Ryanair - how many hours/month in the winter and from which base?
 

Dear all,

I was wondering how many flight hours I can expect in the winters (and summers) and what are the big-lots-of-flying (STN?) and somewhat small-little-flying (Skavsta?) bases?

It may sound strange: but I would like a base with little flying (because of some personal reasons).... and I know Ryanair is sh%t, you most likely don't get the base you requested for and they pay for the exact hours/month you fly,, but please just try to answer my questions if you are willing so.....

Thanks!

you are right, you don't pick your base they do, would flying little work for you on a 5/3 base with no time to commute home? i.e. not a lot of money and no time at home and stuck in some shi**y base?

as for hours, 30-70 in winter months,,,,, 70-100 in summer months

any smaller base will = less flying in winter due having crewing for summer schedule and less flights/aircraft operating in winter.

bigger bases pull in floaters and temp based crews in summer to ramp up crewing numbers so will be a bit busier in the winter than the smaller bases as its down to the core crew.

summer 2012 is gonna be BUSY everywhere.

I see your point. And may I ask you which bases do work with the 5/3 pattern? I thought this was only in the summer and in the winter all the bases have 5/4..

Anyway I know the money isn't great if I fly little but I don't really have a choice at the moment so I was wondering which bases are quite small > so less flying (especially in the winters).

How long is a piece of string? My figures for each year, through each season has always been different but my end of the year average has always been similar. 700-750ish.

Zero - good points and I don't disagree with you. The only thing I would question is the assertion that 2012 Summer will be busy everywhere. This seems to be the general line of thinking in the Company. I am a bit puzzled though as to where this is coming from. We have the Olympics in the UK - but 95% of the tickets have been sold to UK residents. Tourists would, in my opinion, do very well to stay away from London during that period and from what I read, tourism in London is actually forecast to drop during that period. We are in the middle of a Eurozone economic crisis. So... Can anyone shed any light on where these people are going to be flying to and from...?
The only possible positive is if the Greeks extricate themselves from the Euro and everything suddenly becomes very cheap there. And Ryanair hardly fly to Greece!

Probably Londoners going somewhere else during the Olympics;)

Small little flying Skavsta base, 60 - 70 hours per month in winter, 80 - 90 hours per month in summer.

That's around 700 at the lowest end of your estimate. Not bad, though could be better. I had comparable in a smaller base, but this year I'm on nearly the same hours already.

Uk based and have flown 730 hours since April 1st of this year.

Uk base, 580hrs since 1st April. Massive 17hrs in Nov and technically 2 months "unpaid leave" still to take.

500hrs from 1st April. Already had my month OFF and flying a whopping 20 hours in December. 50% of that is one flight.

Thank you all for your inputs!! I REALLY appreciate it.. if there are any other FR guys here who are willing to help me out even more: PLEASE do so!

Best wishes for ''12 everybody!

786hrs in last 12 months (includes the month off and 10 days off). As mentioned, they somehow manage to keep everyone around 750pa on average. That's been consistent in the 3yrs figures I have here. That's as an FO, Capts are a little higher as they are a more limited resource here ;-) and are likely to become more in demand this year. Cadets are churned through at 400 per year and with expansion stopping I expect that 750hrs per yr to drop significantly. As an old BRK contract holder the after tax pay is not great, and a reduction of say a 100hrs a year is not going to be good. The new BRK contracts are even worse! Hence I am looking to the sand.

My honest advice would be to hold back for 5yrs and get yourself some job experience elsewhere (not as a pilot) its a great reassurance to have another career to fall back on or continue whilst you are flying, and you won't worry so much about the rug being pulled from underneath you. If only more would hold back then terms might improve in order to draw more in. Unfortunately, this job still has the glamour tag for a lot and so many are willing to splash out over 70k for training and then 30k for a type to get in quick. Not realising that the vast majority will never earn more than 60k pa, IF they make it to the LHS.

But, as you said, you actually want a small number of hours flying. So this should suit you. But don't expect a lot of free time, as you will prob just be on SBY ;-)
Good luck.

THANKS Kernow 101!

Any chance if you could tell me from which bases even less hours are flown? Pisa? Faro? Palma? Any chance of getting these less popular bases if you request so? I guess the majority wants EGSS (for the hours) et cetera.

THANKS!

I know things aren't great these days but I would have to say this would be a net, after tax figure. As a comparison, many people would happily pay 100K for a business that would give them a return of 60K net a year, and work bl##dy hard for it.

One thing that the guys who are joining now must factor is time to command. Even with rates of attrition increasing, time to command will increase. The airline can still be, and probably always will be, considered as being 'top heavy' with guys of low experience. The general consensus amongst trainers is that there is a huge gulf in experience rates, especially due to the high number of command ready FOs who have left. With the airline becoming more and more seasonal and with their relentless pursuit of the SSTR package (around the 300 per annum mark I believe), flying hours will drop in the majority of places. The expansion is all but over with very little deliveries left (these are mostly replacement frames). Ryanair is a very different ship, in terms of prospects, to the one that I joined. It's worth considering if you believe 700-750 hours per annum and four years to command is still in your outlook. Going forward, it's very unlikely.