I did use the search function to try to obtain an answer to this question, but to no avail.

Does anyone have any experience of commuting from mainland Europe on the LHR short haul roster?

I would be particulary keen to hear from anyone with relatively low seniority.

Thanks very much.

FLR,

Lots of pilots commute on the SH roster from places such as France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland, Belgium (???) and even further afield! It is quite common in the RHS and quite easily achieveable. There are rafts of 'rooms', guesthouse and hotel accomodation details on the notice board in the T5 CRC for the required nightstop prior to an early report (0600 ish).

On SH, if you join quickly and move up quickly, Bidline is your friend and can allow you to 'block' work up into packages which allow you control over your commuting and lifestyle. If you want to commute then get your foot in the door as seniority will be even more important to you than your peers.

Good luck.

Thanks very much Wirbelsturm. Appreciate the info.

Is there any kind of commuting agreement between the pilots and the company? Or will I need to buy a confirmed seat every time I commute?

Also, are there any restrictions on rest periods after a commute? For example, if you had a 1230 report could you commute in the morning, or would it have to be the night before?

Considering the ratings criteria for the latest round of recruitment and speculation on here regarding the retirement of the 73s in a few years, would it be a fair assumption that those with a 737 rating looking to apply for BA have missed the boat?

FLR,

I'm not a commuter personally so I couldn't give you facts but I can assure you that I, personally, will not leave with an empty jumpseat and staff pax on the jetty! There is a great system for texting/contacting and e-mailing each other with reference to Jumpseats and also the checking system Crewlink also has a J/S request system.

FLR

Answering as a commuter I reckon the company are fairly "grown up" about this and don't ask too many questions. In return they of course expect you to report on time, be rested enough to perform your rostered duty and if required any legal extension to the same. Claiming you can't extend a duty simply because of an early/long commute will not earn brownie points.

There is a company requirement that one should consider making alternative arrangements for accommodation near base if your journey time from home exceeds 90 minutes. Interpret that as you see fit ;)

Paypoint 1 (same for long and shorthaul) is £49085. This is accurate as of about 2 weeks ago and factors in our latest pay rise.

Allowances vary wildly depending on the type of work you do - if bid to do few nightstops on the 737 it could be £8000/year, someone who does lots of trips on the A320 at LHR may get close to £13000. Allowances are taxed at a low rate, but the flip side is that you'll spend more on nightstops (hence the allowances!).

BTW, you can bid to do nightstops/trips at LGW, there are much fewer of them though so you simply won't get as many. Also, based on the past 6/7 years, overtime at LGW has been harder to come by, at LHR much more is available.

Commuting:

I have it in my mind that the CAA gets a bit excited about anyone who takes longer than 1 hour and 30 minutes to get to work (if they find out).

Has recruitment for 737 stopped, have all 40 or so places been filled?

If one was to get into the holding pool in the next 2 months (rated on the 737) what would happen i.e. stay in pool until 737 pilot was required?

Yes it has. Basic pay and allowances increased in last couple of weeks in accordance with our (very well) negotiated pay rise.

Shorthaul FO's pay points increase at just over £1,900 per year, longhaul at over £2,600 per year.
SH FO basic tops out at £93,000, LH FO basic at £110,000

Yeah but are new joiners getting the payrise???

Out of interest of course I'm not gonna give up my job offer if we don't lol..

Why on earth wouldn't they?
We only have 1 set of pay scales.

Starter pay is now £49,085 for new FOs, long or shorthaul. It will go up by 1900 each year shorthaul / 2600 longhaul. For example if you've done 5 years, FO basic has risen to £58633 shorthaul, £62266 longhaul.

To this you can add allowances - something between 12-15k shorthaul depending on how many nightstops you do and a few k more longhaul. Its the same hourly rate for everyone, just a reflection that you're generally away more longhaul of course. Basic is taxed like any regular UK salary whereas for allowances its about 20% tax as you're considered out of the UK for most of it.

All above figures gross. Hope this helps.

PS If you still want more, overtime is available. I've added about £800/month to takehome for the last year or so by doing an extra 3 days/month. Worked pretty hard for it though.

Any news on the 737 hold pool. Is it beginning to fill up or are people still getting calls for start dates?

Minima to apply?

Out of interest, does the 767 count as long haul or short haul for the pay scale purposes as this fleet appears to have a foot in each camp?!?
I'm getting excited now as my induction paperwork dropped through the letterbox this morning. :)

767 is considered medium haul. The increment applied is set once a year and is based on the predicted number of airframes operating with a club world configuration going forward.

This process has just run its course and, following the sale of the 757's, the 767 has moved into the 'upper medium haul' range. This puts the fleet increment more or less in the long haul range (think it's about £2400-£2500 per year), and is appied retrospectivley i.e It's not just your next increment that goes up by the higher amount but all previous increments as well (makes for a decent additional payrise).

Obviously it's also possible for this figure to go down (making for a decent pay cut!!), but for now, this would seem unlikely.

Enjoy the fleet it's a good-un, relativley small and very friendly.

Hi,

I know it has been mentioned somewhere in the thread but can t find the info anymore even when using the "search this thread" function. Can someone confirm that the only aptitude test aside of verbal and numerical reasoning is the capacity test?
Is it still just controlling the shaky cross at first, then subtractions come in, pull the trigger if any incorrect, then colored shapes......? or did any of it change?

Thanks!

Yep, just the capacity test, exactly as it was before, if you've been through it before.

On the day:
Group excercise.
Interview
Numerical and verbal reasoning
Capacity Test
Unassessed Q&A with some line pilots.

thanks! :ok: