BA Direct Entry Pilot.
but if a company agrees to something it usually has glaring catches in my experience
Last edited by Max Angle; 26th Apr 2017 at 08:30.
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It's all democratic......we vote and get the wrong answer. We are then told we are naughty pilots and are told we must vote again until till we get the right answer.
Bidline is over rated but the limited ability to trade work is beneficial.
Bidline is over rated but the limited ability to trade work is beneficial.
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VJW........I think you believe the hype. I could go to EZY and gain a pay rise in the region of 25k right now. A few of my colleague recently took EZY offers DEC. There have been a recent handful of LH FO's who have given notice. Simple truth is BA is good, it's average and really really crap, it just depends what you want from it.
Ultimately I suppose the same is true, EZY has ups and downs depending on what you want from it. Invariably, however, the things you want are usually the things the company doesn't provide.
BA (to my knowledge) is a good employer, offers stability, lifestyle, a career path and a half decent salary. I really do believe some people don't know how good they've got it.
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To clear up a few misconceptions
On BA SH here. Last financial year I spent 120 days in a hotel on BA duty.
That is the major difference between EJ and BA.
A 5 on 4 off, 5 on 3 off contract with BA's 4 blocks of a week's leave and 10 lieu days (for missed bank holidays) or as we call them 2 x Duty Free Weeks. What does that get you?
Add all those days off up, and you end up in BA
1. Working around 9 days more per year than a 5/4/5/3 EJ pilot and
2. Being away from home around 120 nights.
Short Haul in BA is not greener than the grass of EJ. Just different. And considerably less often at home. But once you gain seniority, you're home often at a time when you want to be.
On BA SH here. Last financial year I spent 120 days in a hotel on BA duty.
That is the major difference between EJ and BA.
A 5 on 4 off, 5 on 3 off contract with BA's 4 blocks of a week's leave and 10 lieu days (for missed bank holidays) or as we call them 2 x Duty Free Weeks. What does that get you?
Add all those days off up, and you end up in BA
1. Working around 9 days more per year than a 5/4/5/3 EJ pilot and
2. Being away from home around 120 nights.
Short Haul in BA is not greener than the grass of EJ. Just different. And considerably less often at home. But once you gain seniority, you're home often at a time when you want to be.
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I'd be very interested to hear from any pilots who think they spend more time in uniform (or in hotels away from home!) than BA SH pilots!
I once went a week before I realised I'd worn no clothes other than BA uniform!
Of course it does save on wardrobe costs!
I once went a week before I realised I'd worn no clothes other than BA uniform!
Of course it does save on wardrobe costs!
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Yeah i bumped in to a very nice BA pilot and his wife in a very expensive 5 star Edinburgh city centre hotel which BA uses for SH night stops .........Anyone who thinks that will continue is likely to be disappointed .
Must be costing an absolute fortune .Enjoy it whilst you can.
Must be costing an absolute fortune .Enjoy it whilst you can.
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Just to offer an extra opinion from an insider.... joined a a year or so ago on LH and get an average of 4 trips a month equating to around 10-12 nights out of bed a month.
Really enjoying the job and I personally think BA is a good employer....and whilst Im tired at the end of a trip, it pales in comparison to the fatigue I had at my previous LOCO. Theres certainly no way Id be handing my notice in to go back to it as someone mentioned above.
Horses for courses.
Really enjoying the job and I personally think BA is a good employer....and whilst Im tired at the end of a trip, it pales in comparison to the fatigue I had at my previous LOCO. Theres certainly no way Id be handing my notice in to go back to it as someone mentioned above.
Horses for courses.
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Point of order:
Duty Free Weeks (for a full-time pilot) are 2 x 7 day blocks plus a non-assignable day so up to sixteen days off annually, one DFW per season.
This gives a total of 42 leave/DFW days per year plus two Non-assignable days (with DFW) and four "wrap days" per week of leave. Overall, 60 days off associated with leave or DFW. All DFW and leave days have credit hours attached (a matter of opinion whether you consider this credit to be sufficient - most don't), NA and wrap days do not.
10 lieu days (for missed bank holidays) or as we call them 2 x Duty Free Weeks.
This gives a total of 42 leave/DFW days per year plus two Non-assignable days (with DFW) and four "wrap days" per week of leave. Overall, 60 days off associated with leave or DFW. All DFW and leave days have credit hours attached (a matter of opinion whether you consider this credit to be sufficient - most don't), NA and wrap days do not.
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Shabon - 10 to 12 nights a month out of your own bed or 10 to 12 nights a month out of any bed? I assume (and hope!) not the latter?
I was one of the aforementioned LH FOs who joined BA last year and then went back to my loco origins. I'm a lot less tired being back at my loco but that's just because I couldn't stand the LH lifestyle of trying to sleep at times my body didn't want to. We're all different and only those that try it can say whether it's for them or not.
I was one of the aforementioned LH FOs who joined BA last year and then went back to my loco origins. I'm a lot less tired being back at my loco but that's just because I couldn't stand the LH lifestyle of trying to sleep at times my body didn't want to. We're all different and only those that try it can say whether it's for them or not.
From reading prune & talking to friends, it does seem BA is "a tale of two airlines"; those on Long Haul who love it, spend 1 week - 10 days away from home each month, get to see the world and love it, and those on Short Haul, who are bouncing off duty hours limits, spending more time in hotels than at home, building fatigue and generally getting the brown end of the stick (their words - not mine!) from senior management.
Not that much of this matters, as we stare at our respective hold pool exits approaching, hearing rumours of unpaid leave, over crewing, delayed courses for cadets etc. It does leave a bit of a sour taste having put a hell of a lot of work in to get into the pool, only for radio silence... Would it stop me re applying? Probably not, which I guess says a lot.
Anyone know if a hold pool update is scheduled?
Not that much of this matters, as we stare at our respective hold pool exits approaching, hearing rumours of unpaid leave, over crewing, delayed courses for cadets etc. It does leave a bit of a sour taste having put a hell of a lot of work in to get into the pool, only for radio silence... Would it stop me re applying? Probably not, which I guess says a lot.
Anyone know if a hold pool update is scheduled?
As has been said horses for courses..when Concorde was grounded temporarily the pilots got briefly redeployed to other Fleets. There were a few who admitted to struggling with the increased need for nights out of bed and were relatively relieved when they could return to the supersonic fleet....also in more benevolent times there were pilots who crossed over from Short Haul, struggled with the roster pattern, and were allowed to return on medical grounds to their short haul fleet. No criticism is intended of either of the above groups, simply pointing out that with the best will in the world some really struggle with the Long Haul roster pattern.
To add to the "nights" out of bed discussion,...easy to end up with 5 "short" long haul trips (e.g. JFK, ORD, The Gulf ) in a month...assume just about every Longhaul out and back trip has one overnight sector, (though a few have none by way of balance some have night sectors both ways) and also at least one night in a hotel.....there's your ten nights away from home...and that's probably about the least you can do in a full month.
As far as the other discussion about T&Cs..are they as good as they were? No.
Will they stay at the current level? No.
Is the rate of "decay" in T&Cs going to increase or decrease? Your guess is as good as mine.
To add to the "nights" out of bed discussion,...easy to end up with 5 "short" long haul trips (e.g. JFK, ORD, The Gulf ) in a month...assume just about every Longhaul out and back trip has one overnight sector, (though a few have none by way of balance some have night sectors both ways) and also at least one night in a hotel.....there's your ten nights away from home...and that's probably about the least you can do in a full month.
As far as the other discussion about T&Cs..are they as good as they were? No.
Will they stay at the current level? No.
Is the rate of "decay" in T&Cs going to increase or decrease? Your guess is as good as mine.
Last edited by wiggy; 26th Apr 2017 at 08:59.
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Shabon - 10 to 12 nights a month out of your own bed or 10 to 12 nights a month out of any bed? I assume (and hope!) not the latter?
I was one of the aforementioned LH FOs who joined BA last year and then went back to my loco origins. I'm a lot less tired being back at my loco but that's just because I couldn't stand the LH lifestyle of trying to sleep at times my body didn't want to. We're all different and only those that try it can say whether it's for them or not.
I was one of the aforementioned LH FOs who joined BA last year and then went back to my loco origins. I'm a lot less tired being back at my loco but that's just because I couldn't stand the LH lifestyle of trying to sleep at times my body didn't want to. We're all different and only those that try it can say whether it's for them or not.
Glad you've made it back to where you prefer! All the best
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Min trip length generally 3 days. On my fleet usually 3-4 day trips. Usually 5 ish, sometimes almost 6 trips on a busy month without leave depending on stacks of variables. Arriving back home before lunch on day 3 isn't a really free day, certainly doesn't feel like it (unless your superman) as you normally have to hit the hay to make it through to the eve.
Best bet is to live near so you don't have to travel in night before on a morning report. But near to T5 in London terms is living in T3
.On leave free months, seems to work average out in region of 11-14 days off a month/ usefully at home (presuming you don't travel to near lhr night before work). Those days off are split into little bits between trips.
Wireless
This sometimes comes over as a pot half full/half empty argument but in my book any day involving work is a working day!
Three day trip - Report time on day one can often leave you no useful time at all at home pre going to work (and FWIW even Longhaul has some pre 0800 local reports), day two you are obviously (?) away, and even if you get in early on day three by the time you have probably/possibly caught up on sleep after your "nightshift" it can often be pretty much be a "dead" day. Multiply it up (worse case) by perhaps 5 or even 6 trips a month and see what's left of the month.
This sometimes comes over as a pot half full/half empty argument but in my book any day involving work is a working day!
Three day trip - Report time on day one can often leave you no useful time at all at home pre going to work (and FWIW even Longhaul has some pre 0800 local reports), day two you are obviously (?) away, and even if you get in early on day three by the time you have probably/possibly caught up on sleep after your "nightshift" it can often be pretty much be a "dead" day. Multiply it up (worse case) by perhaps 5 or even 6 trips a month and see what's left of the month.
Last edited by wiggy; 26th Apr 2017 at 14:20.
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Yeah, I agree.
For me it isn't a pot half/full empty thing it's more basic fact of life. No such thing as a free lunch.
I think of it this way. There is a reason you're arriving into LHR at 0900. That is you've missed that night in bed. Nothing in life is free as they say. All you've done is deferred what you should've been doing that night, on your trip, to doing into on your time off - sleeping.
So when you go arrive back home, you could power through. I find it just consists of dribbling in a corner feeling quite unwell and then passing out with your dinner on the floor ;-). So you go to sleep, wake up feeling drugged then sleep that night, normally like a corpse.
Keeping in mind 2 days later (1.5 if you travel night before) you're meant to have tried to recover what you lost on that last overnight, plus be rested to go back to starting in the morning. If you don't try to get it back you're travelling down the highway to burnout town pretty quickly :-)
Also, when I say useful day at home, day 3 of a trip can be quite a problematic half day at home depending how you handle it / partner's sympathy to Mr Dead, corpse like state etc.
For me it isn't a pot half/full empty thing it's more basic fact of life. No such thing as a free lunch.
I think of it this way. There is a reason you're arriving into LHR at 0900. That is you've missed that night in bed. Nothing in life is free as they say. All you've done is deferred what you should've been doing that night, on your trip, to doing into on your time off - sleeping.
So when you go arrive back home, you could power through. I find it just consists of dribbling in a corner feeling quite unwell and then passing out with your dinner on the floor ;-). So you go to sleep, wake up feeling drugged then sleep that night, normally like a corpse.
Keeping in mind 2 days later (1.5 if you travel night before) you're meant to have tried to recover what you lost on that last overnight, plus be rested to go back to starting in the morning. If you don't try to get it back you're travelling down the highway to burnout town pretty quickly :-)
Also, when I say useful day at home, day 3 of a trip can be quite a problematic half day at home depending how you handle it / partner's sympathy to Mr Dead, corpse like state etc.
Also, when I say useful day at home, day 3 of a trip can be quite a problematic half day at home depending how you handle it / partner's sympathy to Mr Dead, corpse like state etc.
