So are BA recruiting?
 

BA Recruitment

"We are currently recruiting British Airways Pilots through our Direct Entry Pilot Scheme."

It says they are recruiting but there doesnt seem to be anywhere on the page linked to an online application?

Are they recruiting or am I missing something here?

They are not currently recruiting. That webpage has obviously not been updated in a while.

Thanks veetwo :ok:

But the slots they've acquired through BMI will ultimately be released for long haul (more profit) and hence 777/787?/A380 ops will require a lot more crew and so the gates will open once again and the whole industry starts to move.....

I doubt that finding enough pilots will be a great issue for BA.

Ah yes, sorry. What will happen to the current swimmers after the 18 months? Hopefully you guys don't have to go back to the beginning!

If ever there was a better example of a culture of waste, then look no further than BA's recruitment policies! :ouch:

I couldn’t agree with you more Mr Horgy. After dropping out the pool last time I sympathise with all hold poolers. I still can’t believe LCand the recruitment team are saying you have to do the whole thing again. They havejust taken on 300 people without any form of selection yet the poolers once again are the ones who have to come back and do it all again! Must be cost effective. :ugh:That’s BA for you!

It’s a great industry!! Good luck to those swimming.

Took 300 without any hoop jumping. Yet the other 140 from that same company are not considered worthy of anything. Not even a half decent redundancy package.:mad::mad::mad:

Oh do shut up and stop being silly.

No, that's a consequence of the (Industrial) Law of the land "for you"!

I'm sure the bean counters would have loved to have laid off 300 existing pilots on BMI T&Cs and recruited 300 DEPS on pay point 1 but AFAIK the relevant legislation doesn't allow that course of action in the UK.

If you're talking about BMI Baby - don't blame BA - whilst there is sympathy for their position by fellow pilots - they were never part of the offer.

Good luck to you all.

Shaun Ryder, I'm guessing you are BMI, Congrats on the interview and sim check. You nailed them both. Well played:D

The BMI baby guys I do feel for you. I ended up in the desert when the pool was disbanded last time. I hope you guys find something soon.

Presumably the "logic" behind the 18 months is that you may not go near an aircraft after your successful entry into the pool - so 18 months down the line you may be a very different product from the one they interviewed/assessed.

Of the course the counter to that is if you've been flying regularly then....... What's the problem? It can only be a personality check.

Well you could just ask them!

The guys at selection stated that they made no apology for the toughness and thoroughness of the selection day because once a pilot joins BA there is no further interview towards command, just a wait in a long queue. If the "command interview" is valid for 20 years, why not for 18 months +1 day?

I know, not my train set...

The 18 months and your out rule is very strange. I see the logic from BA's side but if someone passed selection and is then outside the 18 months why not pull them back in for a interview and quick sim check based on position within the pool? Must be so disappointing for the hold poolers

The 300 odd bmi pilots who got in without doing the selection process...... Well let's just say there is a very demanding 18 day conversion course with multiple exams and hours and hours of sim work then the LOE, LPC/OPC to do before you are really in. Be under no illusion that it is a free ride into BA. If you don't make the grade you will be out and I understand there have been some casualties. On a personal note I would hope that when recruitment does re open that consideration would be given to baby guys and girls.

I don't think it's quite as bad as City Flyer suggests and as I was glued to the DEP thread when I was in the pool, I feel I should pass on murmurings I've heard from very informed sources. It seems there MAY be plans for DEP courses early-ish in the new year and in conjunction with the cadet courses. Please bear in mind it's only what I've been told and may change but with a 3-month lead-in for contract issue that could mean good news at the back end of the year for some. I hope this is true for everyones sake and I hope this helps. Good luck to all.

No courses from the hold pool "probably". That's assuming every BMI pilot makes the grade.

As Bex said in his~(her?) very reasonable post, the conversion course is not a free ride. The vast majority of people will get through, but a small number will walk into the sunset, so to speak.

Errr....BA might never have wanted them, but they became part of the package when Lufthansa were not able to dispose of the airline.

We'll never know what would have happened had BA pilots made more noise about the matter....

:\

Now you really are being silly!!

Didn't hear much noise from the bmi mainline pilots either.
The only way BA could have been persuaded to take on the baby crews would have been to give BA concessions of a significant amount otherwise it would have been just that, noise.

The only noise I hear these days is " I don't like the way part time is done in BA so I'll stay in my bmi TUPE bubble".

There is the odd clown coming through at Cranebank. Oh joy here comes another one...

18 months is already an extension beyond the standard 12 months for hold poolers. Perhaps there is also the issue of currency. An applicant out of work and unfortunately no longer in current flying practice may not have touched the controls in nearly two years by the time they reach ba. The applicant increasingly becomes a training risk as the clock ticks (they will pass, but how many sim sessions that are not available in the system will it take?). I'm sure there are many other factors.

The vast majority of DEP applicants coming from any of the quality established UK jet operators would probably pass the OCC, as have the BMI guys/gals. However by my calculation over 90% of DEP applicants fail the selection process at some stage. They can train most pilots to operate an airbus/boeing 'the BA way' but have they got what it takes to be a BA captain one day? Only time can tell.

Sorry SR71 - but with BA Shorthaul pilots having to offer productivity increases of ~5% and less leave, just to bring BMI mainline into the fold, can you imagine what further concessions BA would have expected from the ranks, in order to type rate the BMI baby pilots.

Sorry, I will reiterate, you guys have my sympathy but in stark economic terms, it was a non-starter.

Spider man, its a fair point. I am trying to defend a position of 300 or so bmi pilots and forever being tagged with you did not pass selection. They are still having to prove their worth and ability to be a future or current BA captain. The OCC has not been without casualty and they are all being assessed by BA, all be it in a different way from the usual route.

Your analysis is simplistic Sean.

How much did it cost to make them all redundant?

How many of them wanted to come to BA?

How many of them needed ratings?

When would they have been happy to commence their employment with the company?

We'll never know...

:E

Well we have a nine month period in which if we are still unemployed we will get an interview(that's a guaranteed interview) for any positions that BA recruit for, six months if your employed.

And I believe that we have preference over others in the hold pool, that is what I was led to believe by the HR bod in my consultation. Nine months is a long time!

I will believe it when I see it in writing though:*

If BA see someone who passed selection 15 months ago as suitable, but then, post 15 months, see's them as unsuitable and a training 'risk', then, is that not a failing for BA's management with regard to their confidence in their own inbred training department..?

Hate to say this but if you don't like the BA way, do yourself an emotional favour and don't apply. The world doesn't owe anyone anything, go out an earn it!!! You'll feel better about yourself that way.

I would imagine that all costs were met by the discount applied to the sale of the BMI group by Lufthansa when they failed to sell Regional or Baby.
BA (contrary to popular belief) ain't dim. If they don't want something, they won't pay for it.

I'll shall bow out of this rather circular argument and wish all BMI baby pilots all the best.

SR71,
BA didn't want or need Baby pilots bmi mainline had more pilots than required So the simplistic Q?is what concessions BA would have required of the BA pilot community.
Not sure how you'd persuade BA pilots to take a pay cut in order to bring another companies pilots into the fold.
Perhaps the Q should have been asked of the bmi CC if you have bmi contracts . They negotiated with BA to keep outstations and training pilots on.
Additionally some hold poolers and City Express pilots would not have been happy.

I love all this 'if they make the grade...'.

Surely if you are a bmi pilot who passes a CAA LPC, with bmi - you can pass a BA LPC ?

Any 'astronaut' from BA care to tell me the difference ?

There have been one or 2 failures of BMI P1's transferring over. So no, possession of a BMI command is not always sufficient...

Good to see that good old superior attitude being demonstrated on here. keep it up chaps ;)

Right Engine,

One wonders how many bmi P1's have been sending pictures of their willy to all and sundry recently?

:E

sudden twang,

IAG may not have wanted all kinds of things but, as it stands, they had certain legal obligations when they bought the bmi Group.

Again, Sean Dell missed the point. Arguably, IAG want the Lufthansa discount for themselves, but they're paying to make bmibaby pilots redundant.

The contention is that it is costing them more to make bmibaby pilots redundant than it would cost to offer, the small fraction of them who would like, jobs at BA....at any reasonable time in the future. What is the time frame that applies in a redundancy situation at BA amongst the various employee groups?

This doesn't need to cost BA pilots a penny.

SR71,
The contention was about BA pilots shouting louder at BA to bring Baby pilots on board.
If as you suggest it's cheaper to keep them ( and I find that questionable) then they must have other reasons. I'm not party to them and that's a discussion for you and others.

I noted BALPA wished to pressurise BA into offering available positions to the baby pilots.

However there are no available positions, although some rumour exists with regards to positions being available from Q2 2013. This remains unconfirmed.

So what is the suggestion? Further time invested in 'recruiting' the baby guys through the standard two day BA assessment or integration into BA without assessment? Is this a case of being offered an interview and assessment for an available position or immediate access to a position when it becomes available?

Why has this turned into yet another bmi/bmi baby thread, it's getting a bit tiring. Whats the outlook for people waiting on stage 2 or people in the hold pool? Im not sure why I'm asking I lost hope ages ago.

The BA / BMI integration may not happen now because some of the former BMI 'part-time' pilots are considering not signing up for the integration deal because their BMI TUPE T&Cs are more favourable.

This means that BA pilots who gave up 2 days leave a year and 10% productivity changes in order to save their (BMI pilots) jobs will have to work harder so that 50% part-time BMI pilots can keep their 6 weeks leave per year whilst their 50% part-time BA colleagues only get 3 weeks? Nice!