Thank you for your considered and expert review of the company and life in general here. Was it originally written in crayon?

TC,
Apples and oranges regarding SQ and DAL. Delta is trying to dominate the higher-yield business traveler segment between the UK and States. Why have Delta recently added VS flights between LHR and its Detroit and Atlanta hubs? London is a business traveller Mecca and Delta knows it and it leverages coveted VS slots at LHR. Delta probably have the smartest managers in the business and VS should hopefully benefit.

Now back to the VS recruiting thread....

I've heard recruitment is now active again....

B787 Rated and Non Type Rated First Officers

Minimum requirements:

• 2500 hours total flying time
• 2000 hours on Turbojet aircraft over 40 tonnes maximum take-off weight.
• Preference will be given to qualified candidates with current Boeing 787 or 777 type ratings with 1000 hours on type.
• You must hold a current UK Class one Medical and a full EASA ATPL licence (UK issue).
• You should be able to demonstrate a high level of fluency in English (ICAO level 6 English Proficiency).
• You will also have the unrestricted right to live and work in the UK.

Apply online

Thanks for the heads up re: recruitment!

I am considering applying, but before I waste their time, would somebody mind answering a few questions.

1. Are the figures on PPJN accurate? (£69089)

2. I understand these figures inc a fixed flying allowance. Am I correct assuming that the pension contributions are only based on the basic salary? If so, how much of the quoted figure is basic vs flight pay?

3. Somewhere in the 40 odd pages that I just read, somebody mentioned an upcoming retirement bulge. Is this assessment accurate? And will it significantly affect the 10-12 years quoted for a shot at command?

4. How is the flight deck environment for an FO in general? Are you in general left to your own devices, and allowed to "run the show" on your sector?

5. How many handling sectors might one get on an average month?

Sorry for so many questions.

PP

I'll give it a try....

1. Yes that's bang on as of our last pay rise which contrary to popular belief was July 15 and part of the 2014 pay deal. It's a £3000 increment in year two then approx £1500 per year thereafter.

2. Yes it does include a fixed flying allowance but no that's not correct. Your TOTAL pay is pensionable and you get paid that full amount (including 'flying' pay) irrespective of how many hours you fly. Your salary doesn't go up and down depending on how busy a month you have. Obviously your subsistence allowances aren't considered in the total figure and are not pensionable.

3. Yes there is a retirement bulge coming up but I have no idea how it'll affect command times other than they'll come down. It depends on uptake of part time and future expansion but I have heard it may dip below 10yrs. I really wouldn't bank on that however. It's currently running at approx 11yrs.

4. Yeah it's good with a cockpit gradient you'd expect for a UK airline. FOs are actively encouraged to make the decisions on their sector and most captains are fully aware of the experience the majority of new guys have when they join. A lot of them have far more command time than I do for instance.

5. Depends on the fleet you're on and what trips you do. Minimum zero, maximum 5.


Good luck if you apply.

What he said :ok:

Thank you very much for the replies!!

Hopefully I will see you on the line :)

I was wondering if your initial salary for year 1 was dependent to your total time ? Does it increase per the number of hours you have ? Or is it fix at 69000 for everyone?

Average how much subsistence allowances do you get per month ?

Thanks

Salary is the same figure for everyone. Allowances (paid in US$) circa $1000 which are obviously variable depending on the time spent down route.

Ok stupid question time which is clearly a requirement but if you hold a non UK issue EASA license but will convert it, unable before the closing date however, is it worth applying and clicking yes at the moment for the type of license held?

What became of the once much talked about holding pool then? Where there not 10+ swimmers in it? I presume the plug has been pulled as they were non rated or did they all find alternative arrangements?

If you have, say a French EASA licence and tick yes to possessing a UK CAA Issued licence, you are effectivly lying, and therefore will be treated accordingly were you to make it further along the application process.

Best to start the transfer of competent authority now, and re apply in 6 months.
The will be recruiting again, once a bunch of guys go to BA.

It Will take about 3 months min for CAA to process, approve and re issued.

However, you could always say yes and hope it takes Virgin 6 months to get around to contacting you, like most airlines in the UK. :ugh:

Like most of UK airlines, VS requires a CAA UK issued license.

There is no legal obligation to require this (even if they have spell it out, on their OM A chapter 5, the requirement for crew to have a CAA UK license) but they choose deliberately to request one.

On the contrary, and I am surprise that their legal dep does not advise them promptly on this matter, this is a blunt and ILLEGAL (for UK and EU laws) discrimination.

Problem is, nobody challenge it. So, airlines get away with this crap. And some other crap. But you know what your fellow collegues would tell you? if you do not like do not apply/leave.

We are pussy. And they know it.

Seems a tad silly. Preference given to 777 / 787 rated individuals, it benefits them more than it does the pilots to allow a licence transfer. I can't envision a large market of UK licence holders looking for a job with those ratings. Most out in the ME transfer their licence. NLH financially tie their pilots down for several years, and chances are most aren't on a UK licence.

I'd hazard a guess and presume they mean that should you be offered a position, you would be required to convert to a UK issued EASA licence if you don't have one already. While I don't want to get into why they ask this, I will say the majority of airlines ask the same, for example RYR ask for Irish, EJ/BA/VAA all ask for UK.....What I would say is, it'd be unreasonable with that in mind that people convert their licence from a non UK issued one just so they can tick that box when applying for VAA- and potentially jeopardise their position with their current airline, as well as spending time on money on a licence conversion they most likely won't need if unsuccessful with Virgin...

The Crew

Probably a daft question but why would VS pilots jump to BA when on a Cathy Forum there is this;

Has the starting salary increased a lot in the last couple of years? Last time I checked (couple of years ago) I believe it was in the low 50's.

Just curios VJW why you think applying for a UK issued EASA would jeapodise their current position with their employer? All that is required is listed on the CAA portal. If there are no current UK TREs in their company they would have to pay externally for an LST if the triple or 78 were not on their pre existing JAR licence.
The requirement for a UK issued EASA License is a Part.FCL.TRTO requirement now. I believe it is all in CAP 804.

Whatever reason VAA requires someone to have a UK issued licence is the same reason an Irish company might require their pilots to have an Irish licence. So in my situation for example, my TRE at my next simulator might wonder why I now have an English licence when 6 months I had an Irish one...
Sorry was/is that not obvious?