British Airways Direct Entry Pilot
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 250
Likes: 14
From: UK
Seniority is everything at BA.
The bottom of the seniority A320 LHS isn’t worth it to me. If you want busy blocks of work out of base for 3/4/5 days at a time it’s great.
IMO the 320 has the largest gradient in seniority from the bottom to the top. It’s like night and day and why many (like myself) are happy to stay RHS for a while.
The bottom of the seniority A320 LHS isn’t worth it to me. If you want busy blocks of work out of base for 3/4/5 days at a time it’s great.
IMO the 320 has the largest gradient in seniority from the bottom to the top. It’s like night and day and why many (like myself) are happy to stay RHS for a while.
Joined: Nov 2023
Posts: 11
Likes: 0
From: Portugal
Hi Phil! I’ve heard that Skytest or LatestPilotJobs are quite similar (not sure which one is better). I’m currently preparing for the Eagle test as well, so if anyone can confirm, I’d really appreciate it!
Joined: Sep 2021
Posts: 13
Likes: 2
From: VO
I used LPJ for my eagle test in Jan and it serves its purpose of giving an idea of what to expect.
Joined: May 2024
Posts: 20
Likes: 0
From: UK
Life as a junior FO
Hi, don't want to clog up the thread so I was wondering if any junior 320 FO's at either LHR or LGW could please DM me as I have a few general questions to ask about life at BA. I am not entering through the DEP route, rather in the future as a cadet through SPA. Thank you very much in advance!
Joined: Jan 2025
Aviation Qualifications: SLF
Posts: 166
Likes: 137
From: Mars
How realistic is it to pair high credit trips together to maximise days off on the bottom of the 787 seniority list? This is for commuting purposes. How many consecutive off days would be realistic using this method if it was your sole bidding priority? Thanks
Last edited by bda321; 22nd April 2025 at 11:57.
Joined: Mar 2025
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: Oslo
Anyone else currently awaiting their result and would like to connect?
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 22
Likes: 1
From: UK
The 777 has a wider variety of trips you can bid to pair together, including most USA east coast trips as a back to back eg. 3 day JFK immediately followed by another 3 day JFK/EWR/YYZ/BOS etc with no day off in between. These pairings are available alongside the likes of DXB/ABV/JNB/CPT/DOH/BAH. You'd typically end up with 4-5 days off after such a rotation.
Joined: Apr 2025
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: Budapest
Hey guys
Im not a BA or LH pilot either, so I dont really have an actual insight, but reading through this thread I find many people saying it can be tiring with junior triple rosters for example.
(They have every right to do say this, though. It is certainly hard work. Its still only my curiousity thats writing this. + I might want to join at a later stage since my countries flag carrier is non-existant anymore
)
So basically my question is 5.5 legs a month that bad? I mean basically they are 6-8 hour long sectors with two pilots if Im correct. You get a layover after that, then back to base and two/three days off. So the actual working days would be 10-15.
With a LCC even if you are fixed 5/4 you will be doing 4 sector really long 10-12+ hour days. I mean, 1-2 am finish 7pm report time the same day.
Even with taking jet lag and other factors into account, I still think it is much easier than any other flying job.
But I want to see from someone who actually does it.
It is worth pointing out that this is MY opinion therefore yours does not have to match. I have never ever done it, so I dont have an actual insight as I said. Thats why I am asking this, so please dont take this offensively, because it is not at all.
Clear skies to everyone!
Im not a BA or LH pilot either, so I dont really have an actual insight, but reading through this thread I find many people saying it can be tiring with junior triple rosters for example.
(They have every right to do say this, though. It is certainly hard work. Its still only my curiousity thats writing this. + I might want to join at a later stage since my countries flag carrier is non-existant anymore
)So basically my question is 5.5 legs a month that bad? I mean basically they are 6-8 hour long sectors with two pilots if Im correct. You get a layover after that, then back to base and two/three days off. So the actual working days would be 10-15.
With a LCC even if you are fixed 5/4 you will be doing 4 sector really long 10-12+ hour days. I mean, 1-2 am finish 7pm report time the same day.
Even with taking jet lag and other factors into account, I still think it is much easier than any other flying job.
But I want to see from someone who actually does it.
It is worth pointing out that this is MY opinion therefore yours does not have to match. I have never ever done it, so I dont have an actual insight as I said. Thats why I am asking this, so please dont take this offensively, because it is not at all.
Clear skies to everyone!
Last edited by hungarianbusdriver; 22nd April 2025 at 22:00.
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 6,726
Likes: 103
From: The Winchester
Hey guys
Im not a BA or LH pilot either, so I dont really have an actual insight, but reading through this thread I find many people complaining about the fatigue etc with junior triple rosters for example.
(They have every right to do so, though. Its still only my curiousity thats writing this. + I might want to join at a later stage since my countries flag carrier is non-existant anymore )
So basically my question is 5.5 legs a month that bad? I mean basically they are 6-8 hour long sectors with two pilots if Im correct. You get a layover after that, then back to base and two/three days off. So the actual working days would be 10-15.
With a LCC even if you are fixed 5/4 you will be doing 4 sector really long 10-12+ hour days. I mean, 1-2 am finish 7pm report time the same day.
Even with taking jet lag and other factors into account, I still think it is much easier than any other flying job.
But I want to see from someone who actually does it.
It is worth pointing out that this is MY opinion therefore yours does not have to match. I have never ever done it, so I dont have an actual insight as I said. Thats why I am asking this, so please dont take this offensively, because it is not at all.
Clear skies to everyone!
Im not a BA or LH pilot either, so I dont really have an actual insight, but reading through this thread I find many people complaining about the fatigue etc with junior triple rosters for example.
(They have every right to do so, though. Its still only my curiousity thats writing this. + I might want to join at a later stage since my countries flag carrier is non-existant anymore
)So basically my question is 5.5 legs a month that bad? I mean basically they are 6-8 hour long sectors with two pilots if Im correct. You get a layover after that, then back to base and two/three days off. So the actual working days would be 10-15.
With a LCC even if you are fixed 5/4 you will be doing 4 sector really long 10-12+ hour days. I mean, 1-2 am finish 7pm report time the same day.
Even with taking jet lag and other factors into account, I still think it is much easier than any other flying job.
But I want to see from someone who actually does it.
It is worth pointing out that this is MY opinion therefore yours does not have to match. I have never ever done it, so I dont have an actual insight as I said. Thats why I am asking this, so please dont take this offensively, because it is not at all.
Clear skies to everyone!
Just to be clear I assume your “ 5.5 “legs” is 11 sectors….
Typically if that’s a roster heavy in eastern seaboard work that’s:
a day shift westbound, night off,
late PM local report for an overnight eastbound…
two days at base then:
another day shift out of base, night off,
overnight eastbound back….
and keep rinsing and repeating…
I agree it maybe doesn’t look like that many days work on the calendar, but the swinging from day shift- night shift -day shift- night etc very very quickly gets very very very tiring….so no it’s certainly not easy.
Hope that helps with the insight.
Joined: Apr 2025
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: Budapest
Thank you, it does help with the insight. I see your point, even tho I did not say its easy.
Every kind of job is hard in its own way, all has its perks and downsides. As of now I think that would suit me better, but who knows maybe I will say something different after trying it
Every kind of job is hard in its own way, all has its perks and downsides. As of now I think that would suit me better, but who knows maybe I will say something different after trying it
Joined: Jan 2025
Aviation Qualifications: SLF
Posts: 166
Likes: 137
From: Mars
Through a combination of bidding, swaps/open time, you'd manage it every now and then, although best not to be fully reliant on it at the bottom of the list.
The 777 has a wider variety of trips you can bid to pair together, including most USA east coast trips as a back to back eg. 3 day JFK immediately followed by another 3 day JFK/EWR/YYZ/BOS etc with no day off in between. These pairings are available alongside the likes of DXB/ABV/JNB/CPT/DOH/BAH. You'd typically end up with 4-5 days off after such a rotation.
The 777 has a wider variety of trips you can bid to pair together, including most USA east coast trips as a back to back eg. 3 day JFK immediately followed by another 3 day JFK/EWR/YYZ/BOS etc with no day off in between. These pairings are available alongside the likes of DXB/ABV/JNB/CPT/DOH/BAH. You'd typically end up with 4-5 days off after such a rotation.
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 182
Likes: 29
From: where I lay my hat
It does surprise me the precipitous seniority related gradient for pay and QoL at BA has persisted so long under UK employment law, given the successful tribunal claims which have bankrupted councils around the country from employees who claim unequal pay and terms for doing equal work/value added (and even more so given that NY and the like are both the most junior and the most profitable routes. The council workers shuffing paper or a bit of light cleaning 9-5 in a nice warm office, were judged equal with bin workers out in the rain at crack of sparrows, and freezing cold and knackered warehouse workers, so equating a junior FO doing 5, even 6, east coasts a month, with other sitting by the pool in Rio, and flying far less for more money, should be an open and shut case)! It is amazing that >2 year junior bods haven't already made a claim for back pay (6 years?), which would be both very lucrative for them, cost BA an absolute fortune, and bring the seniority and pay scale legacy tumbling down.
Last edited by midnight cruiser; 23rd April 2025 at 08:08.
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 954
Likes: 64
From: england
Just to clarify the fatiguing nature of those 777 junior trips, it may not be clear that they are 2 pilot across the Atlantic. I appreciate some other airlines mandate 3 pilots, but you will have at least 5 nights out of bed a month in BA on the 777.
Joined: Apr 2025
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: Budapest
Thank you midnight driver
I just thought that moving from an lcc to such a big legacy airline could be a breath of fresh air. Turns out its not really. So yeah it really needs proper consideration.
Less pay, the same or even more fatigueous rosters, just to be on the seniority list. After quite some time you have some control over it. Then you get your LHS just to start over with it. That means in my case by the time I would be in my fifties with better salary and maybe a decent roster. And then who knows what will happen in 20-25 years...
I just thought that moving from an lcc to such a big legacy airline could be a breath of fresh air. Turns out its not really. So yeah it really needs proper consideration.
Less pay, the same or even more fatigueous rosters, just to be on the seniority list. After quite some time you have some control over it. Then you get your LHS just to start over with it. That means in my case by the time I would be in my fifties with better salary and maybe a decent roster. And then who knows what will happen in 20-25 years...
Joined: Apr 2025
Posts: 1
Likes: 0
From: uk
Hey guys
Im not a BA or LH pilot either, so I dont really have an actual insight, but reading through this thread I find many people saying it can be tiring with junior triple rosters for example.
(They have every right to do say this, though. It is certainly hard work. Its still only my curiousity thats writing this. + I might want to join at a later stage since my countries flag carrier is non-existant anymore )
So basically my question is 5.5 legs a month that bad? I mean basically they are 6-8 hour long sectors with two pilots if Im correct. You get a layover after that, then back to base and two/three days off. So the actual working days would be 10-15.
With a LCC even if you are fixed 5/4 you will be doing 4 sector really long 10-12+ hour days. I mean, 1-2 am finish 7pm report time the same day.
Even with taking jet lag and other factors into account, I still think it is much easier than any other flying job.
But I want to see from someone who actually does it.
It is worth pointing out that this is MY opinion therefore yours does not have to match. I have never ever done it, so I dont have an actual insight as I said. Thats why I am asking this, so please dont take this offensively, because it is not at all.
Clear skies to everyone!
Im not a BA or LH pilot either, so I dont really have an actual insight, but reading through this thread I find many people saying it can be tiring with junior triple rosters for example.
(They have every right to do say this, though. It is certainly hard work. Its still only my curiousity thats writing this. + I might want to join at a later stage since my countries flag carrier is non-existant anymore
)So basically my question is 5.5 legs a month that bad? I mean basically they are 6-8 hour long sectors with two pilots if Im correct. You get a layover after that, then back to base and two/three days off. So the actual working days would be 10-15.
With a LCC even if you are fixed 5/4 you will be doing 4 sector really long 10-12+ hour days. I mean, 1-2 am finish 7pm report time the same day.
Even with taking jet lag and other factors into account, I still think it is much easier than any other flying job.
But I want to see from someone who actually does it.
It is worth pointing out that this is MY opinion therefore yours does not have to match. I have never ever done it, so I dont have an actual insight as I said. Thats why I am asking this, so please dont take this offensively, because it is not at all.
Clear skies to everyone!
Just to add to the tiring aspect of the flying. At the bottom of the 777 roster you will be doing 5-6 trips a month and majority 3 day trips either to east coast USA or Middle east/India. Nearly all of those flights are mid morning/midday report, day flights. 24 hours off and then night flight back 2 crew. If you commute to work, that night flight back means that potentially you could have woken up in New York at 7am on a Monday, had some fun in NYC, reported for work to fly back departing at 7pm (12 hours after waking up in NYC), 6 hour flight back landing at 6-8am UK time, then your flight/commute back (20-24 hours awake sometimes). Now its midday UK Tuesday time so you need to have a quick nap and then hold on until 8pm that night to get a big night of sleep. 2 days off and back at it again. The pay I've been shown is good for an FO in the UK.
In reality its not as bad as above as controlled rest is a big part of mitigation and also napping downroute before report. You will definitely learn ways to cope but I just wanted to showcase how it can be.
Joined: Dec 2016
Posts: 122
Likes: 27
From: World
Joined: Feb 2013
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 154
Likes: 7
From: London
The posts above illustrate why being senior is now more important to many people than a pay rise, even quite a significant pay rise. Twas oft said that being a senior first officer on long haul was the best job you'll ever have and - notwithstanding the last few golden years of your command if you are lucky - this has never been truer. Once you get into the top half of a seniority list on long haul, or possibly slightly higher, you can start to compress your work into smaller periods with at least 3 crew on every trip. On months with lower work levels this can mean you only do 12-14 days at work a month and of those you're never 2 crew across the Atlantic. On months when you have leave or discharge a modest amount of bank you can work this can easily reduce to 8-9 days. This has all been compounded by the introduction of JSS of course.
It's little wonder that LHS 320 is now more junior than anything else. And plenty of people will, I would wager, delay their move to the LHS even on a LH fleet because of the detrimental impact to their lifestyle & health.
It's little wonder that LHS 320 is now more junior than anything else. And plenty of people will, I would wager, delay their move to the LHS even on a LH fleet because of the detrimental impact to their lifestyle & health.