BA Direct Entry Pilot.
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If the company has built your roster, nothing. If you have built it using bidding, then if you are a long way short, your bids get wiped, then the company write your roster, and that's all. If you're only a bit short, say 5 hours, then they dock 5 hours pay that month. But you can always then pick up overtime to get that cash back, or not, depends how you feel.
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Hey guys
To add another question... I am in the middle of the assessment process (day 2 coming up) and looking for information on BA longhaul lifestyle. How would a 'typical' 777 roster look like nowadays? I couldn't find any recent posts about this topic.
Any info is highly appreciated (days off per month, 777 vs other fleets etc)
Take care everyone
lhchris
To add another question... I am in the middle of the assessment process (day 2 coming up) and looking for information on BA longhaul lifestyle. How would a 'typical' 777 roster look like nowadays? I couldn't find any recent posts about this topic.
Any info is highly appreciated (days off per month, 777 vs other fleets etc)
Take care everyone
lhchris
VxYx
As Lead says if the company has built your roster = Blindline, then don't worry about CAP, you're paid as if you'd achieved it (aka "pay protected").
If you are building your roster = Trip line = then you must reach a specified monthly minimum by end of Stage 2. Used to be CAP - 15 hrs on Longhaul, (not sure where it is this week with the various alleviations that are in play, CAP -10?). If you don't get above the minimum then your line is "wiped" of trips ( hence this minimum level is known as "wiping level") and you become a Blindline holder (rostered by company, pay is protected).
If you are successful in being above wiping level but are still below CAP after Stage 2 then:
1. If you are short of CAP with enough available hours in the bank from previous months to cover the shortfall then sufficient banked hours are withdrawn to get you up to CAP......but see warning 1 below.
2. If you are below CAP with insufficient hours in the bank to get back to CAP you are a "Nett Low Bidder"(NLBer)
This is generally not regarded as a "good thing" and life now gets very complex ...one of several things may happen:
If you are very close to CAP you may simply get away with roster being left intact and pay being docked, as Lead described.
OTOH if it's a sizeable shortfall the company will add work to your line, or use a combination of removing and adding of trips to get you nearer to CAP ( that might mean ending up above CAP).
(A very belated history note: This whole NLBer d..... dance was brought in about 10 years ago to stop people consistently bidding below CAP, month after month. The compensation was the introduction of the Aspirational Part Time contracts).
Warning 1: Nowadays in any event the company can put extra work on your line at the final stage of roster build if you've left a nice gap (regardless of whether you've made CAP or not )...
and
Warning 2: Bidline is going in perhaps less than two years, so there's no point in getting too hung up on the details.
if you don't make CAP, what happens?
If you are building your roster = Trip line = then you must reach a specified monthly minimum by end of Stage 2. Used to be CAP - 15 hrs on Longhaul, (not sure where it is this week with the various alleviations that are in play, CAP -10?). If you don't get above the minimum then your line is "wiped" of trips ( hence this minimum level is known as "wiping level") and you become a Blindline holder (rostered by company, pay is protected).
If you are successful in being above wiping level but are still below CAP after Stage 2 then:
1. If you are short of CAP with enough available hours in the bank from previous months to cover the shortfall then sufficient banked hours are withdrawn to get you up to CAP......but see warning 1 below.
2. If you are below CAP with insufficient hours in the bank to get back to CAP you are a "Nett Low Bidder"(NLBer)
This is generally not regarded as a "good thing" and life now gets very complex ...one of several things may happen:If you are very close to CAP you may simply get away with roster being left intact and pay being docked, as Lead described.
OTOH if it's a sizeable shortfall the company will add work to your line, or use a combination of removing and adding of trips to get you nearer to CAP ( that might mean ending up above CAP).
(A very belated history note: This whole NLBer d..... dance was brought in about 10 years ago to stop people consistently bidding below CAP, month after month. The compensation was the introduction of the Aspirational Part Time contracts).
Warning 1: Nowadays in any event the company can put extra work on your line at the final stage of roster build if you've left a nice gap (regardless of whether you've made CAP or not )...
and
Warning 2: Bidline is going in perhaps less than two years, so there's no point in getting too hung up on the details.
Last edited by wiggy; 10th Apr 2016 at 18:58. Reason: Because it was there...
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I'm eligble to reapply again at the end of the month but unfortunately it appears the vacancies are no longer advertised. Anyone know if long haul recruitment will be opened up again in the near future?
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Wiggy,
A couple of months ago i was 40 mins below CAP with no time in the bank after stage 2 and was rung up by pre-ops to ask which other trip I would like. I told them I didn't want to do another whole day at work for the sake of 40 mins. I asked them to doc me 40 mins pay. They told me I had to either except another trip or be wiped as they don't doc pay anymore, so I told them to wipe me.
In the end my blind was of less credit than the trip line they wiped. Go figure.....
Regards
A couple of months ago i was 40 mins below CAP with no time in the bank after stage 2 and was rung up by pre-ops to ask which other trip I would like. I told them I didn't want to do another whole day at work for the sake of 40 mins. I asked them to doc me 40 mins pay. They told me I had to either except another trip or be wiped as they don't doc pay anymore, so I told them to wipe me.
In the end my blind was of less credit than the trip line they wiped. Go figure.....
Regards
binsleepen
Yep, I was aware of there's the possibility of a "return to blindline" if you're a NLBer but I was aware my post was getting so long winded that I'd already either confused most people or bored them stiff so left it out....
As for what happened to you ...please note I never claimed at any time that scheduling always use logic or common sense ( I know you that)!
Out of interest are you able to say if they did the classic of wiping you but leaving you with most of your original trips? FWIW that's what happend to me last time I was wiped.....
Yep, I was aware of there's the possibility of a "return to blindline" if you're a NLBer but I was aware my post was getting so long winded that I'd already either confused most people or bored them stiff so left it out....
As for what happened to you ...please note I never claimed at any time that scheduling always use logic or common sense ( I know you that)!
Out of interest are you able to say if they did the classic of wiping you but leaving you with most of your original trips? FWIW that's what happend to me last time I was wiped.....
Last edited by wiggy; 11th Apr 2016 at 08:35.
You don't get single days of leave under Bidline on any fleet.
Annual Leave days are only granted in multi day blocks, with your dates known several months ahead of time. Trying to protect a single day from duty for whatever reason (e.g. concert, sport, family event) is very difficult, even for the most senior, even on Trip lines, unless that day is embedded in a block of annual leave or is one of the fixed days off at the front of a Reserve Line..
You can express a Blindline preference for a day(s) off before rostering for the month starts, which might be taken into account when the Blindline is built. No promises.
You can't.
Once your final final roster is published you can see your working days and your days off. The assumption is you then plan your social arrangements to fit in with the published days off. At that late stage you can't suddenly try and book a leave day to get rid of a duty - if that facility existed it would be a very handy and very very popular way for pilots to get rid of nasty trips from their lines and it would be chaos in scheduling/current ops
!
Your last minute options if you really have to get a day off that has been clobbered by a published duty would be to:
1. Trip swap with a colleague or swap with an uncovered trip still held by ops ( but lots of caveats apply to the latter case) ,
2. Ask scheduling if it is possible to cash the trip in against the hours in your bank, if you have enough, or,
3. In exceptional circumstances ( e.g. a family crisis, not because you've got tickets to something) the company may grant you compassionate leave.
Protecting single days off has always been a problem when working Bidline and it has got much more difficult over the years. If you believe the promises single days leave, nominating and protecting single days off, etc, might be something that appears in a limited way under JSS.
Annual Leave days are only granted in multi day blocks, with your dates known several months ahead of time. Trying to protect a single day from duty for whatever reason (e.g. concert, sport, family event) is very difficult, even for the most senior, even on Trip lines, unless that day is embedded in a block of annual leave or is one of the fixed days off at the front of a Reserve Line..
Once on a blindline, Can you book single day leave on the LH fleet?
And how easy/difficult is it to book a single day leave once the roster is out?
Once your final final roster is published you can see your working days and your days off. The assumption is you then plan your social arrangements to fit in with the published days off. At that late stage you can't suddenly try and book a leave day to get rid of a duty - if that facility existed it would be a very handy and very very popular way for pilots to get rid of nasty trips from their lines and it would be chaos in scheduling/current ops
! Your last minute options if you really have to get a day off that has been clobbered by a published duty would be to:
1. Trip swap with a colleague or swap with an uncovered trip still held by ops ( but lots of caveats apply to the latter case) ,
2. Ask scheduling if it is possible to cash the trip in against the hours in your bank, if you have enough, or,
3. In exceptional circumstances ( e.g. a family crisis, not because you've got tickets to something) the company may grant you compassionate leave.
Protecting single days off has always been a problem when working Bidline and it has got much more difficult over the years. If you believe the promises
single days leave, nominating and protecting single days off, etc, might be something that appears in a limited way under JSS.
Last edited by wiggy; 12th Apr 2016 at 08:11.
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Exactly Wiggy!
I never did it, honestly, no really, I didn't (now retired).
However it always remains an option. The problem is that if they know you having been looking at all options and none succeed, and then you throw a sickie .......
Sometimes it may be more advisable to remain below the radar!
I never did it, honestly, no really, I didn't (now retired).
However it always remains an option. The problem is that if they know you having been looking at all options and none succeed, and then you throw a sickie .......
Sometimes it may be more advisable to remain below the radar!
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The problem is that if they know you having been looking at all options and none succeed, and then you throw a sickie
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Hi all,
I am due to attend the initial assessment soon. Just wondering if anyone has done it recently, by that I mean in the last week or so. I have heard on the grapevine that the Pilapt test (numbers counting down, flying cross-hairs with the joystick and the shapes and colours test) have disappeared? Is this fact or fiction? Can anyone help!?
Thank you!
I am due to attend the initial assessment soon. Just wondering if anyone has done it recently, by that I mean in the last week or so. I have heard on the grapevine that the Pilapt test (numbers counting down, flying cross-hairs with the joystick and the shapes and colours test) have disappeared? Is this fact or fiction? Can anyone help!?
Thank you!
A mate of mine has just got a direct entry long haul position and he only had to answer ONE question. It went like this: your roster says your flight departs at 2100Z, the station briefing says pick up time from the the hotel is departure time -1h25, time difference is UTC -6 hours. When will pick up be in local time? He got it right and now he's in! Amazing.
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Ah but Doug, did they force feed him 5 pints, a couple of murky looking shots, a "special" kebab, and then make him sleep in a small room for 8 hours with a Hoover going constantly outside and people shouting loudly in Chinese prior to his pick-up mental gymnastics? If they didn't, the process is flawed in my opinion, and someone should tell BA so they can form a steering group to analyse the risks. If they DID however, kudos to your mate, and get him to write the station briefs will you, we'll all buy him a pint. That's about 2500 pints if everyone on long haul chips in.....now, what time was pick up again?
Join Date: Nov 2007
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Just got through the paper sift to the Numerical, verbal and capacity tests.
Any body with recent experience who wouldn't mind letting me know what the best practice material would be.
Only have 3 days until interview. Seems very quick.
Any body with recent experience who wouldn't mind letting me know what the best practice material would be.
Only have 3 days until interview. Seems very quick.
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Is anybody being offered assessment days beyond the 17th of April?
I've only been offered 16th and 17th...both in Hong Kong, which is a *little* bit far to go. Resourcing say to just keep checking the website, but in the meantime I am getting emails saying 'Book a day or your application will be withdrawn
I've only been offered 16th and 17th...both in Hong Kong, which is a *little* bit far to go. Resourcing say to just keep checking the website, but in the meantime I am getting emails saying 'Book a day or your application will be withdrawn
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I think a lot of people go through this concern, myself included- I initially thought my only shot was to attend an assessment date with just a couple of days notice.
More dates will become available on a rolling basis (unless perhaps recruitment stops). I think the emails are automatically generated.
More dates will become available on a rolling basis (unless perhaps recruitment stops). I think the emails are automatically generated.