BA Direct Entry Pilot.
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 68
Likes: 0
From: UK
BA don’t do “SOs”. On joining all copilots are fully trained and qualified as RHS for two crew ops. As Wiggy says many LH trips on 777/787/744/ and a few on A380 are operated with two crew. For a new LH FO, people are recruited with sufficient big jet hours to allow them, after the Type Rating to operate on two pilot trips immediately after Line Training as FO.
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 1,040
Likes: 35
From: Home
Correct, an interim measure in times of high recruitment when there is not enough Line Training capacity. BA do not have a Policy of employing semi permanent Cruise only, partially trained SOs.
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 276
Likes: 1
From: South of the North pole
Is it true that if you join BA on the A320 based out of LGW you will come home every night with only possibly 1 or 2 lay overs a month?
As for LHR I heard you tend to do tours/trips for 3 or 4 days?
Im a 6000 hour pilot with 3000 plus jet hours so I do not know what kind of fleet they would offer me whether it be domestic or international.I have never flown wide body international but the thought of doing that kind of flying is not very appealing to me and from what I have been reading on junior new hires with JSS it just seems like a world of pain.
I ask because I am being interviewed by BA in 2 weeks time and if I get thru everything and get a job offer I would like to join on the A320 fleet but probably commute from Europe, most likely Spain where I would plan on living again.
So coming home every night would not work for me unless I paid for hotels which kind of defeats the purpose of commuting. I refuse to live in London with all that grime crime and slime as I have a wife and daughter and wont expose them to all that rubbish.
Any thoughts are most welcome.
As for LHR I heard you tend to do tours/trips for 3 or 4 days?
Im a 6000 hour pilot with 3000 plus jet hours so I do not know what kind of fleet they would offer me whether it be domestic or international.I have never flown wide body international but the thought of doing that kind of flying is not very appealing to me and from what I have been reading on junior new hires with JSS it just seems like a world of pain.
I ask because I am being interviewed by BA in 2 weeks time and if I get thru everything and get a job offer I would like to join on the A320 fleet but probably commute from Europe, most likely Spain where I would plan on living again.
So coming home every night would not work for me unless I paid for hotels which kind of defeats the purpose of commuting. I refuse to live in London with all that grime crime and slime as I have a wife and daughter and wont expose them to all that rubbish.
Any thoughts are most welcome.
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 238
Likes: 0
From: London
Is it true that if you join BA on the A320 based out of LGW you will come home every night with only possibly 1 or 2 lay overs a month?
As for LHR I heard you tend to do tours/trips for 3 or 4 days?
Im a 6000 hour pilot with 3000 plus jet hours so I do not know what kind of fleet they would offer me whether it be domestic or international.I have never flown wide body international but the thought of doing that kind of flying is not very appealing to me and from what I have been reading on junior new hires with JSS it just seems like a world of pain.
I ask because I am being interviewed by BA in 2 weeks time and if I get thru everything and get a job offer I would like to join on the A320 fleet but probably commute from Europe, most likely Spain where I would plan on living again.
So coming home every night would not work for me unless I paid for hotels which kind of defeats the purpose of commuting. I refuse to live in London with all that grime crime and slime as I have a wife and daughter and wont expose them to all that rubbish.
Any thoughts are most welcome.
As for LHR I heard you tend to do tours/trips for 3 or 4 days?
Im a 6000 hour pilot with 3000 plus jet hours so I do not know what kind of fleet they would offer me whether it be domestic or international.I have never flown wide body international but the thought of doing that kind of flying is not very appealing to me and from what I have been reading on junior new hires with JSS it just seems like a world of pain.
I ask because I am being interviewed by BA in 2 weeks time and if I get thru everything and get a job offer I would like to join on the A320 fleet but probably commute from Europe, most likely Spain where I would plan on living again.
So coming home every night would not work for me unless I paid for hotels which kind of defeats the purpose of commuting. I refuse to live in London with all that grime crime and slime as I have a wife and daughter and wont expose them to all that rubbish.
Any thoughts are most welcome.
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 75
Likes: 3
From: Room 506
Only EDI GLA and JSY night stops from LGW. So you might as well join EZY for a fixed roster if you're going to LGW.
LHR does do tours, but being at the bottom of the list you wont have much say in whether you get them. Coupled in with at least 2 blocks of 3 weeks reserve a year, commuting to LHR for short haul would be tough on the home life too.
Long haul is best for commuting, but again, being at the bottom of the list isn't going to get you a great roster, don't forget to add the multiple blocks of reserve every year.
With that experience I would seriously try and look elsewhere. There are much better options now, that will pay more, give more days off and be a company that you are actually proud to say that you work for, with a much nicer day out when at work, rather than planning a mission to Mars every report.
LHR does do tours, but being at the bottom of the list you wont have much say in whether you get them. Coupled in with at least 2 blocks of 3 weeks reserve a year, commuting to LHR for short haul would be tough on the home life too.
Long haul is best for commuting, but again, being at the bottom of the list isn't going to get you a great roster, don't forget to add the multiple blocks of reserve every year.
With that experience I would seriously try and look elsewhere. There are much better options now, that will pay more, give more days off and be a company that you are actually proud to say that you work for, with a much nicer day out when at work, rather than planning a mission to Mars every report.
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 995
Likes: 103
From: Botswana
I’m Gatwick based (three years at Heathrow before) and rarely do a day trip in LGW unless it’s called from standby on reserve. However I am senior there and still have to do multiple nights in Gatwick (maybe 10 or so). As others have said not the best base for commuting unless, like me, you live in one of the few nightstop destinations and even then it’s a drag.
The workload gets high all year round too if all you’re doing is bidding for nightstops because, by their nature, they’re mostly six sector single nightstops over two days with long links either side. I was told Gatwick was seasonal and quiet in the winter but that doesn’t apply if you ask Carmen for nightstops. Flew 95 hours in January, my first month there, March was just as bad. A lot of nights in my own bed though!!
I wouldn’t necessarily say that LGW is more likely than LHR as I think we have nearly a full compliment in the RHS here, maybe a few less. According to iBid and looking at the historic compliment, however, it looks like LHR is under by nearly 30 pilots, possibly more. There’ll be many more unfrozen pilots leaving the Airbus from Heathrow next year than Gatwick too.
Gatwick is a far friendlier base and nicer place to work IMHO vs Heathrow, you actually get to know people here and the knob jockeys in the LHS are considerably fewer. The aircraft though are absolutely knackered and the number of MEL items you can be confronted with upon boarding the aircraft for the first time can be frustrating and downright exhausting.
More for anyone considering Gatwick vs Heathrow to be honest rather than the original poster..
The workload gets high all year round too if all you’re doing is bidding for nightstops because, by their nature, they’re mostly six sector single nightstops over two days with long links either side. I was told Gatwick was seasonal and quiet in the winter but that doesn’t apply if you ask Carmen for nightstops. Flew 95 hours in January, my first month there, March was just as bad. A lot of nights in my own bed though!!
I wouldn’t necessarily say that LGW is more likely than LHR as I think we have nearly a full compliment in the RHS here, maybe a few less. According to iBid and looking at the historic compliment, however, it looks like LHR is under by nearly 30 pilots, possibly more. There’ll be many more unfrozen pilots leaving the Airbus from Heathrow next year than Gatwick too.
Gatwick is a far friendlier base and nicer place to work IMHO vs Heathrow, you actually get to know people here and the knob jockeys in the LHS are considerably fewer. The aircraft though are absolutely knackered and the number of MEL items you can be confronted with upon boarding the aircraft for the first time can be frustrating and downright exhausting.
More for anyone considering Gatwick vs Heathrow to be honest rather than the original poster..
Last edited by RexBanner; 3rd July 2019 at 13:09.
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 276
Likes: 1
From: South of the North pole
Thanks for your help
Joined: May 2018
Posts: 276
Likes: 1
From: South of the North pole
Grime, crime and slime?
Yeah if you believe all the media.
Loads of lovely areas stones throw to LHR. Twickenham, Teddington Richmond lovely areas not too expensive.
If you can afford it Chiswick, Kew are great. 15 mins to T5 or tube it in 30-40. No parking to worry about.
Joined: Aug 2010
Posts: 238
Likes: 0
From: London
In-between is slightly difficult because you are limited to the outer edges of the southern M25. So places like Epsom, Weybridge, Chertsey, Guildford! All very expensive. Once you know your base you can draw a 30 miles ring and almost pick anywhere. I can’t really talk about LGW but I live just west of LHR in Buckinghamshire, lots of lovely places out that way. Henley, Marlow, Amersham. Oxfordshire even Chinnor, Thame, Oxford. Basically follow the M40 or M4 out of London and most places are nice and a lot cheaper than the city.
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
From: In a house
Is there anyone who can shed some light on the roster for longhaul pilots?
1 - Is it possible to commute from another country?
2 - If you live in another European country how many days at home (on average) would you have per month?
3 - Is it possible to pay taxes etc in the country of domicile instead of the UK?
Thanks in advance for any information!
1 - Is it possible to commute from another country?
2 - If you live in another European country how many days at home (on average) would you have per month?
3 - Is it possible to pay taxes etc in the country of domicile instead of the UK?
Thanks in advance for any information!
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 90
Likes: 0
From: WILTSHIRE
Joined: Apr 2014
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
From: In a house
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 995
Likes: 103
From: Botswana
Is there anyone who can shed some light on the roster for longhaul pilots?
1 - Is it possible to commute from another country?
2 - If you live in another European country how many days at home (on average) would you have per month?
3 - Is it possible to pay taxes etc in the country of domicile instead of the UK?
Thanks in advance for any information!
1 - Is it possible to commute from another country?
2 - If you live in another European country how many days at home (on average) would you have per month?
3 - Is it possible to pay taxes etc in the country of domicile instead of the UK?
Thanks in advance for any information!
2 - You’ll be junior on the long haul fleets. Bear in mind that the junior guys are the ones getting JSS absolute disaster rosters of six trips a month with minimum days off in between (which I’ve no doubt you weren’t shown on any recruitment roadshow/day). Coupled with point 1 above you have to consider if this is really worth it if you only have two days off between most trips and you’re being forced to come back the night before your next trip due to the intimidatory attitude from BA management. Of course if you have staff travel with another airline then you’re onto a winner. You might end up with only five useful full days at home a month in this scenario.
3 - Yes. As long as you can limit your time in the U.K. to a maximum of 90 nights in the tax year. You’ll still pay national insurance (social security) in the U.K. regardless of your domicile.
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 6,729
Likes: 104
From: The Winchester
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It’s a complex subject and has been the subject of heated debate here. Simplistic answer is that if you meet the requirements to be non resident in the U.K. for tax purposes ( and there is much more to it than simply avoiding being in the U.K. for 90 days) you may well still end paying some U.K. income tax and also some income tax where you are resident.
As Rex has said you pay full U.K. National Insurance, which may exempt you from some social charges on income in your country of residence.
As Rex has said you pay full U.K. National Insurance, which may exempt you from some social charges on income in your country of residence.
Joined: Apr 2018
Posts: 23
Likes: 0
From: UK
You’re right here. BA is probably the best long-haul job in the UK but definitely the worst short-haul job. If you don’t want to do long-haul then there are far better short-haul options.
