Virgin Atlantic Basing/Manchester
 

What's the deal with crew basing at Virgin these days?!

Is Manchester still a Flight Crew base and if so how many crew do they have based up there?

Is it senior/junior or a mix of both?

Also, what's the rostering like for that base, considering there's only 2 routes!!!

Interesting questions, let's hope somebody answers

Volunteers, 747 only, no idea what it's like, they often ask if anyone is interested. Not sure on the number up there not a lot though. Everyone else LHR based and if you do a MAN/GLA/LGW flt you get positioned in company time

Er that's all I know!

Why do you need to know? If you're Virgin you can find out, if not, you don't need to know...

I am not employed by Virgin, however I am very interested in the airline for future employment and I would therefore like to know what the different bases have to offer. Because I live up north, I'm particularly interested in the MAN base.. Simple........

So, has anyone got more info?

Speed Chaser - I don't work for Virgin and have no desire to do so, for the reasons so succinctly provided by Narrow Runway. Sadly, the worst of PPRuNe is on display with the likes of xray one, who may indeed work for Virgin. It is more likely, however, that he is a little boy in his bedroom browsing these pages as part of an aviation fantasy before his mummy turns his lights off. Anyway, there are some great guys/gals at Virgin - I really hope it works out for you and that someone from there will give you the entirely reasonable information you are looking for. Very best of luck.

+1 for ADMeerkat

Speed chaser

It sounds as if you've done some homework already and I can't add much. However, I'd caution making a decision on joining Virgin based on the possibility of flying out of MAN.

Compared to the entire company the MAN operation is pretty small, say two aircraft at the most, so the centre of gravity for the company is definitely London.

Bidding for MAN is in seniority so you could be lucky. What I'm saying is treat MAN ops as a bonus if you get in. You may want to consider the new EASA rules on commuting as well if you remain up north.

On the plus side, whether you fly out of London or MAN it is, IMHO, a great bunch of people to work with. Not without its trails and tribulations recently but the new boss seems to be sorting things out and the guys who have met him all speak highly of him. It ain't perfect but I wouldn't swap with my former short haul colleagues and they would probably say the same! It's all about lifestyle in the end. Good luck if you apply.

As a 'thread watcher' due to an imminent interview, my thanks to all who have posted helpful replies.

As a related side question... Is it just the 747 that flies out of Manc?

In fact does the Airbus fleet operate out of LGW at all?
Thanks again

Firstly best of luck with the interview, it's a pleasant experience and a great place to work.

The 330 operates out of LHR and LGW. From LGW it flies to Antigua and St Lucia with some times a cheeky shuttle flight to other islands. From LHR the 330 routes are mainly east coast, Dubai and India. Last year the 330 also picked up some trips from Manch and GLA but I'm not too sure if that is happening this year as there is a perm 747 base at Manch now.

Best of luck,:ok:

Thanks for that its much appreciated.

I hear that with the cancellation of the Sydney route that there is now a slight surplus of flight deck meaning life in the pool may be longer than anticipated.
At least they haven't cancelled interviews.... Yet!

Thanks again to all for the info.

Post interview I can confirm for the opening poster (and anyone interested), that the posts by sangiovese, bbk and Cabus are exactly as answered by the interview panel.

As a further addition to what cabus suspected in his post, the Airbus flying is now planned to be solely lhr/lgw.... And it is a very pleasant experience on the whole, fingers crossed

Any idea when they may be conducting interviews again?

Thanks.

I believe the hold pool is still full with courses to start around November and I don't think there is much rated recruitment planned over the coming months. Over the next few years however, there is a retirement bubble and I am sure this will kickstart some serious recruitment but there is no insight on when this will be.

All the best.

Heard from a friend they were looking at MPL recruitment. Are they going to do that at all, if their might be a retirement bubble?

MPL recruitment? Ah come on. You have to be crapping me.

MPL? Really? Don't make me laugh. There are lots of people with nice shiny 777 ratings in the Middle East who would love a job at home, together with most of the Captains at Ryanair based abroad! Why would they need MPL?

My resources have confirmed me that virgin are looking at MPL course(with OAA) with cadets joining straight on the A330

Many moons ago, I went to the BALPA employment conference at Heathrow (2004? 2005?) and the recruitment chappy from Virgin said that they were looking at cadet entry, even back then.

Not sure I'd be happy going straight on to long haul and three landings a month. Took me a good few 4 sector days, 6 days a week to master the still sometimes illusive art of a decent landing.

Oh for God's sake. Is there nowhere they can't get to? The cadet thing is like water it gets everywhere. Wish they'd stop using this cadet term anyway. Cadets are ab initios who have their training paids for by an airline. These modern "cadets" are cheap self funded pilots with no experience heading into top airlines under the guise of being called 'a cadet'