British Airways Direct Entry Pilot

[White Van Driver]

Originally Posted by iFunFlyer

A year on, what’s it like now?

And a general question. Would choosing to take up options such as training co-pilot or recruitment pilot reduce the number of trips?

yes any ground job will do that.

Recruitment gives 4.5hrs credit per day so a 3 day stint of interviewing will offset a Boston or Bahrain 3 day trip. Also pays a fixed amount per day to offset the lost flight pay and Allowances, though the amount hasn't been updated in years so is lagging behind somewhat.

Training copilots do training blocks, I'm not quite sure the details how it works but they'll do a period of time in the sim which attracts a daily credit in a similar way to Reserve or Annual Leave - so their flying commitment is proportionally reduced.

[BitMoreRightRudder]

Don’t bank on getting into recruitment to alleviate work/life balance problems. Not many spots and lots of applicants.

[AIMINGHIGH123]

Originally Posted by BitMoreRightRudder

Don’t bank on getting into recruitment to alleviate work/life balance problems. Not many spots and lots of applicants.

^^ 100%. A lot of applicants for these spots.
Yes sim FO is an option but it’s not a 5 min process. Few years at least I believe.

At the moment the best bet for work life balance is SH. Just over a year in and around 60% here. I’m getting a lot more trips that I bid for now and the guaranteed couple of days weekend days off is nice. LH don’t have that perk.
Part time would be your best bet.
Caveat as always is how long will this recruitment drive continue?
A few rumblings around recession appearing. Once the music stops we all know aviation belts get tightened pretty quick.

[doz111]

I appreciate this is probably dependant on the route polpularity and time of year, but generally is it possible and easy to take a partner or friend with you on a long haul trip, or is this just not really done much? What is the sort of process to do that if so?

[Speed_Trim_Fail]

Originally Posted by doz111

I appreciate this is probably dependant on the route polpularity and time of year, but generally is it possible and easy to take a partner or friend with you on a long haul trip, or is this just not really done much? What is the sort of process to do that if so?

Taking a “Cling On” is very common but exactly what is entails varies dramatically depending on destination.

[glidehigh]

Yes, very very common. Add them to your staff travel, book them on your flights. It’s very much the done thing on a decent length trip like LAX, LAS, SFO, GIG, CPT or even sometimes a slightly extended NYC layover!

[MarkNYC]

Visa sponsorship

Hi guys!

Had look further up the thread but didn’t find a definitive answer.

Has anyone who needs VISA sponsorship been offered a position recently?

Thanks!

[Kanukku]

HI Mark,

Yes BA has been successful in sponsoring Visas.

[MarkNYC]

Originally Posted by Kanukku

HI Mark,

Yes BA has been successful in sponsoring Visas.

thank you for your reply!

Do you know if they’re still sponsoring?

[GS-Alpha]

If you google BA pilot jobs and then click apply, you only need to answer the very first tick box question to find out all you need to know on this subject.

[halbeir]

If anyone could share up to date figures for a Y1 Direct Entry FO, SH or LH that would be much appreciated.

Currently grossing ~90k with another operator, with less than 1500hrs TT.

[White Van Driver]

Originally Posted by halbeir

If anyone could share up to date figures for a Y1 Direct Entry FO, SH or LH that would be much appreciated.

Currently grossing ~90k with another operator, with less than 1500hrs TT.

Y1 LH
​​​​​​71k basic
14k flight pay @800hrs
13k allowances
pension 6%/15% on basic

SH is nearly the same Y1 just a bit less allowances because the trips are shorter.

[Ali10]

Could I get the dm for capacity test too please.

Originally Posted by dakar613

Done.

Hi there, could you also dm me about the capacity test, I have mine next week and I’m preparing a lot for it. Thanks

[Ali10]

Originally Posted by UtburVusag

that great news glidehigh !
Thank you for the info.

I have booked a Crew Capacity test for 1 hours in LHR.

Is anybody in this phase?
Will these be only tests or will there be also an interview?

Thank you for your help!

hi there, hope it all went well and you are well. Could you give me feedback on your capacity test ? How it went, what it consisted of etc. if it’s easier please do me. Thank you

[Ali10]

Originally Posted by ycank

Just the capacity test. I will clarify this after this friday

hi there, any feedback ? I would really appreciate this, please do dm me. Thank you

[Barcli]

Originally Posted by papalovesjumbo

Normally I am considering to move my life completely to LHR if get the SH position but in long term 5-10 years with seniority plus maybe LH combined with 75% I was going to move to a warmer climate. If jumpseats and/or staff travel is a pain well it will be very difficult for me to consider living until retirement under English weather.

So why dont you apply to your own national airline ?

[Ali10]

Originally Posted by CaptainPilot2024

Hello everyone,

I’m going to be sitting the BA Crew capacity (eagle) technical assessment, for the whitetail/speedbird self sponsored pathway programme, to apply for a role as a First officer.

To anybody who has sat/knows about this test: Is there a joystick involved?

hi there, I’m in the same position as you currently , can you dm me on how it went ? Was it similar to the resources you used?

[papalovesjumbo]

Originally Posted by Barcli

So why dont you apply to your own national airline ?

I don’t really have one.

[papalovesjumbo]

Recently passed the Capacity test. Everything said previously in here was correct. There is also hand-eye coordination test which was very simple. Just flying an Airbus pfd maintain speed, heading, alt. Nothing to worry about. Practice if you want to make sure with skytest but take your time to read the intros to see the diffrence as by the time you pass they may change a lot.

Total actual test time is about 35 min, the rest just intro. So if you are coming from far, expect a quick turnaround.

Cheers

[Ali10]

Originally Posted by papalovesjumbo

Recently passed the Capacity test. Everything said previously in here was correct. There is also hand-eye coordination test which was very simple. Just flying an Airbus pfd maintain speed, heading, alt. Nothing to worry about. Practice if you want to make sure with skytest but take your time to read the intros to see the diffrence as by the time you pass they may change a lot.

Total actual test time is about 35 min, the rest just intro. So if you are coming from far, expect a quick turnaround.

Cheers

thanks for this .