BA Direct Entry Pilot.
Joining BA as a junior pilot, you will find yourself in blind line territory, so you can put in preferences for the trips that you want, however on saying that last month I noticed a hell of a lot of junior guys on trip lines.
Blindline=company writes your complete roster - their job to get you to CAP.
At the moment under the current rule set the company is quite constrained on how it "builds" the lines - result is lots of blindlines end up under CAP, possibly bulked out with a day/days Time Assignability ( sort of home stand-by), nevertheless a Blindline holder is "pay protected", i.e. always paid as if they had worked to CAP.
Tripline= Trip line holder tries to build their own roster. Their own job to make CAP - don't make it they may lose pay in certain circumstances,
You may have sacrifice days off to avoid losing cash, or these days increasingly risk having extra work that gets dropped on the line during the Roster Assign process....
It seems to be becoming increasingly common to see the very junior guys working like the clappers on carp triplines whilst the guys just above them are picking up blindlines in order to try to get some time off - which works well if you don't mind a few days uncertainty over any Time Assignable days.
However...I'll also add the heads up that some of the constraints on the company regarding blindline build are being removed later this year, more controls may well come off in a couple of years under Bidline 2017, so blindlines are going to be more efficient, which certainly won't mean working less...
Last edited by wiggy; 5th May 2015 at 16:27. Reason: syntax..
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Hi Wiggy
I know quite a lot has changed since I took VR back in '09, but are junior guys 'forced' to pick up a Trip Line now even if they don't bid for it? If so, that's quite a change as back in the day they became Blind Line holders and all unallocated Trip Lines were broken up with the individual trips going back into the Stage 2 pot.
It seems tobe becoming increasingly common to see the very junior guys working like the clappers on carp triplines whilst the guys just above them are picking up blindlines in order to try to get some time off - which works well if you don't mind a few days uncertainty over any Time Assignable days.
TopBunk
AFAIK that's still the case but I know some are still reluctant to effectively "nil bid" because of the loss of any control over days off and so would rather chance things with a poor trip line. I rather suspect that might start to change over the next few months - which might make things interesting for the company.
AFAIK that's still the case but I know some are still reluctant to effectively "nil bid" because of the loss of any control over days off and so would rather chance things with a poor trip line. I rather suspect that might start to change over the next few months - which might make things interesting for the company.
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Given the levels of recruitment over the next 12-24 months would it be fair to conclude new joiners will move up the 320 seniority list at rates faster then previously seen in BA?
Is it possible to explain how different life is for someone in the bottom 20% of the LHR 320 fleet compared to say someone sitting half way up. Would it be described as marginal or substantial? Is it possible to compare the life of a senior A320 pilot to that of a junior pilot who will remain junior for years as a DEP onto a longhaul fleet?
Is it possible to explain how different life is for someone in the bottom 20% of the LHR 320 fleet compared to say someone sitting half way up. Would it be described as marginal or substantial? Is it possible to compare the life of a senior A320 pilot to that of a junior pilot who will remain junior for years as a DEP onto a longhaul fleet?
Given the levels of recruitment over the next 12-24 months would it be fair to conclude new joiners will move up the 320 seniority list at rates faster then previously seen in BA?
In general recruiting at BA has always been stop and start since they started (?restarted) DEP recruitment in the late 80's. In any event the nearer the front end of a recruitment bulge you are the better, so I suspect the likes of CAT3C is probably well placed, whereas someone joining in a year or two might end up stuck at the bottom of a list if for unknown reasons recruitment dries up again.
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Here is how it goes. In the last three years I have moved up about 75 places on the MSL. Then suddenly whilst not really moving up the list you find that you are 300-350 places off the bottom and shooting up the Airbus list. It will then probably slow and become stagnant again for a while with just the normal attrition rates etc. What is causing this movement at the moment is the result of the BMI slots starting to transfer to LH and BA expanding into new markets. If your offered a place on the A320 today or the 747 next month for Christ sake take the A320 now because your position on the MSL determines everything. If you don't believe me you should see the number of shoes that have been left for me to polish 
If your offered a place on the A320 today or the 747 next month for Christ sake take the A320 now because your position on the MSL determines everything.
CL.730.A Specific requirements for pilots undertaking a zero flight time type rating (ZFTT) course – aeroplanes
(a) A pilot undertaking instruction at a ZFTT course shall have completed, on a multi- pilot turbo-jet aeroplane certificated to the standards of CS-25 or equivalent airworthiness code or on a multi-pilot turbo-prop aeroplane having a maximum certificated take-off mass of not less than 10 tonnes or a certificated passenger seating configuration of more than 19 passengers, at least:
(1) if an FFS qualified to level CG, C or interim C is used during the course, 1500 hours flight time or 250 route sectors;
(2) if an FFS qualified to level DG or D is used during the course, 500 hours flight time or 100 route sectors.
(b) When a pilot is changing from a turbo-prop to a turbo-jet aeroplane or from a turbo- jet to a turbo-prop aeroplane, additional simulator training shall be required.
(a) A pilot undertaking instruction at a ZFTT course shall have completed, on a multi- pilot turbo-jet aeroplane certificated to the standards of CS-25 or equivalent airworthiness code or on a multi-pilot turbo-prop aeroplane having a maximum certificated take-off mass of not less than 10 tonnes or a certificated passenger seating configuration of more than 19 passengers, at least:
(1) if an FFS qualified to level CG, C or interim C is used during the course, 1500 hours flight time or 250 route sectors;
(2) if an FFS qualified to level DG or D is used during the course, 500 hours flight time or 100 route sectors.
(b) When a pilot is changing from a turbo-prop to a turbo-jet aeroplane or from a turbo- jet to a turbo-prop aeroplane, additional simulator training shall be required.
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Your logic's sound re the MSL, as long as both the MSL and the company continues in it's current form. TBH though if they really were both guaranteed slots (and there's no such thing I know), I know which I would be inclined take....
The nationality question and questions about the number of Brits as BA seems to crop up on a regular basis...BA's requirements are pretty clear:
"A valid passport (with minimum of 12 months before expiry date) allowing unrestricted worldwide travel
The unrestricted right to live and work in the UK".
Remember the unrestricted right to live and work in the UK can be gained through family ties/links, not just nationality (e.g being an EU national).
Given what we see on the Flight Deck every day I'd say (as previously stated) there's a wide spread of nationalities.
"A valid passport (with minimum of 12 months before expiry date) allowing unrestricted worldwide travel
The unrestricted right to live and work in the UK".
Remember the unrestricted right to live and work in the UK can be gained through family ties/links, not just nationality (e.g being an EU national).
Given what we see on the Flight Deck every day I'd say (as previously stated) there's a wide spread of nationalities.
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Does anyone have some more hints with regards to the verbal reasoning bit? I've done all the assessmenttoday stuff but I'm not feeling quite confident just yet..