Virgin recruiting soon...

[Desk-pilot]

Interesting rumour

An interestting rumour this Virgin/Flybe thing and I for one hope there's some substance in it - especially if it gives us Flybe bods a chance to fly some heavy metal for a change.

If it doesn't then I'm not sure why Flybe would need to look to VIrgin for more command ready people - it has an ever growing pile of command ready F/O's waiting for the left seat. Word on the street at this end is that of the 720 pilots employed only 32 left the firm in the past 12 months due to the lack of opportunities in the outside world. Contrast this with when I joined 3 years ago when there were 20 or more a month leaving for greener pastures.

Re: Virgin I certainly see them as an aspirational airline to join although I'm not rose tinted about them. I spent enough time in the industry on the mgt side to know that he of the woolly pullies isn't quite the Mother Theresa the media likes to portray and certainly some of our Cabin Crew are ex Vs and say they're earning more as cabin crew at Flybe which I find astounding.

Anyway, I think all of us hope the industry starts to recover this year for all our sakes whether your tail is painted red, blue or orange.

Desk-pilot

[scroggs]

I've asked this before without reply. Where will Virgin send the 10 A330's they have on order? Surely, there must be recruitment for that fleet!

TBE

We don't know yet where they're going to go. The company has. as yet, made no announcement whether the aircraft will be additional to the current fleets or will replace current aircraft, or some mix of the two. Given that the aircraft is the A330-300 with no extra tanks and a practical endurance of around 8.5 hours, it shouldn't be too difficult to work out which of the current destinations it could serve. There are rumours of new destinations, but no more than that.

Desk-pilot I very much doubt that the Flybe rumour has any substance. There is no corresponding rumour within Virgin... I can only imagine that it was a putative attempt at placing displaced First Officers which fell at any one of a number of obvious hurdles. The idea that it would be a reciprocal arrangement has no credibility.

[beardy]

A330 has 76.5t fuel which will take you (not including div fuel) over 6000 still air miles and over 12 hrs for a landing weight of 140000kg.

Some of the press releases I have seen have mentioned Cancun and Las Vegas. If this is so it lets the Upper and First pax subsidise the economy to give lower economy-punter prices to take on the charter companies (some of whom sometimes operate these routes on an A300-300 with no centre tanks.)

[BBK]

FCOM

Swap fleets and you won't say that!!

Still a good company overall, in my opinion.

[fcom]

No thanks! LOL

[727 spirit]

informations on Virgin Atlantic

Hi there,

I am interested in submitting my applications (not right now) as a first-officer for Virgin Atlantic; would anyone have informations (or know how to get the informations) about pilots wages, rosters, average time to get the opportunity to attempt the left seat, and forecasted recruitments (although for that one I have a broad picture looking at their fleet plans on the website)
PS : As I said, I have already been through their website and unless I didn't look thoroughly enough into it, I couldn't find the informations I was seeking.

Thanks very much for your help

[Leo Hairy-Camel]

When Air France takes Englishmen I'll tell you everything you need to know.

Leo the Virgin.

[A pumps]

ppjn.com would be a good start for your... informations..

[727 spirit]

Thanks for the tip A pumps ;
Leo what a strange reply

[scroggs]

Originally Posted by 727 Spirit

Hi there,

I am interested in submitting my applications (not right now) as a first-officer for Virgin Atlantic; would anyone have informations (or know how to get the informations) about pilots wages, rosters, average time to get the opportunity to attempt the left seat, and forecasted recruitments (although for that one I have a broad picture looking at their fleet plans on the website)
PS : As I said, I have already been through their website and unless I didn't look thoroughly enough into it, I couldn't find the informations I was seeking.

Thanks very much for your help

See here. Don't expect any recruiting at VS for some considerable time.

Scroggs

[727 spirit]

Wow, thanks for this goldmine of informations, scroggs

when you say no recruiting at VS for some considerable time, what's your guess ?

[stansdead]

At least another 18 months to 24 months.

[Time Traveller]

Virgin Atlantic Airways - Popup

[stansdead]

If that link is correct - i.e. not out of date, but still on the website then I am amazed, but gladdened by it.

However, VS have:

A) A significant number of Pilots on Sabbatical waiting to come back;
B) Made a small number redundant, who I believe will be welcomed back before external recruitment begins.

Let's hope this is the beginning of the end of the nightmare of the last couple of years for our industry.

I imagine SCROGGS may be able to get the inside track.

Over to you Scroggs, if you can put your mini Guitar down long enough......

[Busbar]

The above link was obtained from PPJN I believe. If you look at Virgin Atlantic jobs via ppjn.com, there are two links to recruitment. These are old links from the last round of recruitment.

The information on requirements appears to be fairly accurate from what I know, but you will not be able to access the on-line application form as it does not exist at the moment. If you go to the actual Virgin Atlantic website, look under careers and you will find that there are no Pilot vacancies listed.

I am sure SCROGGS will be able to add more light on the subject.

[The Big Easy]

Heard a little snippet yesterday that Monarch were operating some Manchester flights for VS as they don't have enough drivers on the 744 fleet. Thought they just made some guys redundant?

[ATIS]

Not enough seats. Seems Virgin have made a killing on the Orlando run during the UK Easter holidays. So in order to import some extra capacity, they have called in Monarch to operate a couple of flights.

[scroggs]

Virgin is not recruiting. As Stan said, there are several people on unpaid leave, secondment and other forms of gardening leave waiting to come back. Until they have been accommodated, no-one else will be entertained. With current capacity still cut, and not forecast to increase significantly this summer (as of now, anyway!), and forecasts for the coming winter still varying from disastrous to fantastic, there's no obvious reason to believe that recruiting would recommence anytime soon. However, there are 10 A330s to arrive in the next two years, some of which may represent additional capacity. If the company considers the market has turned the corner this summer, it is possible that recruiting could start this time next year. But that's all guesswork, so don't hold me to it!

As for Monarch flying VS schedules, I suspect the truth is more likely to be that Virgin Holidays have exceeded VS's available capacity and are chartering from other airlines. They do that all the time as a matter of course. I don't read anything into it.

[fcom]

Won't happen, Virgin has lots of Pilots on sabatical to soak up first

[bigjarv]

Is Virgin the other Holy Grail of the Uk airline industry

Well I covered BA but what about Virgin? It is a company that so many aspire to join but does it deserve this reputation? Same questions really. Is the morale good and how are all the terms and conditions job security and opertunities? Does it offer all the trappings of a long and rewarding career? Do you feel well looked after and do you get good quality time off?

I'd be very interested to hear yor views guys!