BA Direct Entry Pilot.
Junior trash
Join Date: Nov 1999
Location: UK
Posts: 1,025
Originally Posted by Tay Cough
Probably because a lot of people are now leaving early on, which never happened in the past. I’m reliably informed of 20 or so heading elsewhere (to the same place in fact - no, not telling on here) in the next couple of months.
Makes you wonder why...?
Makes you wonder why...?
I think its reading far too much into it to blame that on BA.
Is it prohibited to say KLM?
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: The Home of the Gnomes
Posts: 361
Originally Posted by Hotel Mode
Having flown with a few of them, they are going to their national carrier who are recruiting DEPs for the first time in living memory. Given many of them live there and have no certainty as non uk nationals or residents that BA can employ them post Brexit I think they are making a good call. They will all be missed though.
I think its reading far too much into it to blame that on BA.
Is it prohibited to say KLM?
I think its reading far too much into it to blame that on BA.
Is it prohibited to say KLM?
There are quite a few of their countrymen who are staying though. Just saying....
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 34
Originally Posted by Tay Cough
Not really. Thought I'd leave it to someone else.
There are quite a few of their countrymen who are staying though. Just saying....
There are quite a few of their countrymen who are staying though. Just saying....
KLM offers a far better package.
Join Date: Jun 2000
Location: UK
Posts: 104
£18k upfront or an £18k 3yr reducing bond?
The latter is fair enough if ppl are leaving but the former is a new sad low.
My company will unfortunately follow suit I imagine once they realise they can also squeeze some more cash out of new joiners.
The latter is fair enough if ppl are leaving but the former is a new sad low.
My company will unfortunately follow suit I imagine once they realise they can also squeeze some more cash out of new joiners.
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 278
First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a socialist..........
This is not a BA specific problem, but the unwillingness / inability of airline pilots and their unions to take any form of action to protect terms for new joiners is staggering. This "I'm all right jack" attitude eventually harms everyone, yet seemingly nobody in the unions can see it.
If BA are worried about people leaving then make them sign a bond, or even better, focus on making BA such a good place to work nobody wants to leave in the first place. Charging upfront for type ratings is unjustifiable and a few years ago would have been unthinkable at BA.
This is not a BA specific problem, but the unwillingness / inability of airline pilots and their unions to take any form of action to protect terms for new joiners is staggering. This "I'm all right jack" attitude eventually harms everyone, yet seemingly nobody in the unions can see it.
If BA are worried about people leaving then make them sign a bond, or even better, focus on making BA such a good place to work nobody wants to leave in the first place. Charging upfront for type ratings is unjustifiable and a few years ago would have been unthinkable at BA.
Join Date: Aug 2002
Location: UK
Posts: 563
As many have been saying for quite some time now, BA is nothing like the airline it was even just a few years ago. Things which would have been unthinkable years ago are absolutely on the table now. The rot has accelerated massively and the unions are pretty much impotent to do anything about it. It’s like a snowball rolling down hill; if you don’t stop it early on it will have gathered so much mass and velocity that it becomes unstoppable. I personally think the point where unions could stop it passed many years ago. The only thing to stop it now will be market forces - people refusing to join or large numbers of people leaving. In fact the mixed fleet cabin crew model requires a fairly high turn over as they don’t want people staying for ages and demanding extra pay for their loyalty. That same unacceptable attrition rate will exist for pilots too, although they’d want them to stay longer, but I bet we are nowhere near it at the moment, therefore IAG will think it’s still acceptable to keep turning the thumb screws. As long as they just take as much as can be stomached at a time, chip chip chip, marginal gains and all that. Change happens faster than it used to; the second a chip is taken, the chisel is already cracking the next bit. Our employer no longer cares about anything but improving efficiencies and therefore operating margins. And we no longer just compare ourselves to others; we chase that improved operating margin no matter how high it already is. If employee attrition versus recruitment starts to effect that operating margin, things will change, otherwise expect more of the same.
Join Date: Oct 2012
Location: Under the table
Posts: 183
If BA are worried about people leaving then make them sign a bond, or even better, focus on making BA such a good place to work nobody wants to leave in the first place. Charging upfront for type ratings is unjustifiable and a few years ago would have been unthinkable at BA.
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: The Winchester
Posts: 5,364
Originally Posted by Stocious
They aren't worried about people leaving. We can see who leaves the company every month, and I only need one hand to keep count of them.
...Somebody posted elsewhere earlier today that 7 are going in March, two of whom for definite are off to other oufits, 3 are reason/destination unknown and the other two appear to be leaving at or very near their CRA. I would have said 5-10 years ago even 2 or 3 opting to leave for pastures new would have been unheard off so the climate is changing...but I also agree with you that:
They've got no shortage of applicants alas, otherwise there might be bigger appetite from bosses to introduce better terms!
Join Date: Jul 2016
Location: Timba Hold
Posts: 59
They simply cant get enough DEPs to join BA short haul because of the state it is in. It has nothing to do with 'wanting to make BA accessible to everyone' or whatever they spin it as. They want cheap FO's and it is as simple as that. You are an annoying cost to this company as a pilot. At least other places you knew where you stood. The pretend statements of really valuing our contributions e.t.c made by Klaus and not worth the paper they are written on. Think very carefully about coming here for SH. You can listen to the BA fans if you want but don't be surprised when you get here!
Join Date: Feb 2005
Location: Botswana
Posts: 710
Short Haul honestly isn’t that bad. I moan more than most and even I can acknowledge that. If you get a SH offer also remember its a gateway into one of the most secure places in the industry and eventually a long haul slot if that’s what you’re after. It’s no bed of roses but to pretend it’s some never ending nightmare is also far from the truth.
Charging new entrants £18k for a type rating though? For BA that’s disgraceful.
Charging new entrants £18k for a type rating though? For BA that’s disgraceful.
Last edited by RexBanner; 3rd Mar 2019 at 17:23.
Join Date: May 2006
Location: UK
Posts: 97
Originally Posted by RexBanner
Charging new entrants £18k for a type rating though? For BA that’s disgraceful.
Join Date: Feb 2001
Location: The Winchester
Posts: 5,364
Originally Posted by zero/zero
....so nobody will do anything for the new joiners
The company has put an "offer" out there, new joiners are at liberty to take it or leave it...interfering with that process (e.g. Trainers being told not to train the new entrants) could lead to action being taken under restraint of trade (and that would just be for starters).`
Also I'm pretty sure if, in an ideal world, trainers were actually legally able to refuse to train those new entrants we would soon hearing gripes here about BA senior people trying to block newbies from getting into the industry.
Last edited by wiggy; 4th Mar 2019 at 07:21.
