Thomas Cook recruiting
 

I hear Thomas Cook are shortly to start taking on can any one cast any light on this?:D

Are they ever going to make up their mind???

:ugh:

TC are in a crisis, a business that has big debt problems and cutting costs is the order of the day, but on the other hand they can't run the business without finding some more pilots.

With the management painted into that corner the recruting will be the very minimum that can get away with and my guess they are delaying the decision until they know exactly how much flying they will be doing in 2014.

Share price is rocketing, losses halved in the year to the end of Sept. At a price though with hefty job losses and 195 travel agency branches planned to close.
I suspect if any pilots needed will be few. Hope the survival continues

Did they not only recently cast off a load to the far flung corners of the earth on career breaks etc. I left a few years ago but based on my experience I can speak very highly of them as a employer. Perhaps the redundancy notice with the headed paper reading "Thomas Cook making dreams come true" was not such a good thing but I enjoyed my time there. Good luck

I wish to goodness someone would improve the quality of the pension scheme !

I am a bit confused because I'm sure I read somewhere on here a few months ago that they were offering redundancy. It would of been my airline of choice but I don't think so now.

A & C,

Insightful and thoughtful. Well done for conjuring up two succinct paragraphs of complete and utter :mad:, though. Good effort, nonetheless...

Type changes, base changes, 'reserve captains', career breaks etc would suggest that filling the FTE the company now require, especially on a certain type in a certain base, may prove tricky. Company induced error? Probably. Hence the rumour for a few new guys- almost certainly type rating required?

Summer 2014 confirmed months ago.

TCX most certainly no longer a basket case, in fact, well on the road to recovery. The last year or two has not been comfortable but there are few better jobs in the UK. I repeat that last bit 'in the UK'. If they do recruit this year, and you are happy to do the traditional thing and sit in the right seat for quite a few years, then it is a very good (not perfect) place to work.
Oh and by modern standards the pension scheme is quite generous.

By most standards the pension scheme is remarkably generous, thanks to BALPA, though it may not seem like it to the legacy final salary guys. TCX is now well on the way to regaining its former position, as even a cursory glance at the city will show. But it has not been without extreme cost, and sadly, for the moment, TCX is no longer a career airline. You could pick at random almost any F/O from the list and elsewhere they would be a 10 year captain. Indeed, there are several 10-year captains who, in April, will be back in the right seat. Any F/O positions are certain to be temporary and may well require a type rating. But if you're young and prepared to give it time you could do far worse.

Why are they reducing the pilot work force when all other airlines appear to be expanding ? I understand it appears to be not a happy place to be. Which is a great shame.

Fleet reduction is the short answer in 2012. Over 30 skippers, the DFO claims are not required for summer 2014 due to the fleet remaining static this year. Consequently they are being demoted in April.

TCUK is using 3 ACMI aircraft this summer instead of flying the passengers in house and blocks of capacity have been sold to Easyjet. There are a large number of Captains on career breaks to return still. Any junior F/O is wasting his/her time at TCX long term, short of massive expansion occurring.

Hope that helps.

Does any TCX guys know which bases or fleets they are recruiting for ?:D

Why make a post like that unless you have seen an ad. or have it from the horses mouth that they are about to recruit. I know 2 people who would love to get into TCX and posts like the above just cause upset. If you know something concrete, share it, otherwise don't post.:mad:

Quite with you macdo. The Grey Man is probably fishing for information but lets put this to bed permanently. There will be no recruitment this year. If there's any capacity required it will be filled with Cadets from Condor.

Condor are taking cadets and also FOs with experience. They are now one big company so the post above could make sense

Thomas Cook still have many guys of their own to head back, so its doubtful there will be any recruitment this time round. Its clear to see they have bottomed out however there were some tough decisions taken over the last year or so, and TCX will look to bring their own people back first.

Its tough if you are looking to break in to one of the Operators in the UK but admirable in another way.

Three Lions qoute :

“ They are now one big company "

Not so. Thomas Cook UK, Scandinavia, Belgium and Germany are still independant airlines...

But working towards being interoperable, such as standardising the SOPs across all fleets this week.

jaja & Capt Scribble: Uhm, where & when did we hear that concept before?... ah yes, now I remember: Air Europe, in the late 1980's / early 1990's (and I was there) !

Cost saving synergies, route sharing, personnel sharing, a/c sharing and common operational policies etc. are slowly being rolled out. AOC issues will hold back true integration for the time being. Condor cadets are going to be doing some of their line training in the UK this summer. No sign of any UK recruitment yet, but that doesn't mean that there won't be any.

So to summarise, despite the fanfare and press releases, they are just doing what TUI have been quietly getting on with for years?

If you mean by that, that they are trying to become a profitable business and keep us all in jobs, then yes. It is not a nice process to be on the the receiving end of, but unemployment is worse.

Macdo, you are correct about staying in employment. I'm just surprised they (TCX) got themselves into such a mess in the first place and can't work out why they never thought that European integration would be a good cost saving before the preverbial hit the fan.

Anyway, good luck with it all.

The short answer is unbelievably poor management of the Thomas Cook Group by the previous board (who have mostly now been removed). The sad tale of the demise of TC is well documented in the press, but it was the inability of the UK tour operator to sell holidays at a profit which did for them. The UK airline (which is a small cog) was quite tightly run and probably turned a small profit, bearing in mind that it had little control over the price it sold its seats at, which was set by the tour operator. The German and Scandi tour operations are successful in their own right, so unsurprisingly the new model is increasingly mirroring their operation. History is littered with travel companies that expand rapidly the collapse, usually by virtue of poor management. As we stand, the current group management have the backing of the City and appear to have an expansionist and innovative approach to the group airlines working together. So far, so good! We all wait with baited breath to see if it works out.

No advert to see, just an existing pile of cv's.

Anyone done the sim assessment lately on either the Airbus or the Boeing? I would be grateful for any hints on what could be expected. Please PM me.

Thanks

Are selections taking place? Very quiet thread.

Recruiting now for 757 drivers. Sim and interview. Manchester and Gatwick bases.

Is that for rated 757 guys only?

Flt Inter
 

Best check Flight for the latest from TCX, looking like Type ratings for all fleets.

Assessment
 

Hi guys

Anyone know what to expect at a TCX assessment day?

Cheers

NC

Does anyone know how many hours are required to join as an SFO?

SFOs need an unfrozen ATPL. To get in at the moment you will also need a type rating.

If your rated on the 330 could you go direct entry to the 330 or start on the 320 and join the Que?

Cheers

Thanks Jonty. I'm current on the A320, no A321 experience though. However I guess that's not too much bother for them...

A320
 

If you look at your Licence it would say A320 not 321, earlier this year i transferred over to the Bus and did the whole course for the 320.



If your rated on the 330 could you go direct entry to the 330 or start on the 320 and join the Que?

Join the Que A320baby, or if you did manage to get a main base like Manchester it could come quit quickly. Manchester is the Hub of the world for TCX at the Moment expect to see more routes in the future, at least thats what I'm hearing on Cabin FM.

Enjoy the process and just be yourself.

Cheers Turbine :ok:

A320/A321 is the same aircraft, so it doesn't matter if you have never flown the A321.

Not sure of the bases that we are recruiting for, but if you get MAN you can expect to be on the A330 straight away if your rated, or with in the first year if not.

The training burden this year is huge, so thats why type rated guys are preferred.

I hear a few of Sir Dickies finest A330 boys are applying. But deemed too old n grumpy ;)

Highfive good one :ok: