The BA Longhaul experience

[trietwentie]

People have been trying to post threads to get an idea about who's on which fleet or what the longhaul roster looks like... which then sadly turned the original subject into 'force draft' or 'exact holiday days'.

So here's a 'filtering' attempt in order to hear from NEW DEP's flying LONGHAUL with BA.

* What is THEIR experience so far ?

* What are the GOODS and BADS, such as roster, jet-lag,pay, travel priviledges, cockpit atmosphere, commuting,time abroad...

* I know people (including me) would love to see some sample ROSTERS of you guys and get a feel for the lifestyle that can be expected.

* Any REGRETS or DOUBTS about your new career ?


We know there is such a thing as a 'honeymoon period' with a change in jobs, we know about the recent force drafts, long time to command and all that.
It would be great to hear, just from the new LH guys (no disrespect to opinions of senior and SH pilots) who haven't experienced the "old" BA and their points of view on their new job.

Thanks for the effort in the name of lots of your future BA LH colleagues !

( I shall remove this last sentence in case people start talking force draft again :-) )

[prob30]

... I second that - im especially interested in anyone commuting from NCL!

Thanks

[trietwentie]

How great to see the overwhelming response !

Come on guys, amaze us with your acquired wisdom !!

[Hot Wings]

Hated it for the first 6 months - mostly due to the appalling attitudes shown towards flight crew by other departments in the company, especially the cabin crew. Also, some of the old BOAC types were terrible but they're all gone now (replaced like for like no doubt!). The best advice I received was "don't worry about it, you'll have the last laugh - imagine being a 53 year old man and still pouring tea and coffee for a living?!".

Once you can get the right work/life balance it is a great job. The biggest plus is the bidline system used for rostering = excellent roster stability. Typically, though, the pen pushers have got bidline rules as one of their targets.

[Sempre Volando]

Interesting stuff to think about thanks Hotwings!

For a new FO on the longhaul fleets do you get any of your bidline choices for the first year or so, or is it literally "you get what is rostered with no choice of trip each month" for the first few years as has been rumoured?

Were you spending a whole months work in say the Middle East or the USA or do you get a mixed roster each month being very junior?

[trietwentie]

Hot Wings,

Thanks for your reply!

Was it mostly the change to the bidline system that brought about the change in happiness ?

Any chance you could jot some of your past rosters down ?

Cheers !