BA?
 

Without wishing to sound like a stuck record, has anybody in BA heard of any recent DEP rumours? Last time I asked the same question; a few of you had heard on various SEP days that things might be firing up again in 2014, just wondered if this was a now a serious consideration? Surely the cadet hiring binge can't go on indefinitely?

Hi,

The results of the yearly fleet bidding process should be released within the next couple of weeks. Only then will BA know where the slots/gaps will be in the comming year and where recruitment needs to be targeted.

The first cadets, those who started the recruitment process in autumn 2011, start their type ratings in the next 4 weeks or so. All the cadets will be going onto short haul at LHR or LGW. If there is a requirement for any longhaul pilots these will have to come from from outside of the cadet ranks.

Whether there will be such a requirement however, is another question, and I have no idea of the answer.

sorry!

Thanks very much. Yes somebody else told me about a system called 'Casandra' which predicts a shortfall on any given fleet. I know two people, however, one on the Trippler and another on the Bus and they're working very hard.

That's because it's the way BA want it. They have been granting a great deal of Short Term Unpaid Leave. (the key word being 'unpaid'!) in order to save money. should they wish to increase the number of available pilots, one assumes they will simply cancel this arrangement.

Up to (and including) 2016, out of a workforce of 3700-3800, only twenty six pilots will hit 65. In BA, virtually nobody retires voluntarily before then. Please feel free to draw your own conclusions!

Edited to add: There is an unspoken assumption in the above that 65 remains the compulsory retirement age. That may prove to be a poor assumption. Bear in mind also that the average age of BA's most senior 1000 captains is currently less than 52.

BA, yawn - after jumping through the hoops already I have no interest spending any money to drown in that particular pool. Fool me once.....

Unfortunately a few poor sods have had to suffer the indignation of death by drowning twice in the space of 4 years!

BA will have no end of applicants for future DEP positions. I can't see them getting overly excited if previous 'poolers' fail to reapply. There is no guarantee that they'd be invited to assessment, pass said assessment or even find themselves with a position. I see your point I suppose

I'm trying but what is wrong with your pension if you have to stay on to 65? I'm LoCo and retiring at 60!

Errr...Life's pretty good in BA at the top of the list. Nothing to do with the pension.

Phensocks....in loco...I'd be gone at 55!

So are the rumours mentioning 2014 unfounded?

Recruitment is unlikely next year.

2015 at the earliest is my best guess!

The retirement age was extended to 65 on 1/10/2006. Therefore the oldest pilot in BA is currently just approaching his/her 62nd birthday (anyone older would have been forced to retire at 55). The relatively small number of retirements in 2016 is because there are only three months left in which people attain 65. In subsequent years the normal retirement rate will resume.

Until they change the rules again, here in Australia a pilot can now fly as long as he can hold a medical. My Captain last week was 69 and had no intention of retiring anytime soon!

Unfortunately the old boys are staying on to the bitter end! I remember flying with the lucky ones who scraped in to the new 65 years of age retirement date with their crystallised final salary pensions saying that they'd only stay on for a couple of years, then it was I'll go at 60, then it was I'll go part time after 60 but as you've guessed the vast majority are still full time (it must be tough living on only 270 G a year!). I have no intention of working beyond 60 so this is now effecting my career. I imagine that they will fight to fly beyond 65 but if they want me to sit next to them then BA better Give me a premium payment as there is a higher chance of grandad popping it! You only have so many heart beats in your life.:hmm:

Not 100% accurate IMHO (think Dan Air)

NOD

Very true, but this must be a very small number (would have to be 55 to 58 on 1/10/06) and they would be included in the figure of 26 retirements.
My point is, that after the retirement hiatus after Oct 2006, the normal retirement rate will resume after 1/10/2016 (unless the age increases again).

Get back to us in 20 years, when you are 57 and we'll see what you say then :ok:

I sort of look upon airline pilots wanting to carry on to 65 in much the same way as Bruce Forsyth tries to keep going on Strictly come dancing, just keep on clinging on. We all live in our own time. Please don't be greedy and arrogant, but i fear many know nothing else.

It must be frustrating to feel that you are being prevented from accessing some opportunities because people are retiring later. Calling people greedy and arrogant because they enjoy their work and wish to continue is questionable though. It is a free market! One can also argue that asking them to retire just so you can have a slightly improved chance of getting their job is rather greedy and arrogant in its own right.

Think bmi as well