British Airways Direct Entry Pilot
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: London
Hi all,
Would anyone be able to clarify the £4.48 subsistence allowance/tafb payment. Is this based on time spent down route only or based on the whole duty time departing/arriving at Heathrow.
regards,
Oxazole
Would anyone be able to clarify the £4.48 subsistence allowance/tafb payment. Is this based on time spent down route only or based on the whole duty time departing/arriving at Heathrow.
regards,
Oxazole
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: London
Thanks GS! Just trying to do some mental gymnastics to make the sums works between leaving orange, especially after the recent pay offer, but for the first ~15years it seems quite a hit. That being said, it’s a certainly a nice problem to be wrestling with I guess 😂
Oxazole
Oxazole
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 233
Likes: 13
From: Somewhere
Are you joining direct LH? If so you should eclipse what you’re earning as FO/SFO at easyJet without too much bother from day one (Capt is a different story) even after the substantially better pay rise you’ve received there. (Another story altogether but well done to the easyJet CC compared to our lot).
The U2 figures I’ve seen I spat out my coffee at originally, however missed the fact that they included pension and sector pay etc.
By way of illustration my allowances in May are just a smidge under £4K. However it’s a pretty busy month and includes a couple of hours of NCP too. Going forward on average you’re looking at just under £3K in monthly allowances on top of basic so add £30-35K to the basic as a Long Haul FO at BA for your sums.
The U2 figures I’ve seen I spat out my coffee at originally, however missed the fact that they included pension and sector pay etc.
By way of illustration my allowances in May are just a smidge under £4K. However it’s a pretty busy month and includes a couple of hours of NCP too. Going forward on average you’re looking at just under £3K in monthly allowances on top of basic so add £30-35K to the basic as a Long Haul FO at BA for your sums.
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 123
Likes: 9
From: UK
Flew with someone in recruitment recently who expected DEC at Euroflyer again in the not-too-distant future. BA have been releasing some senior bidders from their LH freezes to fill the void in the LHS 320 at Heathrow for the time being.
I was equally shocked by the Easy pay deal (or rather, how poor the BA one was/is). Hypothetically any DEC recruitment at Heathrow would mean joining on a starting salary about £42k below your year 1 DEC Easy skipper - a gap which actually grows as the Easy loyalty bonus kicks in. Not to mention the appalling lifestyle at the bottom of the BA list.
I was equally shocked by the Easy pay deal (or rather, how poor the BA one was/is). Hypothetically any DEC recruitment at Heathrow would mean joining on a starting salary about £42k below your year 1 DEC Easy skipper - a gap which actually grows as the Easy loyalty bonus kicks in. Not to mention the appalling lifestyle at the bottom of the BA list.
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 8
Likes: 0
From: London
Are you joining direct LH? If so you should eclipse what you’re earning as FO/SFO at easyJet without too much bother from day one (Capt is a different story) even after the substantially better pay rise you’ve received there. (Another story altogether but well done to the easyJet CC compared to our lot).
The U2 figures I’ve seen I spat out my coffee at originally, however missed the fact that they included pension and sector pay etc.
By way of illustration my allowances in May are just a smidge under £4K. However it’s a pretty busy month and includes a couple of hours of NCP too. Going forward on average you’re looking at just under £3K in monthly allowances on top of basic so add £30-35K to the basic as a Long Haul FO at BA for your sums.
The U2 figures I’ve seen I spat out my coffee at originally, however missed the fact that they included pension and sector pay etc.
By way of illustration my allowances in May are just a smidge under £4K. However it’s a pretty busy month and includes a couple of hours of NCP too. Going forward on average you’re looking at just under £3K in monthly allowances on top of basic so add £30-35K to the basic as a Long Haul FO at BA for your sums.
Appreciate the clarity on allowances! The move would be to LHR SH, a personal decision on my part to help balance family commitments/wanting to gain relative seniority a little faster. The draws are the current time to command on SH, me not getting any younger (early 30s), and the career variety on offer. From having read through the thread, its a different lifestyle on offer over at BA as much as anythings else. Just have to weigh that up against the skipper salary (that being said once pension contributions/tax is considered it does become less stark than headlines might make out). I don't think I've added anything new to the discussion, other than restating time old considerations most have in resolving the EZY-BA quandary so apologies on that front. If I discover the answer i'll report back.
Oxazole
Joined: Apr 2022
Posts: 47
Likes: 23
From: Europe
Flew with someone in recruitment recently who expected DEC at Euroflyer again in the not-too-distant future. BA have been releasing some senior bidders from their LH freezes to fill the void in the LHS 320 at Heathrow for the time being.
I was equally shocked by the Easy pay deal (or rather, how poor the BA one was/is). Hypothetically any DEC recruitment at Heathrow would mean joining on a starting salary about £42k below your year 1 DEC Easy skipper - a gap which actually grows as the Easy loyalty bonus kicks in. Not to mention the appalling lifestyle at the bottom of the BA list.
I was equally shocked by the Easy pay deal (or rather, how poor the BA one was/is). Hypothetically any DEC recruitment at Heathrow would mean joining on a starting salary about £42k below your year 1 DEC Easy skipper - a gap which actually grows as the Easy loyalty bonus kicks in. Not to mention the appalling lifestyle at the bottom of the BA list.
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 250
Likes: 14
From: UK
The whole LH earning more than SH at the bottom of the payscales comparing with mates not much in it with just the basics.
If you start factoring in spending down route etc unless you are sitting in your hotel room of course. 10 years in yes the gap widens a fair amount. Loads of variables in all the calculations. Living close to LHR means about £5 (£10ish before tax) a day in fuel round trip for me. I don’t mind the crew food and have gone days with only having 1 meal a day at home. Have also done 3 day trips away with lounge access, chilling by the pool, beers, food all included and come back having not spent a single penny. I have flown with skippers who bring their own food or go and grab an itsu before the flight. £5-£10 (as before is £10-£20 from your pre tax) a day soon adds up.
Commuters will have higher costs be it fuel, flying, hotels etc as well.
Year 2 SH and I average £2k per month on mostly day trips. NCP wise can usually get 10 hours quite easily just by swapping for higher credit stuff. Yes I have gone nuts on a few months and pushed out nearly 50hrs NCP, hard to do on SH. LH can get some high credit trips that easily eclipse that in a month.
I boiled it down to career options and being SH the night curfew at LHR is a bit of a god send. Latest I have been walking through my door is 1am. Rare occasion. Even on a run of lates I’m in bed by 11pm 90% of the time.
If you start factoring in spending down route etc unless you are sitting in your hotel room of course. 10 years in yes the gap widens a fair amount. Loads of variables in all the calculations. Living close to LHR means about £5 (£10ish before tax) a day in fuel round trip for me. I don’t mind the crew food and have gone days with only having 1 meal a day at home. Have also done 3 day trips away with lounge access, chilling by the pool, beers, food all included and come back having not spent a single penny. I have flown with skippers who bring their own food or go and grab an itsu before the flight. £5-£10 (as before is £10-£20 from your pre tax) a day soon adds up.
Commuters will have higher costs be it fuel, flying, hotels etc as well.
Year 2 SH and I average £2k per month on mostly day trips. NCP wise can usually get 10 hours quite easily just by swapping for higher credit stuff. Yes I have gone nuts on a few months and pushed out nearly 50hrs NCP, hard to do on SH. LH can get some high credit trips that easily eclipse that in a month.
I boiled it down to career options and being SH the night curfew at LHR is a bit of a god send. Latest I have been walking through my door is 1am. Rare occasion. Even on a run of lates I’m in bed by 11pm 90% of the time.
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 233
Likes: 13
From: Somewhere
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
From: England
From getting the successful email to a phone call with a start date was about 2 hours for me. My friend got the call before his success email even came through. So zero swimming time at the moment
Joined: Jan 2017
Posts: 3
Likes: 1
From: England
I have an interview at LHR next week to join the SH fleet as a type-rated FO. The roster is an important part of the work/lifestyle and I managed to find about 4 examples of a monthly roster and was quite alarmed at the number of stops away from base, between 10-15 per month. Can any SH speedbirds here confirm what is normal? I'd like to sleep at home as many nights as possible. What's the lowest average nights away from base that can realistically be achieved? Thanks for any help
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 22
Likes: 2
From: UK
Near the bottom of the list I can see someone doing only 4 nights away in May. A little higher up someone only has 1 night away. Swaps will be your friend but mostly day trips should be achievable as people seem to favour tours near the bottom of the list.
As always, you can’t see what they are actually budding for but you definitely won’t be away 15 nights unless you ask to be.
As always, you can’t see what they are actually budding for but you definitely won’t be away 15 nights unless you ask to be.
Joined: Sep 2019
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
From: Manchester
Is anyone able to provide any light on this really open ended question - applying for SH but I'm really comfortable with the SH airline I'm currently with and so I'm holding out for LH. I've heard there's still spaces for the LH fleet but they said they want 1500 hours on type by the time of the sim. Now I'm about 50 hours away from 1500 hours on type and so my question is this, the sim assessors, are they quite chilled normal guys/girls? Would they say no to LH if you were about to hit your 1500 hours very soon but not by the time of the sim?
I know the simple answer is to just wait until 1500 hours then do the sim but I'm worried there won't be any spots in LH by then, especially on the 350. Additionally, has anyone told BA when offered SH that they only want LH and then been able to negotiate it?
Thank you in advance, John
I know the simple answer is to just wait until 1500 hours then do the sim but I'm worried there won't be any spots in LH by then, especially on the 350. Additionally, has anyone told BA when offered SH that they only want LH and then been able to negotiate it?
Thank you in advance, John
Joined: Aug 2023
Posts: 47
Likes: 1
From: London
Is anyone able to provide any light on this really open ended question - applying for SH but I'm really comfortable with the SH airline I'm currently with and so I'm holding out for LH. I've heard there's still spaces for the LH fleet but they said they want 1500 hours on type by the time of the sim. Now I'm about 50 hours away from 1500 hours on type and so my question is this, the sim assessors, are they quite chilled normal guys/girls? Would they say no to LH if you were about to hit your 1500 hours very soon but not by the time of the sim?
I know the simple answer is to just wait until 1500 hours then do the sim but I'm worried there won't be any spots in LH by then, especially on the 350. Additionally, has anyone told BA when offered SH that they only want LH and then been able to negotiate it?
Thank you in advance, John
I know the simple answer is to just wait until 1500 hours then do the sim but I'm worried there won't be any spots in LH by then, especially on the 350. Additionally, has anyone told BA when offered SH that they only want LH and then been able to negotiate it?
Thank you in advance, John
if you are really comfortable in your current airline , A350 bottom of the list will be an eye opening experience for you .