Bex88
It wont take 35/40 years because any BMI pilot who is around 20 yrs old, and has that career ahead of them, would take the option to join the BA msl list asap and bid off after the intial freeze,
I am sure that regardless of the process agreed there will be some form of Ghost seniority numbers running in paralell so that is possible.

I'm sure they will take the command bridge into account. If a Year 12 FO from BA became a captain they would join Year 12 captains pay scale. If a yr 12 or 13,14,15 year FO from bmi became a captain they would join year 1 captain pay scale.

With this in mind most FO's will do better joining the bottom of the list. I think it's down to the pension!

Red7

I think your suggestion of being able to transfer to the ba MSL at the bottom is a good one and will be the option I would go for. At the moment very little is known other than if the individual is safe or not

Bex/red,

I've been told it will be a one time deal to transfer onto the MSL. May not be true, 'twas a very good source, but definitely worth having a think about.

I (and the BACC) couldn't agree more. The possibility for to have all on one MSL is waning. BA want a legally watertight solution and without agreement between the two CCs the simplest option for them is to maintain two separate pilot groups.


Apparently whether or not the option to voluntarily join the bottom of the BA MSL will be made available is undecided. The theory is that because any BMI pilot electing to join the bottom of the MSL would be doing so voluntarily that any possibility of subsequent legal challenge is negated. If BA management/legal cannot be 100% convinced that this is the case, then they may well decide to not provide the option to transfer at all.

Not a desirable outcome, certainly not what BA pilots wanted, but to be brutally honest, they'd not be much worse off than they are now.

I've heard that there is a deal on offer to prevent redundancies in Bmi, anyone know the details?

Its a mixture of offering unpaid leave and temporary part time to all bmi pilots to reduce the overall "virtual" headcount. If there are not enough takers then up to 6 unpaid days off will allocated to everybody to achieve the same result. Going to a vote but certain to be passed. Nice result which the bmiCC have achieved by working with the BA/IAG management.

The only fly in the ointment is that this only covers the 22 outstation based guys and not the (7?) trainers and all the management pilots, separate discussions are ongoing in their cases.

That is good news if it's true. I hope it does get passed.

The one thing you can be sure of is that BA will have got the numbers wrong and with the arrival of two new types next year I suspect that there will be plenty of work soon enough. The important thing is to get as many as possible through the door at this stage.

I've been listening to the BMI guys on the RT this week and have felt for them with all that has been going on. It's good to see and hear professionals at work. I hope that this period of uncertainty will soon be behind us and allow everyone to look forward to the challenge of integration. I suspect that there will be some more surprises both good and bad, although that is pure speculation on my part, not some insider knowledge.

Anyone who has ever done a course will know that it's best not to do it with any of life's major stressors going on in the background and that professionalism will stand you all in good stead. The BA trainers are good chaps in general but it would be a pity not to show your best because of outside distractions. Not sure how I would stand up to that test at the moment if I were in your shoes and I'm sure that that will be born in mind.

My advice, get in the door, get spat out on line and then worry about what else is going on. In the long run I hope that you all look back and accept that even if wasn't the best thing to happen, being taken over by BA, it wasn't as bad as you thought it was going to be.

Welcome aboard chaps

If this comes to fruition then that really is great news.

Sgt Wilson
 

Nice post - and a bit of good common sense.


Regards
Exeng

SGT Wilson,

I appreciate that.

I know there are a lot of us at Bmi who are apprehensive about joining BA and how we will be received. Most people, myself included just want to come across settle in, do our best and get on with it.

Hopefully 12 months from now it will be all done and dusted and we can try and get on with our lives and look to the future.

Sgt Wilson, What a super heartfelt, understanding post which I'm sure will be appreciated by many. Indeed there are some very serious issues for some to deal with at the moment especially with pensions etc, Again many thanks.

For CAT3C and all our soon to be colleagues,

That is exactly the spirit in which you will be received.

Like the Sgt said, welcome aboard , and I hope that your redundancy/pension woes get sorted in the best and most expeditious manner possible.

We look forward to seeing you all, thank you.

Max angle states: "Going to a vote but certain to be passed". I don`t hold that person`s optimism and arguable false hope. I`m also not sure of the legalities of forcing this on the approx 35% group that aren`t in Balpa. Good luck to all.

No-one has to join BALPA. A majority of BMI pilots are BALPA members. BALPA has collective bargaining rights for BMI.

- UK Government website.

Perhaps this link will help you, Fir Tree?

Some people view those who benefit from collective bargaining by a union (e.g. tax concessions, annual payrise) but do not help to pay for it with a union subscription, as freeloaders, but you will always get that in any society IMHO.

P.S. Could I add my welcome to the BMI guys, looking forward to seeing you!

Sorry fir tree. If you are not a member you don't get a vote. That's the down side to saving the 1%.

I'd be very surprised if BALPA Membership in BMI Mainline wasn't in excess of 90% now.

Saw somewhere else that BMI guys were doing visits at the CRC. The guys I saw looked very smart!!!:)

The vast majority of BA pilots look forward to flying with you guys and doing our best to help you integrate.

Obviously there are 'issues' about which we have very different views, but you will all find BA a great place to work. They are my third aviation employer (incl days wearing a growbag!) and they are a first rate employer!!

Anyone with misgivings after reading some of the garbage printed over the last few months - please take it with a huge pinch of salt. You will be very surprised at the reality that IS flying in BA.

All the best to you new joiners!:ok:

Maybe they got a look at the BA Uniform Guidelines :)

Thanks for the welcoming words