Cheers for the replies guys, informative as ever :ok:

I am a junior Capt. Short haul.
Yes I am well paid 6k net a month,nice Hotels, £ 3.39 an hour down route.
However the work is relentless with all the associated issues of LHR. no tug,no busses,no stand guidance etc etc.
iF you want a weekend off then forget it or a special day off is pure chance although pre ops do try to accommodate.
Personally I have had 6 weekends off in 18 months,with some of my colleagues none in 2 years.
Social life is limited. For example on my current 5 day 12 sector tour we have had 9 different cabin crew. Down route is generally a beer and a pizza with your colleague so don't expect much else.
Ba is not a place that you will make friends as the place is so big. Nobody knows who you are but that can be a positive as well.
Everyone is different and some thrive on the hard work and if current FO's choose to stay on long haul then it's their choice.
For me, I am in my bed or a hotel bed every night and when I finish at Lhr say at 9pm and see all,the long haul,flights going off I just think to myself I will have driven home,had 8 hours sleep,had breakfast,walked the dog had a coffee and the long haul guys are still in the air!!
Their is no doubt that nights out of bed are damaging to your health combined with the huge changes in time zone the trouble is that you don't realise the damage it does long term.
I appreciate the last para is off topic but I just wanted to give my reasons for putting up,with short haul. Less money yes, more crap to put up,with at Lhr, yes ,but like I said everyone is different and for me it's my health that's number one.

King surf.....if there were a like button I would press it for that post

Frankly, those trying to second guess "the state of the nation" in 5 years time are simply dreaming. things change all the time and at a rapid pace.
Bottom line is, if you want to work for BA then give it your best shot. If you are sceptical, or feel that only one part of BA would suit you, then forget it!
As with many companies the most verbose will make their feelings known whilst the silent majority will just get on with the job, knowing that things will inevitably change, sometimes for the better sometimes not!

Hi King surf

Genuine question from interest and not meant to sound synical. But what you describe of BA short haul doesn't sound terribly good for your health either. How many night stops do you do a month? Did you previously come from the long haul side of things before to make your comparison?

I'm not BA, but I can sympathise with the jet lag concern. It knackers me. It knackers everyone. Its the big bit of the job that worries me health wise along woth being zapped by radiation and breathing compressor air for hours. The other bit I don't like is very long trips. Other than that I prefer long haul over any short haul. Only for now.

On BA long haul are the layovers majority min rest or any 2 days plus?

Hi cliff, Yes I have done long haul and night freigt and I feel sooooo much better doing short haul but would admit to getting tired but so is my neighbour who gets up at 5 am 5 days a week and gets home at 7 pm.
I probably do 7to 10 night stops a month with most night stops being 13-17 hours off. Occasional stand overs with 30 hours off.

Holdpool
 

Hi All,

Does anyone have any news of movement in the Holdpool? Are courses being offered and if so, when and on what? Also current number of swimmers and time in the pool?

Cheers

Cliff

The majority are 1 or 2 nights, certainly on fleets with well established route structure, but as you would expect there are exceptions....it's a bit of a "that depends" thing.

The destinations with a daily service on a single type tend to be night stop or 2 nights depending on FTLs (e.g. most of the State side stuff).

If it's a destination where there's an interchange of type (e.g. has been happening between 380/744) you might get extra nights, also you might sometimes generate extra nights if there any shuttle sectors involved (e.g. some of the Caribbean stuff on the 777).

Other than that there's a very small number of three or four day no shuttle layovers. They are in places where BA don't do many services and it's probably too complicated and/or costly to position crew in/out ..or they just appear on the schedules for no immediately obvious reason...

So..what was the question again....:}?

Is he a cadet or Airbus Type Rated? Has the recruitment process come to a standstill? Not a great deal of mention regarding days 1,2 or 3 at the moment?

Cheers

HP

Question
 

Quick question for you guys in BA;

I'm currently flying the a380 with a big operator in the Middle East. I have about 7000h all on heavy jet.
36 years old.

What are my chances of being recruited directly on the 380?

How much is the monthly gross pay, including allowances and flight pay on the LH fleet?

Thanks

G109

Basic LH pay point 1 is £54069 pa. You then add FPA at about £650 a month and duty pay at £3:19 per hour from check in at LHR to check out. That's maybe around £1200-1500 a month. That's all subject to UK tax. Your duty pay is taxed at 20%. I am SH so have no accurate info on the achieved allowances so it's an estimate.

What are your chances of going directly onto the RHS of the 380 fleet? As your rated and they have said internally that they will recruit at least 20 onto it in 2016 I would have said pretty good. Why would they go through the the hassle or type rating you on another type when you have a rating we need.

Hope that helps with your decision.

I can pretty much guarantee a full course will be required, WHATEVER type you join on.

Well that's not true, and hasn't been for some years.... I joined 5 years ago with an Airbus type rating and we did a 'bridging' course of sorts that consisted of 1 weeks ground school 4 or 5 sims and 12 line training sectors.

I would think if you have an A380 type rating you would be VERY attractive to BA.

King Surf,

Did you pass the verbal reasoning test? If so, see me.

Standards have slipped.....

When you lose around 30% of your pay to taxes, and have to pay for your own accommodation, I wonder if BA is attractive to anybody residing abroad? I suspect that's why BA are scratching around....

I don't think I'd characterise it quite that way. Sure BA could throw money at the pilots to try and match some of the expat packages but it's BA, they won't..... I certainly haven't yet heard any of the recruiters saying "you know, we are really short, we really must make a special effort to attract experienced people from the Gulf (or elsewhere).".... There is lots of experience in the airline and as for the new P2 side there are people still in the hold pool and plenty others elsewhere in the selection/recruitment pipeline.

Just to clarify I take it you mean accommodation at base (i.e. within reasonable travelling distance of LHR)?

Yes, Belfast and Dublin

Regards

Thanks for the infos guys, much appreciated.

I roughly worked out the NET take home pay for a year 1 FO including allowances to be 4830 GBP per month.
does that sound about right?

It is slightly less to what I am making now, but being based back in Europe again is the big plus for me. I have had enough of the middle east, after only being here for about 4 years.

cheers

Roadshows
 

Many attendees at the LGW Hilton event yesterday?

I attended the Luton Roadshow, took my time with the application, essay questions etc, even sent email saying I attended the roadshow, then got a no to my application, it still shows submitted. Not sure what type of person they were looking for? Ex FE and over 2000hrs First Officer Boeing time.:ugh: