Aer Lingus sim session and interview

[airbusboi319]

good luck jimbo !!!!

[JIMBO01]

Sim

Hi Guys, does anyone know what airport you fly from in the sim assessment. Is it Dublin?? or Gatwick ??

[JIMBO01]

0123..

Yes you have to pay for your accomodation, i recommend Radisson as its perfectly located with the Aer Lingus building with a quick walk across the road, bit pricey though, depending on your budget really. Aer Lingus will pay for your travel, they were all very good and easy to communicate with if any problems or questions. Im actually going back there today. Good Luck.

[Superpilot]

The recruitment page is no longer there. Did you apply online or just send in a CV?

[captplaystation]

Usually less time than you wait for the letter saying you haven't

[Wacked]

I just got invited for an interview for a dec position in gatwick. Anyone any idea what extras they might throw in for captains.

[sliders]

Just heard that this may not be going ahead with the LGW base. Anyone else heard this?

[brakedwell]

Just heard that this may not be going ahead with the LGW base. Anyone else heard this?

More doom and gloom, where did you hear this?

[fimbles]

Rumour has it a few CTC trained cadets with Airbus time who were due to start with Lingus this month just got their courses canned

[Eddie Hitler]

I haven't heard that they are not going ahead at LGW, friends who got the job haven't said to the contrary.

I do know that some of the guys they had offered jobs to have since been told their course is cancelled and that they are in a holdpool with no projected start date.

Tough break, I feel sorry for these guys.

[Norman Stanley Fletcher]

As a little aside, when the Aer Lingus announcement was made about them starting a base at Gatwick, they went straight for easyJet's jugular with 3 of their new routes being easyJet's staple diet - Malaga, Faro and Nice. Immediately easyJet responded with slashed fares - we are running neck and neck at the moment as far as I can see. EasyJet then announced some 'new' routes out of Gatwick - Vienna, Munich and Zurich (plus somewhere else I cannot remember!). 'Coincidentally', these routes are the other 'new' routes announced earlier by Aer Lingus. Mrs Fletcher and I have just booked to fly to Vienna with friends over the summer and easyJet were cheaper or the same price on every day we looked. What this tells me is that a huge price war is underway which Aer Lingus did not anticipate and ultimately cannot compete with.

It is great news for the passengers and bad news for both airlines as they cannot be running profits on these routes with such competition. EasyJet simply cannot allow a competitior like Aer Lingus to attack its core business. As an easyJet pilot, I am delighted to see easyJet is on the ball and in full attack mode to protect its own market share. Nonetheless, I recognise that this is a slugging contest that will result in casualties. Time will tell who has the energy to see it through. I am not a betting man, but if I were then I would be backing easyJet every time. The relevance of this dicussion to the current thread is this - it may be that Aer Lingus are having second thoughts about the way ahead due to low bookings and cut-throat competition from easyJet. That, alas, has a significant affect on the jobs they hand out. I do know a number of easyJet pilots looked very carefully at this opportunity when it first appeared, including Irish pilots looking for a way home. Every one of them I have talked to ultimately took the view that this was a bridge too far and was too high a risk. That, incidentally, included senior First Officers with a lot of hours who were being looked at by Aer Lingus as DECs. These were quality people who in normal circumstances would have been captains at easyJet but due to the slowdown have been put back in the race a long time. Food for thought, I am sure you will agree......

[poss]

Rumour has it a few CTC trained cadets with Airbus time who were due to start with Lingus this month just got their courses canned

Hmm, no news of that happening has blown our way so for now I'd say it's still a rumour.

[Eddie Hitler]

Poss,

I have a friend who is starting mid March and survived the chop. Unfortunatley the guys on the course behind him didn't. I know several of them, they are the CTC guys who got stood down after their 6 months with Ezy last summer.

[yoland]

Just heard Aer Lingus are not in a financial position to challenge Easyjet in Gatwick on the same routes and the whole Gatwick operation is to be scrapped.Sorry for all those who thought they had jobs.Makes you wonder how management think if at all.

[Lord Lardy]

That, incidentally, included senior First Officers with a lot of hours who were being looked at by Aer Lingus as DECs.

Norman, you are incorrect here. Unless or course the First Officers you are referring to had previous command experience in a previous airline before joining easyjet they would not have been considered for Direct Entry Commands. For starters they would have to meet the requirements of a recently revised company ops manual partly to cover this very issue. In this it now clearly states that a DEC must have either 500 hours jet or 1000 hours turboprop command time as a very minimum to be eligible. Otherwise it's simply a non runner. Even then, I would be of the opinion that they would have to be current serving captains to be considered for a DEC postion. I would also be of the opinion that some of your colleagues to whom you spoke would have done some research on the structures in place in EI allowing them to return to the ROI at some stage in the future. Based on the following agreed information between Aer Lingus and it's pilot body, which would have been available at interview stage or before, I would suggest that is more likely that many of these would have turned down the opportunity to join based on this rather than simply the risk of joining the company in it's new base. Of course I can also understand them wanting to stay in a good and secure company like easyjet, but as they don't have an ROI base as yet an opportunity like this may not come up too often.

24 captains were required for the base initially. It has been rumoured that only 18 internal candidates applied despite the fact that somewhere in the region of 500 odd current pilots in the company, including those in command postions at the moment are eligible for these advertised positions. The sticking point for people is that you are effectively base frozen for five years, with no chance of a return to Ireland during that time. When you do return the seat you sit in is then still dependent on your seniority in the company. If you are within five years of command in Dublin, you would come back as a captain. If not, then you will simply come back sitting as a First Officer again until you are senior enough in relation to your colleagues to retain that postion. This is an agreed written position between the company and it's employees and applies to all current pilots in all bases and future joiners. The only base outside the Republic of Ireland is in Belfast at the moment. This agreement allows all pilots in Belfast and in particular the captains who joined as DEC at the time and also those who chose to be considered for promotion at the time, the opportunity to take up command positions in the ROI in the future should they so wish.

In reality if you were an individual looking to join as a DEC with a future plan of returning to Ireland in either a Dublin/Cork base, looking at the current progression and based on the fact that you will be joining at the bottom of the company seniority list it could be as much as 10 years plus before you are senior enough to get back as a captain. Of course if a Republic of Ireland base is not on an individual's wish list in the future then the above is irrelevant. As an aside I only differentiate between the UK and ROI bases purely in the context that they are both different contracts.

FInancially the package on offer in LGW is at best average. For all First Officers in Dublin/Cork a pay cut is essentially what will happen if they were to take a command position in London. This of course dosen't make sense unless of course you are a recent joiner to the company with the required experience and are from the London area and are looking at the possibility of getting home.

In terms of recruitment, the company have re-advertised for captains internally again in the past few days despite continuing interviews. The revised terms now state that you will be seconded and base locked for three years instead of the five previously. From this I take it that they are pushing again for internal candidates first, followed then by external captains. As the close out date for new internal applications is yet to pass, I would suggest that they are waiting to see it there is a new response before offering any further jobs to those interviewed already.

I haven't heard any rumours of the base not going ahead as suggested above. All routes seems to be bookable on the website. I do agree however that is a very brave decision, if you can call it that, to expand into Gatwick in what could now be considered a saturated market. A couple of months ago I was of the opinion that it was a good decision. Financially the company can afford to take some risks, but looking at it now it may be a risk too far in the current environment. Perhaps a baton down the hatches mentality would be far better served in the short term.

[Shamrock350]

Aer Lingus are due announce preliminary results for 2008 on March 11th so if any announcement about LGW is going to be made it will be then. I'd be surprised if Aer Lingus dropped the base entirely, last month it was announced that they had sold over 75,000 seats and this week they reopened recruitment for cabin crew.

Norman Stanley Fletcher

I'm not sure what dates you're looking at but from what I can see Aer Lingus fares are generally far cheaper. These are lowest return fares possible that both airlines are currently offering.

Aer Lingus

Munich - £27.98
Nice - £27.98
Vienna - £27.98
Zurich - £27.98

easyJet

Munich - £45.98
Nice - £51.41
Vienna - £48.98
Zurich - £48.98

Of course it all depends on what dates you're flying but if we go by the lowest fares each airline can offer to passengers, Aer Lingus comes out on top for every month this summer.

[Love_joy]

the whole Gatwick operation is to be scrapped

Surely AL management have a reasonable war chest for the LGW operation, they knew they were going in to directly compete against Easy. Such tactics will require significant reserves and balls of steel.

If there is any truth in this at all, I would be surprised and stunned at the lack of forward thinking by the boys at the helm.

As things stand, I'm impressed that they are seeking to expand at the moment. Hopefully cashing in on easy to find labour, and probably cheap airport slots. I'm still waiting for my call up though!

[irish laddie]

The orange brigade may have more than a passing role in the foundation of the rumours, so bare that in mind.

As an aside the EI Capital FM breakfast show sponsorship begins in the morning so on the public side of the set up at least, all appears to be business as usual.

[Iver]

So, what's the latest? Have the newly hired AL pilots had their classes cancelled? Will the LGW base happen?

[Unionjet28]

EI

The LGW base happening has never been in question, except it seems from the crowd of s*it stirrers wearing the orange.

Does Norman Stanley Fletcher honestly believe that EI werent expecting a retaliation from EZY, or that EI is not able to compete on price??? They have been doing it for years at home base with an even fiercer competitor for God sake.