Another heads up..
 

I have been told that BA will re-open A320 DEP recruitment this week.

Its already open:
BA Careers - Direct Entry Pilots

Wiggy,

As someone who literally just handed his notice in and will be a long haul commuter (albeit with a short commute) can you shed any more light on this?

Two pay deal options have been presented by the company, one of which is being reccommended by BALPA and does away with bidline. I've never known a vote go against BALPA's recommendation.

What would be the benefit to the pilot group if bidline was abolished? Given the ability to choose your roster it must be a hell of a benefit in kind to sacrifice that!?

Indeed, as another who was shown bidline rosters as part of recruitment, it would be nice to know what is being suggested in place of it and how that is likely to affect those at the bottom of the list?

Definitely. Anyone working notice would want to know some details behind this. Big decisions made on the info at the time.

You would think so, but you would be wrong, Bidline is to be sold for a few trinkets. Stockholm syndrome has taken the BACC under their current leadership and they have assisted BA in allowing Bidline to be destroyed. Now they are asking us to vote for a system that they decided wasn't good enough two years ago. It's the old politician's trick of repeating an election till you get the right answer.

So does the ability to preference trips/days off just disappear if this vote goes through?

But surely something is being put to counter the loss? What's to be gained? I cant see how a union can recommend a deal that's that negative, even more so why on earth intelligent people would agree to vote for it. Especially in times of strong recruitment and Hugh financial yields.

Cliff, There are a few things being thrown into the mix at the moment, such as a profit share/bonus scheme, that might make it a win and might make the changes worth voting for if you are willing to speculate.....

The two biggies that have got tongues wagging is firstly a proposal to move from Bidline in it's current iteration to a system known as JSS, which I believe our colleagues at United are using. I think the big big difference is that you'll be bidding for preferences on a seniority basis, e.g days off, preferred destinations, rather than bidding for predefined lines (that the company may then alter under the present rules). We are only just getting more info from the reps, maybe one of the smarter guys can fill in massive gaps in my knowledge.

Secondly the other big concern is that there is a proposal that we will get rid of the fixed "flying pay allowance" and revert to some form of hourly (flying hour/duty hour pay.), which by definition will vary from month to month depending on duties, sickness. BA BALPA fought a long battle to get as much pay as possible fixed, so to me a a bit of a strange step and most definitely a massive U turn, though I guess it might make sense to some financial whizz kids who look at the spreadsheets and reckon they'll gain somewhere else in the deal....personally I'm not convinced. Those negotiating with lenders for mortgages and/or loans are saying the drop in the fixed element in the pay could them cause big problems. I think for many it's simply a financial risk they can't take and I feel this issue alone is a deal breaker for a lot of the junior pilots- they need the fixed allowance. Then again I'm sure others here have more info and perhaps a different POV.

It is all being debated now, there will then follow a vote on whether to change or stick with something approximating to the current system.

Anyone have any idea on the other "Pilot recruitment news" to be announced this week after the A320 DEP was announced?

Whichever system comes in, BA have managed to bolt an optimizer to the back of it, so that 99.5% of the work will be covered to the detriment of everybody's preferences/awarded line. Don't be coming in thinking your roster will be set in stone. That won't be until around -8 days to the start of the month I believe. Sadly, those new joiners will realise the BA job is rapidly going the way of Emirates. Reading the Emirates threads just reminds me of what is coming our way....

Hunter boy, if it's heading to become like emirates then why on earth would anyone vote to change it? Do the union have to agree to a change either way or is it optional to keep as you are?

In my humble experience if you're onto a good screw and a company offers a variation or alternative, it's always for the workers detriment, no matter how glitzy it is presented

Changing the flight pay to variable from fixed looks like a pay cut. That is a concern to me considering the strong financial performance of BA - that they are still looking to reduce Pilots pay.

The idea of a bonus or profit share to offset the loss in fixed flight pay may sound lucrative but it's not guaranteed income.

I'm not a BA pilot, just an interested person in this new development.

Cliff, you've spotted the cunning plan. The company council have not given the line membership an option to vote for "no change".

I'll no doubt make a pig's ear of it but I will try and paraphrase the two options we have been given:

Either A. 3 year pay deal, small very much single digit %s, plus keep the fixed flying pay and allow Bidline to limp along with an increasing number of bits of bodge tape holding it together until it is revamped next year into Bidline 2017, which could well end up more of a preferencing system than traditional Bidline, or

B. Same pay deal as option A, but revert to variable flying/duty pay, adopt JSS preference rostering ASAP with a promise of a slightly lower annual hours target than under Bidline, take a chance on a bonus scheme which will run for three years and an enhanced medical loss of licence cover scheme which you may or may not need...

There are other knobs and bells attached mainly to option B but that seems to be the jist of it.

The Company Council don't seem to think BA are open to further negotiation, it's take or leave one of the two options, and they have recommended B to the membership (back to variable pay and adopt JSS)

Thanks Wiggy all very interesting and disappointing at the same time.
I was under the impression that, on the whole, you guys worked pretty efficiently in term of unitising the annual hours limits so, other than the company thinking they can squeeze a bit more out of you, can't see any reason for change.

BALPA, ie , us have agreed to an optimizer with BL17 and JSS. This means that the robustness of being awarded a line that reaches CAP that used to mean you were fireproof has long gone. There have been endless debates about why that is and who is to blame. All pointless. The important thing is what will happen in the future. Expect monthly flying hours of 85-90 hours with EASA limits in the near future and you won't be far wrong.

In that case, what will you be doing with your two months off in November and December then, Hunterboy?

Practical

I think it is always down to the company wanting a bit more, which is leading to a managed decline - something prospective joiners need to be aware of.

The lack of a "no change" option post negotiations has become fairly standard. I think many on the BACC are still scarred by the Open Skies episode ( having heard what went on at a personal level I think that is quite understandable), they saw what went on around the Cabin crew dispute, and have decided any move towards IA is best avoided. Therefore following any negotiations we tend to see a couple of options being offered up, one of which is usually recommended by the BACC. In the heated debate that then follows elsewhere we then normally get told that not voting for the BACC's recommended option will result in them (or many of them) resigning.

That's my read of it and all IMVHO of course.