BA Direct Entry Pilot.

[Cliff Secord]

Hi King surf

Genuine question from interest and not meant to sound synical. But what you describe of BA short haul doesn't sound terribly good for your health either. How many night stops do you do a month? Did you previously come from the long haul side of things before to make your comparison?

I'm not BA, but I can sympathise with the jet lag concern. It knackers me. It knackers everyone. Its the big bit of the job that worries me health wise along woth being zapped by radiation and breathing compressor air for hours. The other bit I don't like is very long trips. Other than that I prefer long haul over any short haul. Only for now.

On BA long haul are the layovers majority min rest or any 2 days plus?

[king surf]

Hi cliff, Yes I have done long haul and night freigt and I feel sooooo much better doing short haul but would admit to getting tired but so is my neighbour who gets up at 5 am 5 days a week and gets home at 7 pm.
I probably do 7to 10 night stops a month with most night stops being 13-17 hours off. Occasional stand overs with 30 hours off.

[Stall-turn-Go]

Holdpool

Hi All,

Does anyone have any news of movement in the Holdpool? Are courses being offered and if so, when and on what? Also current number of swimmers and time in the pool?

Cheers

[wiggy]

Cliff

On BA long haul are the layovers majority min rest or any 2 days plus?

The majority are 1 or 2 nights, certainly on fleets with well established route structure, but as you would expect there are exceptions....it's a bit of a "that depends" thing.

The destinations with a daily service on a single type tend to be night stop or 2 nights depending on FTLs (e.g. most of the State side stuff).

If it's a destination where there's an interchange of type (e.g. has been happening between 380/744) you might get extra nights, also you might sometimes generate extra nights if there any shuttle sectors involved (e.g. some of the Caribbean stuff on the 777).

Other than that there's a very small number of three or four day no shuttle layovers. They are in places where BA don't do many services and it's probably too complicated and/or costly to position crew in/out ..or they just appear on the schedules for no immediately obvious reason...

So..what was the question again....?

[Harry palmer]

Is he a cadet or Airbus Type Rated? Has the recruitment process come to a standstill? Not a great deal of mention regarding days 1,2 or 3 at the moment?

Cheers

HP

[g109]

Question

Quick question for you guys in BA;

I'm currently flying the a380 with a big operator in the Middle East. I have about 7000h all on heavy jet.
36 years old.

What are my chances of being recruited directly on the 380?

How much is the monthly gross pay, including allowances and flight pay on the LH fleet?

Thanks

[bex88]

G109

Basic LH pay point 1 is £54069 pa. You then add FPA at about £650 a month and duty pay at £3:19 per hour from check in at LHR to check out. That's maybe around £1200-1500 a month. That's all subject to UK tax. Your duty pay is taxed at 20%. I am SH so have no accurate info on the achieved allowances so it's an estimate.

What are your chances of going directly onto the RHS of the 380 fleet? As your rated and they have said internally that they will recruit at least 20 onto it in 2016 I would have said pretty good. Why would they go through the the hassle or type rating you on another type when you have a rating we need.

Hope that helps with your decision.

[4468]

Why would they go through the the hassle or type rating you on another type when you have a rating we need.

I can pretty much guarantee a full course will be required, WHATEVER type you join on.

[Flaperon75]

Originally Posted by 4468

I can pretty much guarantee a full course will be required, WHATEVER type you join on.

Well that's not true, and hasn't been for some years.... I joined 5 years ago with an Airbus type rating and we did a 'bridging' course of sorts that consisted of 1 weeks ground school 4 or 5 sims and 12 line training sectors.

I would think if you have an A380 type rating you would be VERY attractive to BA.

[bowly]

King Surf,

Did you pass the verbal reasoning test? If so, see me.

Standards have slipped.....

[hunterboy]

When you lose around 30% of your pay to taxes, and have to pay for your own accommodation, I wonder if BA is attractive to anybody residing abroad? I suspect that's why BA are scratching around....

[wiggy]

I suspect that's why BA are scratching around....

I don't think I'd characterise it quite that way. Sure BA could throw money at the pilots to try and match some of the expat packages but it's BA, they won't..... I certainly haven't yet heard any of the recruiters saying "you know, we are really short, we really must make a special effort to attract experienced people from the Gulf (or elsewhere).".... There is lots of experience in the airline and as for the new P2 side there are people still in the hold pool and plenty others elsewhere in the selection/recruitment pipeline.

have to pay for your own accommodation,

Just to clarify I take it you mean accommodation at base (i.e. within reasonable travelling distance of LHR)?

[binsleepen]

Yes, Belfast and Dublin

Regards

[g109]

Thanks for the infos guys, much appreciated.

I roughly worked out the NET take home pay for a year 1 FO including allowances to be 4830 GBP per month.
does that sound about right?

It is slightly less to what I am making now, but being based back in Europe again is the big plus for me. I have had enough of the middle east, after only being here for about 4 years.

cheers

[737 Jockey]

Roadshows

Many attendees at the LGW Hilton event yesterday?

[727Man]

I attended the Luton Roadshow, took my time with the application, essay questions etc, even sent email saying I attended the roadshow, then got a no to my application, it still shows submitted. Not sure what type of person they were looking for? Ex FE and over 2000hrs First Officer Boeing time.

[Keeping Dreaming]

Hi All,

Last year I applied for DEP, passed day 1 testing at Waterside with a call back less than 6 hours after leaving, sailed through the interview & group exercise and before I knew it I was booked in for a simulator assessment less than 3 weeks after submitting my online application.

I thought the simulator assessment went fine but a couple of restless days later I got the email I was dreading...I had been unsuccessful! The email did however offer me feedback which I jumped at and just a few weeks later I received the call. The feedback all seemed very positive, a few minor points here and there but I was told I missed out by the very skin of my teeth.

I decided to have another go this year, I submitted my application and got the invitation to day 1 again. I launched into preparing myself for the tests and went off to Waterside, all seemed to go ok on the day and I came out quietly confident. After an anxious 4 day wait I received an email stating ‘after careful consideration it has been decided not to take my application any further’ to say I was gutted was an understatement.

I really cannot understand what went so disastrously wrong in 12 months, I asked for feedback but received a polite reply saying that due to high volumes of applications they would not be able to accommodate my request.

I am guessing that every application is assessed without any reference to any previous attempts; it was nice to experience the whole selection process for myself but very disappointing that I was unsuccessful so early on in the second attempt.

I wish all of those in the current recruitment drive the best of luck.

[binsleepen]

G109.

I roughly worked out the NET take home pay for a year 1 FO including allowances to be 4830 GBP per month.
does that sound about right?

This sounds a little high to me, while junior the allowances make up a much larger chunk of your pay than for those more senior. The allowances fluctuate quite a lot depending on night stops vs day trips vs reserve, little of which you have much control over while junior.

I'm still in my first 5 years and after the compulsory pension contributions are deducted my Gross pay is usually between 5500 and 6000 GBP. Then you need to deduct tax, NI and any expense payments. I would therefore work on the low 4000's GBP and then be happy when you have a busy month.

Regards

[bucket_and_spade]

No, way too high (unless you have some unique tax arrangements) - if you work on £4,200 NET as a Yr 1 FO, on longhaul and not using much HOST (the allowance system at BA - you can take local currency out at the hotels and it is debited from pay the following month). If you use HOST a lot, expect to take a few hundred quid off the £4,200. My lowest so far has been around £3,900 - I had leave.

P.S. I should say the above figure is also after putting in 9% (pre-tax) in to the pension.

Rgds.

Originally Posted by g109

Thanks for the infos guys, much appreciated.

I roughly worked out the NET take home pay for a year 1 FO including allowances to be 4830 GBP per month.
does that sound about right?

It is slightly less to what I am making now, but being based back in Europe again is the big plus for me. I have had enough of the middle east, after only being here for about 4 years.

cheers

[Sharklet]

Would anyone be knowing if the requirements for DEP are likely to go back to "minimum of 500 hours experience on an aircraft that satisfies CAP 804 FCL.730.A - Zero Flight Time Training course requirement" for SH?