Try this thread for starters. There are many more, if you try a search. This is a link to our recruiting website.

Scroggs

thanks folks!


well what they say on the web site is 2500 h in total.

No gut´s no glory...

cheeers

Virgin Atlantic Pension Info.
 

Boring I know, Virgin pay 15% towards pension. Can anyone tell me 15% of what? Basic, pensionable, gross?

And I have the pay scales from PPJN, how do the increments work, how long from base to top of scale RHS and LHS.

Thanks in advance, FT.

Virgin Atlantic will pay pension contributions on 100% of your gross pay, including profit-related pay and any overtime or trainers pay earned. However, you must contribute a minimum 6% of your pay before Virgin will contribute the full 15%.

Pay increments are 2% annually. There are 16 F/O increments and 14 Captain increments.

Virgin Atlantic -- pay Vs. other Carriers
 

Over here in the US there is a lot of anti Branson talk claiming that he pays pilots too little etc. etc.

For those of you working at VS -- any of this true? I have flown VS and seen their crews many a times at LHR. They seem to be pretty thrilled and content with the company.

Thrilled, No. Content, Yes.

We're probably just below BA and slightly better than all the independents when it comes to pay and benefits.

We're still a long way from the packages offered by any of the Loss-making, Chapter 11, US based carriers though.

Virgin Atlantic -- pay Vs. other Carriers
 

well this is my first message but i think i have an answer for this.Branson has highly criticised chapter 11 as "the easy way for US airlines to avoid paying their debts and being legally protected as well".I think the guy is right.Thats the reason for all these rumors in the states.Btw i dont work for VS but as a citizen of the EU i am getting sick with these stupid american stuff.

I imagine Shanwick is probably about right regarding pay etc. However, it is widely rumoured on the BA side of the fence that our hours requirement is greater than VS. We can, (and some do!) work close to the 900hr per year limit. I believe VS are contracted for fewer hours, so probably overall, their package may well just edge it.

I won't even begin to incorporate the 'fun factor', though it is difficult to imagine an organisation with less 'fun' than BA at the moment!

For a new joiner to longhaul, VS possibly wins over BA at the moment.

In Australia mate,

The Virgin boys and girls get paid less then the Qantas guys too...

A fair bit less.

Aussie

Well, if you're not happy...leave!

DEC at Virgin-Atlantic
 

Does anyone here have information that Virgin Attlantic London is hiring DEC unrated directly for A340? Will a B737 rating be ok?

Croc,

Virgin does not hire direct entry captains for either fleet, there are plenty of SFO's with with sufficiant experience within the company, many of whom have been waiting for years for a command and lots of prospective F/O's in the hold pool to replace them. Sorry!

By the way I see from your byline that you are US based, you would need an JAA ATPL to work in the UK. If you have one then providing you have the right to live and work in the UK you could apply to Virgin as an F/O. A 737 rating would be perfectly acceptable, there are loads of ex 737 drivers in the company, myself included.

Good luck

What about Virgin Nigeria as DEC or as F/O on A340?
Does somebody have any news, thanks.:)

Virgin Atlantic does not hire DECs. Forget the idea, it won't happen.

Virgin Nigeria does hire DECs. This link should help, but is down as I write. As far as I remember, A340 DECs at VK must already have command experience on the A340 or A330.

Scroggs

I think its only airbus time they need, not specifically A340

Virgin Atlantic
 

or Virgin Nigeria? Not really interested to work in Nigeria. Just heard that a former colleague with a 737 rating got a job as A340 PIC. However, I fully understand, if there are plenty of qualified FO's then there is no need to hire DEC's.

I would appreciate is somebody could give me information on Virgin Nigeria First Officer, no airbus time.Thanks in advance.:)

Read through this lot. You may find an answer there. As for people getting A340 commands with only 737 experience, I certainly bloody hope not!

Scroggs

Am sure the commanders currently flying for Virgin Nigeria on the B733 fleet, will not be too happy with you coming to fly for them (i.e. going directly to the A340). I heard the CP at Virgin Nigeria, flies the B733 and holds a JAA licence ! All (almost) the foreign crew on the A340 working for Virgin Nigeria have A340 on their JAA license. All B733 crew flying for Virgin Nigeria have been enrolled on the Bristol course, and should start taking the exams very soon for the conversion to JAA.

Oba Idan Amani

I know of people with only 737 and 320 command hrs getting direct left hand seat at Virgin Nigeria.
As for them only taking guys that currently hold 340 ratings, I dont think they can be that picky at the moment...
Lots of guys currently doing 340 sim training at Gecat at the mo.

Just my two pence worth though...

Virgin Interview
 

Hi there,
does anybody know,what the virgin atlantic interview is like?Do they perform an assessment center and so on?
Would be great,if anybody could tell me something about it.Thanks,
marssurfer

Are you a wannabe or an experienced airline pilot?

Experienced.10500 tt

Same here! I´ve searched through most threads mentioned by Scroggs, but no real info about the selection itself. PPJN mentions the following: Any more info regarding this? What would be a good way to prepare?

Unfortunately I have not been invited for an interview yet, however VS is my number one choice and I will get there!
Appreciate any additional info please, PM me if you wish! :ok:

p.s. I have airline experience with 3500 hours TT, including 1300 hours jet. (B737 and A319)

The assessment day is not too bad. I was one of 6 guys on my assessment day. You have a straightforward Tech paper, which is really just a time filler while each 1 of the 6 leaves the room for their interview - they openly allow you to confer with eachother. There's a psychometric test (shapes, numeric reasoning etc.) which is not too difficult but you don't have much time to complete it. The interview is 3 to 1 (I had 2 management pilots and a lady from Human Resources). Not too stressful - some tech stuff from the pilots, questions like "what would you do in xyz emergency scenario". Then HR lady asks you about yourself and career history (she has your cv in front of her covered in highlighter pen to make sure you're not bullsh*tting). Finally, there's a PF16 personality profilling paper (for which there's no right or wrong answer - you just have to be truthful).
I'm 40 and was lined up to do a command at my last Co., so I had to convince them I wanted Virgin for the right reasons - lifestyle etc.
Hope this helps :ok:

Great! Thanks Greenfinch! That was exactly the info I was looking for!

Did you get in?

Hi,

Does anybody know if Virgin currently are taking people in for interview?

Have had my application in for a while, but haven't heard anything yet.
(3500 hours total, 1500 hours jet)

Kind regards,
Great2fly

Virgin Hold Pool
 

Anyone currently in the hold pool?

Yes, Virgin is interviewing. There are many, many applicants; not all (in fact, far from a majority) will get an interview. Far fewer will get a job (about 140 in 2005, probably a similar number in 2006). Luck, inevitably, will play a part.

Scroggs

iBus,

Yes, I got in - currently doing my '340 training. Best of luck with your application. From what I've seen so far you won't regret it if you get in - seems to be a really excellent company !

Cheers,

Greenfinch :ok:

Excellent! Good luck on the iBus 340! :ok:

Many thanks iBus. :ok:

flying for VIRGIN
 

Could anyone please let me know the terms and conditions etc for VIRGIN.
Interested in flight deck (Airbus). Routes, standby etc. Are you enjoying the experience?
Thank you

Yes, Im enjoying it! :)

If you do a quick search you'll find tons of stuff on VS's T&Cs. Scroggs has made some good postings on the subject.

thanks, did search and got info, sounds good.:)

Scroggs,

What is the average time to command for a joining F/O? Does previous command experience feature in the equation?

Thanks for any feedback.

MFALK

I would imagine around 8-10 years. Previous command experience does not get you any further up the list. Believe minimum hours for command are 6000, with 250 hours credit given for each year in Virgin up to a maximum of 1000 credit. With 8-10 years in the right hand seat most will easily achieve that 6000 hours. That said, there are far worse places to spend your time in the right hand seat!

Thanks for info exvicar. :)

Command time is primarily dependent on the rate of expansion of the airline. Retirements are relatively few as yet (Virgin has a fairly young pilot population), and it's quite likely that, before long, captains will retain their command until 65. Few people leave for other reasons. Therefore the primary source of new left-hand-seats is new aeroplanes!

At the moment, VS is taking, on average, three or four new aircraft a year, net. Some years more, some less. That rate looks set to continue over the next few years. Whether the company will continue to expand at this rate (>10% pa) is moot, but common sense would suggest that it can't continue indefinitely. At the current crewing ratio, and taking all other factors into account, VS needs about 40-50 new captains a year. There are around 400 FOs on line, so the maths is fairly straightforward - at the moment!

Looking at BA, whose fleet strength is static at the moment (and has been for some time), longhaul commands would seem to be around 23+ years right now, give or take a bit. It's therefore reasonable to suggest that VS time to command will tend in that direction as the airline gets bigger, and the proportional effect of three or four new aircraft a year decreases. The airline is forecast to be double its 2003 strength by 2012 (or thereabouts!); by then I would expect command for new entrants to take around 13 years. But who really knows? ;)

Scroggs