Leaving BA (C32L)
Joined: Sep 2023
Posts: 36
Likes: 12
From: HMP Slade
Wow.
I fly global long haul for the only other 777 operator in the UK. Car park is right outside the office, just off the M1. On and off the jet within 15 minutes. Loads joined within the the last couple of years as F/O's and are now LHS. Plenty of training job opportunities and you can live in way better places than Windsor. Open your eyes folks.
Why wait for the good stuff?
I fly global long haul for the only other 777 operator in the UK. Car park is right outside the office, just off the M1. On and off the jet within 15 minutes. Loads joined within the the last couple of years as F/O's and are now LHS. Plenty of training job opportunities and you can live in way better places than Windsor. Open your eyes folks.
Why wait for the good stuff?
Joined: Mar 1999
Posts: 991
Likes: 128
From: big green wheely bin
Wow.
I fly global long haul for the only other 777 operator in the UK. Car park is right outside the office, just off the M1. On and off the jet within 15 minutes. Loads joined within the the last couple of years as F/O's and are now LHS. Plenty of training job opportunities and you can live in way better places than Windsor. Open your eyes folks.
Why wait for the good stuff?
I fly global long haul for the only other 777 operator in the UK. Car park is right outside the office, just off the M1. On and off the jet within 15 minutes. Loads joined within the the last couple of years as F/O's and are now LHS. Plenty of training job opportunities and you can live in way better places than Windsor. Open your eyes folks.
Why wait for the good stuff?
Joined: Mar 2018
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 544
Likes: 110
From: U.K.
Joined: Jan 2009
Posts: 70
Likes: 5
From: UK
I can take the night flights to see different places….have a lot of ex colleagues at DHL and here the same comments it’s a fun place but the route network is tedious
Joined: Mar 2018
Aviation Qualifications: ATPL
Posts: 544
Likes: 110
From: U.K.
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 130
Likes: 11
From: UK
Do seniority based roster practices actually make BA a tough place to work?
It looks like there's a small group at the top who will have a good life, a large group in the middle who have it OK but may not want to move seat or fleet due to negative consequences and a group at the bottom who have a pretty gruelling time.
Other than the small group at the top I can't see who wins out this. Management will have a workforce that isn't flexible and pilots may pass over opportunities they may otherwise take as it would make their life harder.
It looks like there's a small group at the top who will have a good life, a large group in the middle who have it OK but may not want to move seat or fleet due to negative consequences and a group at the bottom who have a pretty gruelling time.
Other than the small group at the top I can't see who wins out this. Management will have a workforce that isn't flexible and pilots may pass over opportunities they may otherwise take as it would make their life harder.
Joined: Aug 2002
Posts: 898
Likes: 73
From: UK
I am very happy at BA and am middle seniority within my fleet. Everyone I fly with is also happy, ranging from very senior to very junior. We all like to have a whinge about something, but I have not yet met a pilot on my fleet who is genuinely unhappy. Your mate has been in the company for 18 years. No one sticks with the same company that long if they are not happy there.
Joined: Mar 2024
Posts: 7
Likes: 8
From: UK
Joined: Dec 2007
Posts: 1,233
Likes: 83
From: N/A
Wow.
I fly global long haul for the only other 777 operator in the UK. Car park is right outside the office, just off the M1. On and off the jet within 15 minutes. Loads joined within the the last couple of years as F/O's and are now LHS. Plenty of training job opportunities and you can live in way better places than Windsor. Open your eyes folks.
Why wait for the good stuff?
I fly global long haul for the only other 777 operator in the UK. Car park is right outside the office, just off the M1. On and off the jet within 15 minutes. Loads joined within the the last couple of years as F/O's and are now LHS. Plenty of training job opportunities and you can live in way better places than Windsor. Open your eyes folks.
Why wait for the good stuff?
Joined: Dec 2008
Posts: 919
Likes: 6
From: uk
FWIW from someone recently retired, not BA, but at one point worked a brutal SH roster with a young family and a fairly long commute. For me, Part Time was the initial answer and permanent PT Long haul was the best answer. I was 75% by age 48 and 50% going into the last few years. This lifestyle gets no easier as you get older and money is not everything, you can't buy the missed years back with your children and partner. As for leaving BA, unless something has seriously changed in the industry, still the nearest to a job for life and not to be given up lightly, especially after such a long period of pilot shortages and plentiful jobs. It won't always be that way and very few flying jobs are worse than being unemployed. Best of luck
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 67
Likes: 1
From: Planet earth
Hi All,
Currently C32L, very, very strongly considering leaving and heading off elsewhere, have successful apps in at other U.K outfits. Is this insane? I left LCC and came to BA bright eyed and bushy tailed, however, after finally getting into the left hand seat, it's been a very disenchanting experience. Lots of you will talk about pay, or rosters, the pay isn't the be all and end all for me, and I'm too busy doing blocks of multiple sector days to believe the rosters here are worse than anywhere else. Unfortunately it does not seem like I'm alone in this, as there are at least 5 C32L fellows I know working their notice to go elsewhere, mostly LCCs and even one to a Long Haul LCC.
I have a young family, and not being able to afford to live in Windsor, I am slumming it most nights in the Premier Inn and eating at McDonalds across the road between commutes, and the lifestyle is wearing me out. I, personally, am so incredibly disappointed with life at BA, and while many find it amazing, I am frankly finding the whole place draining and unsustainable, my energy is zapped before I've even got to the CRC.
Any advice is considered helpful.
Currently C32L, very, very strongly considering leaving and heading off elsewhere, have successful apps in at other U.K outfits. Is this insane? I left LCC and came to BA bright eyed and bushy tailed, however, after finally getting into the left hand seat, it's been a very disenchanting experience. Lots of you will talk about pay, or rosters, the pay isn't the be all and end all for me, and I'm too busy doing blocks of multiple sector days to believe the rosters here are worse than anywhere else. Unfortunately it does not seem like I'm alone in this, as there are at least 5 C32L fellows I know working their notice to go elsewhere, mostly LCCs and even one to a Long Haul LCC.
I have a young family, and not being able to afford to live in Windsor, I am slumming it most nights in the Premier Inn and eating at McDonalds across the road between commutes, and the lifestyle is wearing me out. I, personally, am so incredibly disappointed with life at BA, and while many find it amazing, I am frankly finding the whole place draining and unsustainable, my energy is zapped before I've even got to the CRC.
Any advice is considered helpful.
Maybe another question needs to be answered; Is this industry for you anymore? There is no shame in wanting something else in life. After Covid I have a surprisingly high number of old colleagues and friends who have left the industry. From what I can gather, 2/3 of them are very happy with that decision. Especially those with kids.
Just a thought....
Joined: Feb 2019
Posts: 22
Likes: 5
From: UK
I feel like I have heard your kind of story from friends in many different airlines. Both legacy and LCC.
Maybe another question needs to be answered; Is this industry for you anymore? There is no shame in wanting something else in life. After Covid I have a surprisingly high number of old colleagues and friends who have left the industry. From what I can gather, 2/3 of them are very happy with that decision. Especially those with kids.
Just a thought....
Maybe another question needs to be answered; Is this industry for you anymore? There is no shame in wanting something else in life. After Covid I have a surprisingly high number of old colleagues and friends who have left the industry. From what I can gather, 2/3 of them are very happy with that decision. Especially those with kids.
Just a thought....
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 115
Likes: 0
From: UK
To do what? This is one of the themes behind 'Breaking Bad'. A man confronted by an unforeseen threat needs to rise against deadly odds with whatever means he has... A Nietzsche quote: "He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how." - And I have seen it with guys losing medicals and getting stuck in to other things, small businesses, writing, safety audits, trades (...and enjoying the change of direction). It is well worth reflecting on just how lucrative and rewarding the career path (and attendant lifestyle) is... BA offers a lifestyle along with the terms and conditions that seems to work very well for many people, part time might give sight of that. Good luck.
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 67
Likes: 1
From: Planet earth
Leave the industry to do what though? Many pilots have no degree (or a degree that has sat unused for years) and no work experience outside of the flight deck. It’s not as if there are many (any?) careers that you can step into having been a pilot that have similar earning potential, or anywhere close to it.
Personally I would go part time (as much as you can afford) and see if that helps.
Best of luck either way.
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 1,852
Likes: 352
From: UK
FWIW from someone recently retired, not BA, but at one point worked a brutal SH roster with a young family and a fairly long commute. For me, Part Time was the initial answer and permanent PT Long haul was the best answer. I was 75% by age 48 and 50% going into the last few years. This lifestyle gets no easier as you get older and money is not everything, you can't buy the missed years back with your children and partner. As for leaving BA, unless something has seriously changed in the industry, still the nearest to a job for life and not to be given up lightly, especially after such a long period of pilot shortages and plentiful jobs. It won't always be that way and very few flying jobs are worse than being unemployed. Best of luck
Everyone circumstances are different. But I hazard to guess a couple of kids your PT at an earlier point.
We're modern day coal miners. The job is hazardous to our health, we're unionised but that only helps the extremes, we're regulated but they are paid for by the employers so not much use. Like coal mining we all know the hazards to our health.