British Airways Direct Entry Pilot

[White Van Driver]

Originally Posted by ClearenceClarence

Thank you for the info. Also are LGW trips quite hard to bid for?

They are pretty popular especially with the pilots near Gatwick. I've had my share of MCO, DOH and JFK all from gatwick without even bidding for them though. Anything nicer like UVF MRU PUJ though youll not see unless you swap or get called on reserve.

[topgunaviator]

Originally Posted by White Van Driver

Depending on the type of overtime it is either banked hours to drop trips later (this is if you are rostered above cap or swap for a higher credit trip with another pilot). Or it can be payable as cash (if you take a trip that the company needs someone for in your days off, or trade up to a longer trip then the difference is payable).

It used to be really difficult to drop a trip over a weekend though I've managed it. The system has recently improved a bit though, which should make it easier to drop trips.

thanks for that, any idea how far up seniority ladder of RHS SH you would need to be to get a sniff of some weekends off?

[White Van Driver]

Originally Posted by topgunaviator

thanks for that, any idea how far up seniority ladder of RHS SH you would need to be to get a sniff of some weekends off?

no i dont have any idea, others on here will though

[Plastic787]

Judging by May 777 rosters the first person I’ve seen on iBid who has got more than one full weekend off (excluding Part Time weeks or leave/duty free week) sits at just over 2700 on the MSL. That’s getting on for ten years of service and even then, it seems to be a bit of an anomaly. The first sniffs of a full weekend clear of work start appearing at my sort of seniority which is about a year after that sort of date of joining (or roughly 60% on the P77L list). Manage your expectations with achieving a full weekend, if you clear early on a Saturday that basically counts as far as I’m concerned. Likewise if you report late on a Sunday.

Ever so sorry just seen you said SH. Based on my unscientific eyeball method I would say roughly the same sort of point on P32L so between 60-70% on the list. Obviously that will happen way faster on SH, if it carries on like it is at the moment that might only be 18 months or less.

[topgunaviator]

Originally Posted by Plastic787

Judging by May 777 rosters the first person I’ve seen on ibid who has got more than one full weekend off (excluding Part Time weeks or leave/duty free week) sits at just over 2700 on the MSL. That’s getting on for ten years of service and even then, it seems to be a bit of an anomaly. The first sniffs of a full weekend clear of work start appearing at my sort of seniority which is about a year after that sort of date of joining. Manage your expectations with achieving a full weekend, if you clear early on a Saturday that basically counts as far as I’m concerned. Likewise if you report late on a Sunday.

Good to know, thank you. Any idea about RHS SH?

[topgunaviator]

Originally Posted by Busdriver01

Bit of a contentious issue actually - SH recently saw the introduction of 2 weekend days clear for all pilots in a full month, reduced to 1 or 0 if you have less available days on your roster (leave, part time etc) days are not necessarily together, just two individual days, so even at the bottom of the list in a fully available month you'll get those two days. a move in a good direction, however it does seem to have resulted in everyone in the bottom c.70% of the status working 3 weekends i.e even at 30% on the list, people are only getting one weekend off each month. which is way less good for obvious reasons. used to be able to get more weekend time off way lower on the list than that.

ah, for some reason I thought that was a captains only thing. Good to know FOs get that too. One would hope with recruitment the way it is currently getting 30% up the list won’t take too long.

[topgunaviator]

Originally Posted by Busdriver01

I think the bigger issue is that getting to 40% is fairly quick relatively speaking but the next section is far slower because those at the top of the airbus have often chosen to stay put, so there aren't as many going off to LH from that group. Not quite sure how you fix it but you'd think generally speaking those in the middle section should be able to get 2 weekends off, but it doesnt seem to be happening.

Understandable for those lifestyle driven, do you know when roughly those 40% up the list joined? I’m just trying to gauge timings in the current climate.

also to clarify, I assume when we talk about at 40% seniority we mean 60% off the top?

[topgunaviator]

Originally Posted by Busdriver01

1% = top of the list, been here the longest, 100% = newest person on the fleet bottom of the list. so 40% has been here a good while - probably c.5 years on SH airbus?

oh. I understand now. So currently those at 30% (very near the top, > 5 years service) are only getting 1 weekend off a month?

[topgunaviator]

Originally Posted by Busdriver01

May not be exactly 30% and there will be exceptions (if you bid for reserve that may get you an extra weekend) but yes, those roughly 30-40% are very often getting just 1 weekend off still

ah okay, I’m hoping that by specifically bidding for day trips, that may help the weekend off case, I assume most people bid for longer trips

[Plastic787]

The biggest drop off is the guys near the top of the P77L list taking their command and going from their pick of five day Punta Canas and Cape Towns etc to then slogging it out to the east coast five times a month, with some carry out. Friend of mine is about to do this and I continually ask him if it’s worth it, you can certainly see why some people choose to stay put.

[Black Pudding]

topgunaviator Wants to be a pilot for BA but wants every weekend off.

[topgunaviator]

Originally Posted by Black Pudding

topgunaviator Wants to be a pilot for BA but wants every weekend off.

knew this was coming. Just trying to gauge how bidding works, and what to expect, not once did I say I wanted every weekend off.

[halbeir]

Is there a salary difference between LHR 320 and LGW 320 (Euroflyer)? LHR 69k basic plus addons seems like it would work out around 80-85 ish for a Y1 FO

[GS-Alpha]

Topgunaviator, the problem is there are plenty of other more senior pilots who have also come up with the many clever ways you might think of to try and maximise weekends off.

[mrguy]

Could anyone explain how rostering works during line training?

[yanny]

Training rostering is separate and you will be given a mix of day trips and nightstops, usually a 2 day 6 sector trip.

You don’t bid for it but generally training admin are pretty onside if you desperately need a day off, you can ask. Capacity for swapping things around might be limited due to the amount of line training going on at the moment.

[GS-Alpha]

You are unable to bid until after your final route check and consolidation are complete, therefore your line training roster is constructed for you. You may be able to contact training with the odd request, which they may try and accommodate if not too difficult.

[R T Jones]

When you say can’t bid, are you referring to just the flying lines? As in am I able to bid for fleet/seat changes from day 1 or only once line training is finished?
Also at which point do you get access to the leave system?

[mrguy]

Makes sense, thanks both.

[GS-Alpha]

Originally Posted by R T Jones

When you say can’t bid, are you referring to just the flying lines? As in am I able to bid for fleet/seat changes from day 1 or only once line training is finished?
Also at which point do you get access to the leave system?

I meant just JSS for flying rosters.
Fleet/seat changes are done on an annual basis, so there will be no need for you to be worrying about that on day one, but if the bid window is open, you will have access.
Leave bidding is done during certain bid windows. Again, if the window is open, you will have access. The season you first join, the leave bidding process will have taken place long before, so you’ll be outside of the normal bidding process for it. I am not entirely sure how it works, but my guess is it is just allocated. You might be able to express some preference a bit like the training line preferences mentioned above. However no leave is allowed during a course or within its consolidation period (14 days short haul, 21 days long haul).