BA Direct Entry Pilot.
I think the only option right now is to take the LHS at Gatwick, get the hours and go somewhere else as DEC ASAP. Personally I’d go back to easyJet or just do China for ten years. Trouble is in the light of current events that might become a very popular course of action and hence the seniority for Gatwick command less easily achievable.
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P.S. no rose tinted glasses here. Thank you for your honesty.
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I feel a tad more optimistic about the BA/BALPA relationship in the future but that is because the union will win. The choices being made at the top of the IAG tree continue to be disproportionately aggressive but also idiotic. The Union continue to plod away, playing a gentleman’s game.
Yes it it would be toxic if the company roll over the BALPA members. But they won’t.
Solidarity in the high 90’s%. We know how this will end.
Yes it it would be toxic if the company roll over the BALPA members. But they won’t.
Solidarity in the high 90’s%. We know how this will end.
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Is that really what the feeling is these days? I would have thought the biggest appeal of BA was that it is the closest thing to a job for life that you can get in this industry? I thought that this dispute was about the pay deal? Is it actually bigger than that?
If BALPA "lose" badly and end up emasculated it is questionable if they will be in a position to strongly defend all other aspects of T&Cs that the company have already made clear they want to change. We are talking about aspects of the job such as the hotel standards/location agreement, the remaining elements of Bidline which govern aspects of the working life such as crew compliments, length of working days, time off downroute.
I do tend to agree, fingers crossed, with Right Engine's sentiment about how it will work out, but if it doesn't............
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What constitutes losing? I mean, the average pilot probably has enough money in the bank to strike for a good few days without having to give house keys to the bank. Could BA really win an all-out war given the almost unanimous pilot support and the amount that the first strike action has cost?
Good question. If, within a year of the end of the current dispute, we see the likes of LHR-LAX-LHR routinely rostered as a nightstop, or the places such as Denver or Vancouver routinely operated with non-augmented crew then I'd say it had ended badly for the association.
Not sure how the many of the junior paypointers at BA, especially those nursing loans, sit relative the average UK pilot. FWIW the association and colleagues at BA are offering support for those who aren't flush with funds.
I mean, the average pilot probably has enough money in the bank to strike for a good few days without having to give house keys to the bank. Could BA really win an all-out war given the almost unanimous pilot support and the amount that the first strike action has cost?
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I have to agree with all the comments made about the BA management culture above. I wanted to add a word of warning for people reading this thread from continental Europe and willing to commute : be aware that BA is pretty much an anti-commuter company. They will treat you as a child and dig up into your commuting habits (if they believe you have arrived at Heathrow in the evening too late before an early report the next day, you’ll get a phone call). If you are unlucky and the flight you are commuting on is cancelled for any reason and you miss your report, they will have a go at you (which is very much unfair - what’s the difference between a commuter missing report due to cancelled flight VS a local pilot missing report due to an accident on the motorway...). As a result, most commuters would rather call sick rather than phoning ops to let them know they will be late for report due to an issue with their commuting flight... Add to that management of fear the whole Brexit disaster and the uncertainties it creates for non-UK citizen and now you know why I can’t wait to find a job elsewhere!
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Class Clown Cruz has told The Training Department to reduce ‘its simulator footprint’
Klaus addressed Standards Training Captains meeting and told them they are placing too much emphasis on safety.
These are very worrying statements.
Klaus addressed Standards Training Captains meeting and told them they are placing too much emphasis on safety.
These are very worrying statements.
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The same Klaus who failed his 787 proficiency check? 😂
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I have to agree with all the comments made about the BA management culture above. I wanted to add a word of warning for people reading this thread from continental Europe and willing to commute : be aware that BA is pretty much an anti-commuter company. They will treat you as a child and dig up into your commuting habits (if they believe you have arrived at Heathrow in the evening too late before an early report the next day, you’ll get a phone call). If you are unlucky and the flight you are commuting on is cancelled for any reason and you miss your report, they will have a go at you (which is very much unfair - what’s the difference between a commuter missing report due to cancelled flight VS a local pilot missing report due to an accident on the motorway...). As a result, most commuters would rather call sick rather than phoning ops to let them know they will be late for report due to an issue with their commuting flight... Add to that management of fear the whole Brexit disaster and the uncertainties it creates for non-UK citizen and now you know why I can’t wait to find a job elsewhere!
Same old DFO had a yellow card system in place for those who missed report due to examples such as above - and that was with a relatively mature FRMS in place.
BA may well be anti-commuter that's basically down to the EASA regulations on AOC responsibilities and the law should it all go wrong. EASA also enhances crewmembers responsibilities to this effect also.
Let us know when you end up "elsewhere".....
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be aware that BA is pretty much an anti-commuter company. They will treat you as a child and dig up into your commuting habits (if they believe you have arrived at Heathrow in the evening too late before an early report the next day, you’ll get a phone call).
Incidentally. I thought the rumour was that recruitment is being significantly scaled back for 2020, and potentially beyond. Make of that what you will.
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Does anyone know how much truth there is in this? Or about the implications for those of us currently in the SH holdpool? Last update I had was to expect Jan/Feb start.
Last edited by boeing89; 2nd Oct 2019 at 19:49. Reason: Content
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That’s not really true though, is it? BA have a number of pilots who commute from as far away as Australia, South Africa, and the West Coast of Canada and the USA. Plus very many other countries. Many union reps do! Provided they are sensible, there isn’t really a problem.
Actually it is very true. It's part of the reason I left BA. I received a phone call for arriving at LHR at 20:45 for a 6:00 report the next day. BA is not the airline it used to be.
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Toolonginthisjob stop trying to defend BA on this issue. Colgan Air for starters had virtually nothing to do with commuting, as an ex Dash 8 Pilot and having read the report it is pretty clear what happened. Two unfit pilots (both reported to work unfit through illness rather than fatigue - you can hear them coughing and spluttering on the CVR) and both less than competent aviators (not my opinion look at the training record of the Captain prior to the accident) managed to react completely inappropriately to a stall warning that was set at an artificially high speed. In addition to the captain pulling back on the stick in response to a stall warning (huh?) the First Officer inexplicably decided out of nowhere to dump the flaps at the same time as the nose high attitude.
Why the hell should a short commuting flight (by which I’m talking one of an hour or so) be included in the FTL’s for the duty in question? You’re a passenger and you’re not part of the operating crew, sitting there as pax is far less tiring than doing the equivalent time on a motorway as a driver which many people do every day. I fail to see the distinction here as to why one activity has to be factored into FTL’s but one doesn’t despite being scientifically more tiring.
Anyway we’re rehashing old ground. I just wanted to put the record straight as regards to Colgan because the commuting thing gets trotted out every time we talk about that accident but it wasn’t contributory.
Why the hell should a short commuting flight (by which I’m talking one of an hour or so) be included in the FTL’s for the duty in question? You’re a passenger and you’re not part of the operating crew, sitting there as pax is far less tiring than doing the equivalent time on a motorway as a driver which many people do every day. I fail to see the distinction here as to why one activity has to be factored into FTL’s but one doesn’t despite being scientifically more tiring.
Anyway we’re rehashing old ground. I just wanted to put the record straight as regards to Colgan because the commuting thing gets trotted out every time we talk about that accident but it wasn’t contributory.