J2 A320 FO position.
You only had to look a few posts further down on this page ...................
As an SFO on the 757, flying 400 hours a year (which is 100 hours more than the last two years!): matching the companies 8% pension contribution expect about £3500-3700 a month take home in the winter flying 2 days a month, flying 10 days a month in the summer taking home £4100. Normal FO salary is approx £6000 less off your gross annual salary so deduct about £250 a month from the above figures, however if you join on the 737 expect to fly double the above averaged out over the year and probably about another £300 a month in sector/duty pay (this is a guess as obviously i don't fly it)
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Hello.
Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere.
I am currently looking over the fence from BA to J2, especially now that they have got A321’s, as I live in the NW - so would love a MAN base.
My biggest concern is workload in the summer. 5 on 2 off sounds pretty horrific. Especially as you don’t get much summer leave.
757 sounds amazing. But one must assume that most will be working like the 737 guys in the future.
I’m a current skipper on the A320 fleet at BA, but I can’t help to be curious about J2, as the work load at BA is sky high all year round.
Anybody on here that can enlighten me a bit more about life on a busy summer roster on the 737 and perhaps what the future holds for the Airbus at J2 at MAN?
Many thanks
Sorry if this has been covered elsewhere.
I am currently looking over the fence from BA to J2, especially now that they have got A321’s, as I live in the NW - so would love a MAN base.
My biggest concern is workload in the summer. 5 on 2 off sounds pretty horrific. Especially as you don’t get much summer leave.
757 sounds amazing. But one must assume that most will be working like the 737 guys in the future.
I’m a current skipper on the A320 fleet at BA, but I can’t help to be curious about J2, as the work load at BA is sky high all year round.
Anybody on here that can enlighten me a bit more about life on a busy summer roster on the 737 and perhaps what the future holds for the Airbus at J2 at MAN?
Many thanks
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Workload at your typical british Summer holiday airline...
You are not going to fly more than 80 hrs per month. You can hit 80 just by leaving the house 3 times per week.
UK-Turkey-UK = approx 8 hrs flight time
UK-Greece-UK (except Rhodes) = approx 7 hours flight time
UK-Canaries-UK = approx 8 hrs flight time
UK-Belearics-UK = approx 4 hrs flight time
Take 3 of the above 8 + 8 + 4 = 20 hours per week
x 4 weeks per month = 80 hours per month. Very occasionally it might happen you fly more, if you have leave the following week etc or if you take the overtime.
You are not going to fly more than 80 hrs per month. You can hit 80 just by leaving the house 3 times per week.
UK-Turkey-UK = approx 8 hrs flight time
UK-Greece-UK (except Rhodes) = approx 7 hours flight time
UK-Canaries-UK = approx 8 hrs flight time
UK-Belearics-UK = approx 4 hrs flight time
Take 3 of the above 8 + 8 + 4 = 20 hours per week
x 4 weeks per month = 80 hours per month. Very occasionally it might happen you fly more, if you have leave the following week etc or if you take the overtime.
Last edited by Superpilot; 22nd Nov 2019 at 07:44.
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BAP, some eleven years ago I left a legacy airline to join Jet2, sure as you gain seniority in the legacy carriers your income increases significantly in comparison to Jet2, however it comes with the difficulties of long haul. Short haul in any legacy carrier is very hard work, usually involving multiple nightstops etc. Having joined Jet2 I have no regrets, with your experience you could join as a direct entry Captain and the benefits of a non seniority based airline are that should you want to branch into other areas (training, management etc) these positions will be available fairly quickly should you desire. The benefits for me are you rarely nightstop, yes in the summer you work hard, but due to the length of the sectors you tend to work less days compared to a legacy airline (more reserves and SBYs etc), you get home just about every night, the winters are quiet with extra winter leave options should you desire. In short I got my life back! It is a difficult decision, but if you live in the NW then I think it would really benefit your lifestyle, having commuted myself for many years it was not until I made the change that I realised just how much of my time was spent travelling or on SBY in digs!
Good luck with your decision.
Good luck with your decision.
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Depends on how much you put into your pension. ~£5400-6000 dependent on how hard you work. Lower figure in the winter, higher in the summer. I’ve been averaging 70-80 hours a month over the summer.
I think the future is bright for the Airbus at Jet2. Joining now would certainly put you in a good position, especially if you come with a training background.
I think the future is bright for the Airbus at Jet2. Joining now would certainly put you in a good position, especially if you come with a training background.
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Depends on how much you put into your pension. ~£5400-6000 dependent on how hard you work. Lower figure in the winter, higher in the summer. I’ve been averaging 70-80 hours a month over the summer.
I think the future is bright for the Airbus at Jet2. Joining now would certainly put you in a good position, especially if you come with a training background.
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Yes I think they are referring to a nice working environment in a non London base for an airline that is growing. And that growth comes with non seniority based opportunities. Nowhere is perfect but 50% of the BA workload for significantly more than 50% of the BA salary works for many.
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Thanks for the replies.
I used to work at Thomson years ago, so I’m very familiar with the charter flying. But at least back then, Thomson would give the pilots extra days off, and standbys were limited.
i get the impression that you don’t fly that many days at J2, which is a great bonus, but you have a lot of standby days; where you can’t make any plans, which I think would be an issue for me in the long run.
Not an easy decision, that’s for sure.
I used to work at Thomson years ago, so I’m very familiar with the charter flying. But at least back then, Thomson would give the pilots extra days off, and standbys were limited.
i get the impression that you don’t fly that many days at J2, which is a great bonus, but you have a lot of standby days; where you can’t make any plans, which I think would be an issue for me in the long run.
Not an easy decision, that’s for sure.
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In the summer months you should expect to be busy, with minimal standbys, although there are block standbys occasionally where you have a 4 or 5 day run of being in standby and can be called to go to another base to cover for a few days. In the other seasons where flying tails off there are more standbys but J2 have started to look at the amount of cover and have started to stand people down when they see there is no point in having so many people on call. You can also take winter leave options that are made quite attractive, things like take 1 month off unpaid get 1 month off paid, and some part time options over the winter to give you more days off.
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What chance fixed roster
Looking in as a left seat outsider whose priority is work / life balance, the BHX base, proper pension and Winter leave options look attractive... what chance a fixed roster (I'm currently on a 5/4) to seal the deal?!
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Don’t hang around, you might find yourself at the end of a very long queue.
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Thanks for the replies.
I used to work at Thomson years ago, so I’m very familiar with the charter flying. But at least back then, Thomson would give the pilots extra days off, and standbys were limited.
i get the impression that you don’t fly that many days at J2, which is a great bonus, but you have a lot of standby days; where you can’t make any plans, which I think would be an issue for me in the long run. Not an easy decision, that’s for sure.
I used to work at Thomson years ago, so I’m very familiar with the charter flying. But at least back then, Thomson would give the pilots extra days off, and standbys were limited.
i get the impression that you don’t fly that many days at J2, which is a great bonus, but you have a lot of standby days; where you can’t make any plans, which I think would be an issue for me in the long run. Not an easy decision, that’s for sure.
BAP 5 on 2 off too much for you, more days off like the good old Thomson days - If I was J2 I'd say stay at BA
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Seal the deal? Pffft.... mate I hate to break it to you, but i think you'll find you're skills at present aren't as valuable to them as you think.... unless your CV says 'thomas cook' as your last employer of course... judging from the other jet2 threads at the moment, The choice would appear to be very much theirs at the moment, not yours.
Last edited by Flydajet; 24th Nov 2019 at 16:44.
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it seems like a rather negative comment, and not particularly helpful. Luckily others have taken the time to offer a more balanced and useful comment, and perhaps taken the time to understand what I meant by my post.
ATB to you though.
ATB to you though.
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Im slightly confused, do you mean would they change their whole rostering system to accommodate you who wants fixed? I presume that’s not what you mean as it goes without saying that you’ve absolutely no chance whatsoever. They currently have several hundred top drawer experienced pilots banging down their door, so I’m afraid your skills aren’t exactly hard to come by.
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The salary is competitive against any other similar position in the UK (better than competitive when you take hours actually flown into account). The bases tend to suit because they're where we want to be; i.e. regional, close to home.
Not sure what's hard to understand about that.
Not sure what's hard to understand about that.
But like I said, I suspect the interest is mainly given by being based where one wants, and a nice working environment, which I agree are nice benefits to have.
What is worrying to hear though, is people at BA considering this job. And it’s not even the first time I see this. Incredible.