This then makes the situation worse because even the volunteers want to have the option to refuse certain trips. So now they are turning off their phones too, exacerbating the problem further.
It is a can of worms.
At the moment FD is very frequent because there are not enough pilots, and so it seems they are taking no chances and Forced Drafting absolutely anyone they can get hold of! This then makes the situation worse because even the volunteers want to have the option to refuse certain trips. So now they are turning off their phones too, exacerbating the problem further.
It is a can of worms.