I know EASA doesn’t allow them. You asked me to explain how EASA changed things so I did.

Looking at the 777/787 DEP recruitment, Is there any reason why BA don’t offer a LGW base on the 777? I believe there will be 14 aircraft based at Gatwick this Summer, so it’s a sizeable operation.

Given the destinations, some longer trips and the fact it’s not LHR, this would certainly be an attractive prospect in an airline that, by most accounts on this thread, is quickly running out of attractive prospects.

Unless you are going to crew it with pilots on reduced T&Cs I don’t really see what’s in it for the company...it’s not as if Flight Ops has problems getting people to volunteer to do the work.

There are plenty on the 777 fleet who bid specifically for the LGW work and by a combination of both bidding and swopping trips are in reality pretty much Gatwick based.

Hi, now that DEP has opened up for LGW on 320, would anyone be able to give me an example roster.
The few trips they do and the pros and cons of choosing Lgw over Lhr.
Many thanks

I’ve been waiting since mid December for some stage 2 dates to be offered. Anyone know what’s going on ?

That depends:

Trip lengths..anything from the odd/rare one day outliers, most trips are 3,4 or 5 day, max at the moment is the SYD trip (currently on the 777 ) which touches 9 days (departs evening of day one, gets back into LHR AM of day 9).

Time off between generally a minimum of two clear days, though in certain circumstances with certain trips it may be possible to opt to reduce time at base to a local night..OTOH the aforementioned Sydney trip demands 4 days/5 local nights off at base due to FTL constraints.

In very simplistic terms in a month with no leave embedded you possibly end up with 5 or 6 of the short (e.g. 2 or three day) trips, or say 3 or 4 of the longer trips.

1. There is nil positioning. The company/Union agreement, approved by the CAA, is that if you have a LGW trip on your roster you make your own way to Crew report at Gatwick, i.e. your report is at LGW. FWIW a significant number of Longhaul pilots live around the Gatwick area anyway and for them a Gatwick report is easier than heading around the M25 to LHR.

2. Yes there is an agreement for a hotel room (but no allowances) if the individual requests it, but again because many of the “locals” elect to bid for the LGW work I’m not how many actually take the option.

I’m not sure why there not being a Gatwick stand-alone 777 base is a deal breaker for you....there is nothing to stop you applying to BA and seeing if you can get an offer of the T7...if that worked out then you’d be in a position to bid for the Gatwick work, as long as it continues.

LGW and LHR are less than 45 miles away from each other and much less than 90 minutes apart most of the time (M25 dependent of course). Plus 777 Pilots do not report at Heathrow they report straight to Gatwick so there is no impact on duty times or FTLs. Anyone at the bottom of the P2 List hoping to get more than one Gatwick trip (at least pre swaps) every three to four months or so is likely to be disappointed.

Fairly straightforward C212 you’ll get a combination of somewhere between 3-4 trips each month. The fleet has it’s Western Cowboys doing the LA’s and SFO’s Chinese Barons doing SIN and HKG’s and the golfers doing the JNB’s. There is a lot of swapping going on under JSS. As a DEP you won’t get the variety that the Boeing’s do or the Cinderella (A350) fleet eventually. That can be good or bad depending on what you want to do.

Ah, thanks, as in the specific Box A tables in Bidline rules?..(.there’s also the one hour non-control NCP, )

You’ve misinterpreted my post. I meant that offering an LGW-only base on the triple is the difference between applying or not, not any individual reasons why it does or doesn’t exist.

As for why that makes a difference, well I drive past Gatwick on my way to Heathrow.

G’day C212,

No worries, looking at a few rosters I’d say from a commuting perspective, from Europe. The A380 would be the best fleet when you start out.

Cheers PM if I can help you out more

🤙🏾🤙🏾🤙🏾

BA does not work 4/3 or anything of that nature. Bidline rules currently give you a minimum 2 days off after a long haul trip, or you’ll get EASA rest if that requires longer. Bidline days off can be waived when bidding, but EASA obviously cannot (although you can bid for back to backs as long as you pay for and use the company supplied hotel). When you bid, you can request more days off, but that does not mean you will get them.

People regularly ask for typical rosters on here, but typical rosters do not really exist because they very much depend upon seniority. Typically, I would say new entrants can expect a trip then two days off, continuously, with the odd three days off perhaps once every month or two. The frequency of two days off in between trips depends on fleet, monthly CAP and the credit/length of the trips you are managing to pick up. If you work on 2 days off all the time, you might be pleasantly surprised and do a little bit better than that, but in order to join with your eyes open, you need to assume just two days off is typical or you will almost certainly be disappointed with your move.

Sounds tempting

Good job you’re not in charge of revenue management for IAG. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, there is not a cat in hell’s chance Level is going to replace the beach fleet. For emphasis not a chance in hell. The premium cabins are always full and make BA/IAG a fortune.

Let me get this straight, you seriously think the management are so stupid that they’ll trash all of that yield and reduce their profits significantly just to spitefully reduce Pilots’ Ts and Cs? Not happening. The fear around Level is ridiculous and unwarranted.

I’m making the point because there’s some people who genuinely believe that level are a threat to their livelihoods and take that fear into industrial negotiations with IAG and are afraid to call their bluff. No more no less.

Integrate bmi or we will set up BA express

SH must be more efficient or else all investment will go to Vueling

Invest for today, invest in your future so we can pay shareholders today.

Level this, level that. Norwegian etc etc. Never, Lufthansa, KLM, American etc

We need to be sensible, after all how many cars are built at Longbridge now? But we also need to share in the success we are delivering and have confidence in our value to IAG. Let’s not sell ourselves short. Have confidence in the value we provide and the power of the brand.

Anyway, if BA want to be competitive with Easyjet and Ryanair then they need to start paying us better and working us less. 😉

Anybody? Would be good to know what the trips are from LGW on Airbus.

is there already more known on the cla proposal that the unions did; profit share and the salary Increase? The union/ balpa proposal was submitted beginning of december right?

January Trips for BA Airbus out of LGW.

Just a snap-shot. Other listings are available.

(*means some are night-stop, **means some include a stand-over day):




AGP

SVQ

PMI*

JER*

ALG

GVA

SZG

EDI*

EDI**

INN

TRN

FAO

VCE

FCO

AMS

NCE

GLA*

GNB

BOD

GOA

NAP

LYS

FNC

ACE

TIA

FDH

NUE

RAK

BCN

MLA

TFS

VLC

CGN

DBV

OPO







​​​​​​​

Thanks eckhard. Appreciated.

Just one correction to the above; there’s no PMI night stop, just a night flight in summer I believe.

Thanks for the info! I’m checking the website every hour or so, and still I missed it... it’s quite incredible. Any feedback most welcome for those who were there lately.

Cheers