Thanks for the info, kind of puts things into perpesctive now. Could any one please shed some light as to what Virgin is typically requiring from potential candidates? Competitive hrs? Preferred type? Type of flying (LH vs SH)? Educational background? etc. Next year may well have to choose between command on A319 or RHS on A340 if currnet expansion plans go ahead.

Many thanks and best of luck to the both of you next year!

OW

Could someone tell me what their normal requirements are, not direct entry captains, just normal FO positions.

I checked out their website, but it said they were not recruiting at the moment and I couldnt see their requirements.

Thanks.

Could someone tell me the requirements for direct entry captain,

or preferably chief pilot.

South Coast,

No Direct Entry Captains. Upgrade by SENIORITY and SUITABILITY only. Currently 8 to 10 years seemingly.

Minimum requirements from website in past have been 2500 hours with solid JET experience on something larger than a BAE 146.

In reality, people with 3000,4000,5000 hours and with experience on types operated by Virgin have been rejected for various reasons.

It is very difficult to even get an interview, but once in, it's very rewarding.

Thanks Stansdead

Hmmmm, I am flying within the corporate world and as you can imagine the planes are all fairly small, all-be-it they are modern and new technology.

Just not heavy in weight.

Would it be correct to assume that you dont find many from non-airline background in Virgin then?

I was told the other day (by someone who knows) it helps if you were in the right squadron.......
I haven't applied, so I'm not particularly bothered

Can anybody from Virgin help?....
How big is the holding pool at the moment?
Any courses planned in the near future? Which fleet?

How long is this piece of string I'm holding?

Perhaps you should direct your question to Virgin recruiting department, there again they probably don't know either,so about this piece of string!

How long is this piece of string I'm holding?

Twice the length from the middle i suspect

Simple really...........................................

DCT_bombi
Top post you got me!

Hi all,

What's the latest? Heard that interviews are being scheduled..

Cheers,

MG.

On the Jeppesen/Carmen website I noticed that Virgin is using Carmen systems for their monthly bidding. I wonder if someone could share with me an overview of the general satisfaction - or lack thereof - of the system with me. I fly for Continental and we've been using Carmen for monthly bidding for about a year. It's been an unmitigated disaster for about 70% of the seniority list who've seen their monthly days off decrease dramatically under PBS vs. line bidding.

I'm not sure if it's Carmens inferior software, or Continentals staffing shortages that are causing this dissatisfaction and am interested in hearing a Virgin pilots perspective on their PBS system.

Thanks,

Glassos

Glassos - personally, my request satisfaction has increased since the introduction of Carmen. However there are plenty of guys winging about it, especially on the Boeing fleet. I suspect what has happened is that the guys who used to buck the system under the old "manual" rosters are now finding that they can't do so. Having said that, there are plenty of wrinkles that need ironing out, although a lot of them have to do with the interface between the day-to-day Crewing system, which still runs on 1980s software, and Carmen, which only deals with Rosters - in their infinite, penny-pinching wisdom our management only bought the Carmen Rostering module, not the Crewing module.

Having just reread your post I'll now try and answer your question! My days off etc have changed very little under Carmen - if anything I'm getting 1 or 2 per month more, but the number of times I get a requested trip assigned (which I find more important than days off) has increased noticeably. However, if I read your post correctly you guys used to use the line-bidding system before Carmen, which we never did, so I don't know if our experience is directly comparable.

Hope that's of some help.
t

Thanks for the reply. Prior to Carmen did you use a different vendor for PBS, or did you have a different system to build rosters?

Prior to Carmen the roster was essentially hand-built.

Carmen has been in Virgin for about 3 years now, and is only now beginning to settle down. Many of the problems in the early days were due to operator inexperience and unfamiliarity with the system, and filters that were too coarse for their intended purpose. Thanks to the efforts of a few good men and women, the system is continually being updated and refined and, in general, is now producing a reasonably fair roster. That said, there's a long way to go before everyone will be either satisfied or convinced that they are not personally being victimised when a roster doesn't go their way, and much of our ground programme and leave is not yet included in Carmen's long-term planning, which makes things awkward at times. It will get there, but it's been a rocky path with much bad feeling on both sides.

If your roster people are reasonably flexible and open minded, they could try and contact Virgin's rostering department to discuss the issues at a technical level. I believe one of our pilots - an ex-Union rep - is very highly qualified on the system and may be able to advise (at commercial rates, no doubt!).

Scroggs

Hi Gang,

I received an email in July confirming the recruitment dept. would like to discuss things further etc. when dates became available.

Has anyone receiving this email in July had the fortune to interview yet?

MAX

The email would have been a start......

Is VA still interviewing? It seems to have gone all quiet on this front. I updated my details today through the online update facility, (hours etc,) but there was a banner saying on the summary page that:-

"Unfortunately, the job you are looking for is no longer being advertised."

It would appear that my reference number is still valid though.

Scroggs, any update at all ?

BR.

Couple of mates have been called for interview (not me though ). Any updates out there?

Any news on Virgin's requirements for the coming year? All gone very quiet.