TF Open Day
 

So what did those who went make of todays TF pilot open day.

The sell seemed to be you will work hardish when in work but end up with a decent amount of days off / month, more secure than some of the other low cost carriers and better lifestyle protection?

Hi RMC,

I assume from your post that you went to the open day. Did they give any indication which fleets they are after DECs for? I would have assumed it was for the 737 but mention of fleet was distinctly absent from the Flight advert and also the website. Also did they mention time to long haul for experienced long haul DECs?

Thanks

Munkeh

They're looking for 737 DECs. Bases to be "oop north" to begin with - Doncaster, Manchester, Newcastle with southern bases to follow - Luton, Gatwick, Cardiff. Bournemouth is very popular with existing pilots so the chances of getting a Bournemouth basing are very slim.

You'd probably join at a northern base and move down south later if you bid for it. Base bid takes place twice a year.

They have run out of co-pilots to promote, it seems.

If you are not already 737-rated, they propose to reduce your salary by £2000 p.a. for 5 years as a "contribution to training costs". Courses at CTC or in Germany with Hapag-LLoyd.

They also want people with training experience as they wish to re-establish their own training set-up.

HTH,

WS

M - WW has it spot on.....major requirement Doncaster (current requirement from other bases but this may change during the training period).

Thanks Guys! Personally I think they were a bit cheeky not stating that the requirement for Direct Entry Captains was for the 737 fleet only. I suspect they'll have a lot of 757/767 people wasting their time applying when a bit more information in the advert or on the application website would have saved them the effort. The absence of this information was so conspicuous that I presumed they were keeping their options open and reserving the right to employ DECs onto the 757/767 if they wished. Was this option ruled out entirely?

The 737 fleet is expanding. The 757 fleet is shrinking. There are more than enough F/O's within the company for the 75/76 left hand seats.

If you were misled thats a shame. But the website does say...

If anyone gets a direct entry Captain job on the 757/767 there will be a few eye brows raised.

MAX:cool:

OK, cheeky may not be the right word, misleading would be more appropriate.

Don't get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with the 737 at all but some pilots, myself included, prefer a bit of longhaul in their lifestyle. Thomsonfly is a long haul operator and has advertised for Direct Entry Captains. I have the required type ratings and experience and was curious so have recently applied although in light of this information I am no longer interested. If they slot me in for an assessment, I'll turn it down which will have been a waste of my time and theirs that's all. It's hardly a big problem but I can't believe they didn't think of this when they wrote the advert. A friend of mine who works for them certainly noticed the lack of "737" in the ad and was a bit surprised - maybe that was their intention? By the way Max, I did read what the website said and that particular quote was immediately beneath the First Officer section (which did mention the 737) so I don't think it makes it any the less ambiguous.

Oh well, no problem. We all know what the vacancies are now.

M- I didnt actually go (working) but had a full debrief from a couple of mates who did and ,as mentioned above, it was 737 DEC only. Seniority (rightly) is king and they are only bringing in DECs from outside as they have run out of people who wish to transfer internally from the 757/767. My application will be going in this weekend...it seems they have a better lifestyle/T&C balance than any of the other Comanies currently recruiting DECs.