Are there any nice companies out there?
 

Are there any nice companies out there?

I am flying the Airbus in Asia right now, company is ok but I was just looking through many of the posts and it appears to me that there is no such thing as a nice airline for us pilots to work for....surely this can not be true can it?

Pilots are getting out of the gulf states, many flag carriers are tightening the screws....

Someone tell me that they work for a great company and tell me what you do and what the deal is....and of course the company.

Prove to me that happy pilots exist or should I be planning on getting out of this business in order to avoid a depressing future??

Looking for to your replies...

All depends on your outlook on life. There are always a hardcore of vociferous whingers in any company. Here's a place for some of them to congregate. ;)

There is no perfect job in any industry.

Personally I'm happy in easyJet. Home every night. Good pay packet, good crews and good aircraft.

VIRGIN.

If you are fortunate enough to get in.:ok:

Netjets Europe

Hi guys, can you tell us why Virgin and Netjets are nice ones :O ?!

Thanks Scottie, at last a breath of fresh air :ok:

Hi, SCOTTIE,

.........Home every night...........

You are on AIRBUS! Have you not been to: LGW, STN, EMA, MXP, BRS, MAD, SXF?:)

Cheers

Forgot: LIVERPOOL!

Virgin has to be one of the worst!
Agent Oringe keep taking the pills!

People have short memories. They forget that Virgin laid off 40% of it's flight deck crew overnight about five years ago!

Hi Dan,

well they shot from the hip and made the decision quicky. For me, the unpaid leave date kept changing, until i finally got the letter saying all was well and the job was safe.

It was a good job, no better or worse than here in the desert, and i enjoyed my time there.

Were you ex military...hercs maybe.

Rgds.

Dan

You took the words right out of my mouth, people do have very short memories.

MF 37.5

Hi Khaosi,

"well they shot from the hip and made the decision quicky."

Indeed, they had to. Although it wasn't apparent at the time, they were only a few days from going under it seems. I was one who got the letter, but like you my job was going to be safe as I was on the fleet that took no forced redundancies. I did actually get the letter to say my job was safe, but I had accepted another job and left.

So, I'm not bitter. I'm happy the way things turned out as I'm in a much better position now. However, some of those on the 340 and Classic fleets (several of which I work with now) do not have anything charitable to say about Virgin. I have been accused of being a bit of a Virgin 'knocker' on this site. I'm not really anti Virgin as they gave me a job straight out of the military (you got that bit correct, but not the aircraft type), a valuable type rating and a big redundancy payment. I just like to counter the 'everything with Virgin is brilliant' mentality that prevails on pprune, as no job is perfect - and having experienced Virgin, I can tell anyone that it isn't.

Sounds like we were both on the same fleet - we probably know each other!

I agree with you entirely, Dan.I was on the same fleet as you,and my projected redundancy date (which changed 9 times in 4 months) largely coincided with the due date of our first child.New baby-no job-no pressure there then!
I went back to the LoCos-quick command -great share options:ok: -home every night to see the binlids.Not everyone's cup of tea,but fine for now.

Glad I did the Vigrin thing, but don't think I really miss it....

Hi Dan,

Remember when we met up in Bahrain? I was with Air 2000 and you were still in the Air Force. Things have certainly changed over the years.

You're now ex-Virgin, enjoying life in the Sandpit and I'm ex Air 2000 and enjoying life in Virgin on the B744. Your posts and experiences are always welcome on here and you are right about not everything is huggy and fluffy perfect at Virgin. However, of the various airlines I have flown for, I must admit that life at Virgin is by far the most enjoyable.

Like anything in life, it is not perfect but as far as pay and conditions are concerned there is nowhere else for me to go. I love the lifestyle. I enjoyed the long haul when I was at Air 2000 on the B767 and I missed it when I was with Astraeus on the B737.

At the end of the day though, the question that started this thread can't be answered so simply as you have demonstrated. The fact that so few pilots actually leave Virgin is one factor that could explain why it is considered a good company to work for. The main one however is the lifestyle and the way we protect it through our strong Balpa representation.

For anyone else reading this thread and getting confused by some of the contradicting statements in the previous posts, you should really consider the fact that in reality, the grass is usually brown on both sides of the fence. What makes the difference though is the lifestyle, terms and conditions. How much time you get to spend doing the things you enjoy with your family. How fatigued you may be when you do get that time. How much you can afford to spend doing it.

Long haul isn't for everybody. At least at Virgin we do have an industrial agreement that limits us to 750 flight hours a year which, when reading about the hours that long haul pilots in some airlines work, is not something to be sniffed at. We also have a good benefits package and get to fly well equipped heavy metal.

Like anywhere else though, there are always things that we can complain about. That is why PPRuNe has become so popular. As we are not 9-5 office workers with the usual network of co-workers we get to gossip and compare our jobs and lifestyles on here.

Virgin is not the perfect company. There isn't one as far as I'm concerned but it is the best one I have ever flown for and, as far as I'm concerned, there is less brown grass on this side of the fence when compared to other airlines. That applies not only to my own personal experience but also the general perception I get from other pilots working for other airlines, including the main players in the Sandpit.

Maybe we'll get to meet up again downroute one of these days. Unfortunately the B744 doesn't do the Sandpit. Do you get to JFK, EWR, MIA, SFO or LAX?

define nice....what exactly are you after?

Thomsonfly is a good company. Having worked for a couple of other companies as well, I think it's well worth a try (unless you're looking for DEC positions).

Roster stability. Decent salary. The right to say NO to a roster change in excess of 2 hrs. Staff travel incl interline. Everything paid for. Overtime pays well. :ok:


Good luck!!!!

z3

Good vibes
 

What a joy to here some GOOD and POSITIVE comments, lets face it, the grass always SEEMS greener coz we ain't there. Thanks for the POSITIVE side folks.

I've always regarded British Airways highly; Good route network, Long haul and short-haul and a variety of aeroplanes to fly. Not something you get with Virgin or other airlines....

You can't win any where else, Short Haul is boring when your young (Party life!!), long haul is crap later in life when you have a family at home..... So my advice find a job that can offer you the choice i.e. BA and even the likes of Charters (Monarch A320/330 Thomas Cook A320/A330)..

Now what's bmi like..... :ouch:

Thanks guys and gals
 

Interesting comments from you all. What I am looking for is roster stability, nice salary and benefits and time to have a social life, basically, what we all want, but I accept the perfect airline does not exist as they vanished a decade or two ago. However, the amont of companies that seem to be taking the P out of pilots appears to be very high....I am from turbo-prop background and now just have a few hundred hours on the 320, the company I am with now is not what I was hoping for despite the location and if/when I move I want to make the right move - hence my original thread.
Virgin seems to be a big topic of conversation and to me the grass is certainly less brown there....too bad there are so many barriers to entry....BMI sounds nice too...anyone agree?

Hi Danny,

Not in the sandpit - about another 3000 miles east of Dubai! And as for meeting up for another beer or two, the closest I get to any of the VS 744 destiantions is Tokyo!

I meet up with mates in Virgin on their visits to my new home and things do seem better. Better pay, better rostering and it now looks like BALPA representation is having an effect. (In the dark days after 9/11 they just let the VCC get on with it with predicatble results). But the legendary party days of Virgin have gone forever.

The company was pretty naive prior to 9/11 - my contract looked like it had been penned by a 15 year old - and there was no redundancy policy. When the chips were down and redundancies were first announced in fleet, the workforce took a blow that will not be forgotten - even the irrepressable Scroggs had a few choice things to say about the company on the VOICE. And when negotiations progressed and redundancies were eventually decided on in seniority, a lot of people had already gone never to return and the company engineered keeping those on the 744 regardless of seniority.

For many in Virgin at that time, this won't be forgotten. For me, (even though being on the 744 and not actually being made forcibly redundant) it soured my opinion of the company. Also, the 744 lifestyle of 5 or 6 East Coast USA trips a month, the Gatwick reports, abuse of the Florida 2 variation and the apparently very long time to command meant I could no longer enjoy working for the only company I aspired to on leaving the military.

It's much better now, but not perfect!

Thomsonfly...

good pay, 600 hrs/year, mix of long/short haul, lots of leave, stable rosters, overtime options, interesting flying...

Although - thats only my experience on the 75/76 at MAN.

Im fairly sure the 73 guys work harder and that seems to be the future

Doobler

The good airlines are the ones where solidly supported unions hang on to the lifestyle areas. The other airlines offer cash only.

The good rapport airlines are the start ups, where management have to be good to crews to make the system work. And crews are good to management for the same reason. Everyone is grateful for a while.

My vote is for ThomsonFly and BA thanks to BALPA. Neither is perfect but I am still grateful.

Is this not all a bit of a subjective matter, and entirely down to what you make of your job and your employer? One particular outfit may be great for someone and a disaster for another? Or am I talking b.s.? Nothing can ever be perfect though, that's for sure!

hey..

I spent almost 2 years with Thomas Cook and couldn't have been happier. I am only speaking from one FOs point of view and as in any company there are probably plenty of people with more negative views who have suffered bad experiences!

I experienced the management as extremely approachable and helpful, sim checks were enjoyable and relaxed, the crews were to 99.9% a great bunch and my pay was almost double that of the large carrier I am working for now! If you take the 75% pay option and work summers only youre pretty much earning money for nothing :) It was hard to leave TCX and would recommend it as a fastastic option, if it hasnt changed since december!

DR

....over ten years with First Choice.

nice company, profitable year in year out, good T&C's and a good bunch of people to work with. :)

Thomsonfly
 

I'm 737 with thomsonfly and can highly recommend it !

Great pay, looks like a positive future (esp. with first choice merger in the pipeline), fairly stable roster, possibility of long haul (on the other fleet), able to sell days off, pension !, great Ts & Cs (BALPA representation is v high).

If you're looking for time off, I've flown 18 flights in 2007 and not had to use up any of my 42 days leave allowance ! However, if you want to work, 700+ hours is available.

The new aircraft arriving (737-800s) are great and NO AIRBUS !!!

As with every company, there are the usual complaints within but they are mostly small issues that mean nothing or pure rumor !

IanFly, If you are not hung up on living on the "mainland" you could always comeover here to the land of a thousand welcomes, the Emerald Isle. Aer Lingus is currently recruiting and if you are an experienced 320 pilot all the better! The pay conditions etc are all pretty good(though under attack by management all the time - whats new). PM me if you want more details. I caution you that promotion is not quick, though that may change depemding on the EU transport ministers vote tomorrow.
Regards,

Saint Patrick:ok:

Nice airline companies to work for?

Well yes, when you consider...

Signed the original short term contract on October 26, last year.
Didn't report for duty until November 23rd.
Started flying December 4th.
Flying ended January 28th, 2007
Contract ended February 28th, 2007

Paid BIG bucks for the whole time, plus a substantial bonus at the end.
Aircraft?
Lockheed L1011.

You see folks, there are not many of us L10 guys left, and we are appreciated, especially when we don't break the airplane.

411A I guess you need that big L1011 Cockpit for your Zimmerframe:{

Nice airline companies to work for?

ryanair!:E

Nice to read a full thread without people slagging each other off.


Can't add to this post as I work for the worst airline in Europe, with the worst terms and conditions.......should be easy enough to guess which one.

Slightly confused by your post easymoney - your profile says Malaysia but you work for the worst airline in Europe. Are you referring to Ryanair? Anyhoo, I'd just like to fly the flag for Loganair - I've enjoyed every minute of the flying (with a few exceptions, mainly night landings at LSI when it's gusting 50) and the skipper's salary keeps me and the wife in a fairly comfortable manner. Great people (mainly) and always look forward to work. Don't get me started on the recruitment policy though.....

The future for cockpit crews will continue to be challenged by further erosion of quality of life standards; relentless downward pressure on pay, benefits, and reasonable duty periods. We are becoming blue collar bus/truck drivers [with wings]. The drivers at Ryan Air already are having to pay for their coffee. :eek:

pleiades, the simple answer is yes!

Before you come to FR see if you can sign up to repaweb.org and just have a little look at how good a company Fr is to work for!!!!:ugh:

Also check out this post http://www.pprune.org/forums/showthread.php?t=269385

Should give you a fairly good idea of what is currently happening here!

But back to the topic at hand, I have a friend working for TFly, he highly recommends it. I'd be off there myself, but I feel I really should stay at FR for the upcoming fight! Bring it on.:}

Profile updated Tubbs, sorry about the confusion....and it was not that hard to guess which company.

Will be sticking around to try and make Ryanair a better place to work. Maybe will be able to come back here and post about what a good company I work for......but not today I'm afraid.

Have friends in BA, Aer Lingus and Easy who are happy with their lot.....must be Union Representation, seems to be the common denominator when you are looking for happiness within.

Would be very surprised if you were to get a genuine reply adding FR to the list of good companies to work for.

Judus ewe
 

Dont
Waste your time on this jerk. He is working in a store waiting to get his first job in the middle of the Aussie outback. If you can call it that. He hasn’t worked a day in his life.

Petty cash missing, charging overtime for his fishing expeditions and putting SH:mad: on his workmates. The guy cant even fly a 206. He purchased a few units from Masey Uni. He is the typical ‘TAKER’ that thinks he will climb the corporate ladder by stepping on the very people that helped him to start with.

Ignore me at your own risk. If he gets the job guess who will be the one who dobs you in for charging your phone at work.

Just by chance, if the company accountant gave you $300 for a Xmass party and you only put $100 up for the lads and then admitted to keeping some of the proceeds (Beer) at your house. Pocketing every cent of the balance to feed you girlfriends ‘Party Pill’ fetish. how popular do you think you would be?

Don’t get me wrong we don’t want him here if you do he is all yours.

DOGS,.,,,,, FLEAS,,,,,, its up to you.

Sorry-am I missing something?What the hell is this about?

HyaenasPT6 can you just confirm you are talking about pleiades and not me! Don't think that was entirely obvious from your post. I know you weren't as I've never been anywhere near the outback of Oz, but just to clear things up.

Plus, however bad someone may be I don't think pprune is the appropriate place to vent your frustrations, you might get yourself in a bit of bother.:sad:

This thread has been quite enlightening so far, just to see what people think about their employers, so back to the topic at hand:

Are there any other good airlines out there?

It depends !
 

Whether an employer is good or not depends on your 'wants and needs' !

I know people that love BA simply due to the job security and the oportunity to move to long haul flying in the future but also know others that have actually turned down BA to stay with Easyjet having been offered a long haul job.

I know for a fact that thomsonfly (AKA Britannia) is a great company to work for and (if young) BA is a good company to join if you are happy to wait 20 years to gain a command or any respect as a pilot.

Thomsonfly currently (on the 75/767) operate a great mix of short and long haul as do BA but also offer the 737, which has it's own advantages of being home each day and (compared to the 75/767 fleet) rapid command.
With BA, the conditions are slowly deteriorating (unlike T'fly) and time to command is well towards it's way to 20 years irrespective of your fleet.

I am happy to be corrected by anyone that KNOWS better but I believe Thomsonfly (with the backing of TUI and if the first choice merger goes through) to be the best company to work for at the moment in the UK, possibly even Europe !

Nice to hear some positive words about the world of aviation for a change:D