Sorry I should have worded my post better. I of course refer to corporate BA and not the individuals involved in selection and especially not the pilot recruiters, many of whom I have flown with and whom I have great respect for - and were it up to them I suspect the comms would be better.

However the evidence remains that there seems to be a lack of communication which does suggest an indifference towards the holdpool coming from somewhere.

No argument with that and it shouldn't be like that.

I don't know how the comms side of the DEP recruitment process is/was established. Given ACs attitude to spending a penny on anything deemed none essential I wonder if the job of communicating with the hold pool has simply slipped through the cracks during some establishment change that happened this year.

So, in light of the news at Monarch, do we think that anything will be done to help the Monarch guys in the holdpool at BA? Maybe bring them in a tad earlier to keep them in pay?

BA’s focus at the moment is very much on getting the remaining FPPs through the door this year. I wouldn’t expect any special favours for the Monarch pilots I’m afraid.

Still no news regarding when or if people from the holdpool will be recruited.

Personally I still believe that given the uptake of part time, the number of retirements which appears to be slightly higher than estimates I’ve seen previously and the new aircraft we have arriving next year, the introduction of JSS etc, I would be surprised if there was no DEP recruitment in 2018.

But that’s based on nothing more than semi-informed speculation.

It is probably not worth getting peoples hopes up but I wanted to put it out for debate. With Monarch airlines LGW slots now open to a bidding war between easyJet and British Airways as described by the Financial Times, should BA/IAG be awarded slots any time soon, they could need more pilots and whats more, need them fast. I say this only hoping that any of Monarch's rated pilots in the hold pool could be fished out soon!

Whose aircraft are they going to fly?

Hi wiggy. I would presume they would lease aircraft, just like Monarch's aircraft were leased. They will find a way to get aircraft otherwise why would they be bidding for slots? I am in no doubt that BA/IAG want to take the slots to stop not only further easyJet but also further Norwegian expansion from LGW.

Interesting thoughts...obviously having got the slots BA have to use them...Given this all kicked off a few days back I've not heard any rumours....wonder if anyone else has any thoughts?

I should add that it was none other than media reports to get my mind speculating and I don't want to come across as insensitive given that these slots are only available given the sad situation at Monarch but hope that all those ZB pilots could come in useful at BA.

It was common gossip last year that BA senior management wanted to see Monarch gone as the customer base was broadly similar. I am therefore surprised that BA hasn’t jumped on Monarch’s demise to increase their share at Gatwick. They are the junior partner to Easy at Gatwick, perhaps they have already admitted defeat to the Orange tide.

I see the BAFPP has reopened... not feeling particularly optimistic right now.

This is a fully self-funded programme, for further details about the potential costs involved please visit - http://www.L3AirlineAcademy/careerpr...britishairways

Commencing training in 2018. Surely we will either have jobs or will have sunk and been consumed by bottom feeders well before this intake even get near to the line.

Clearly they're anticipating the need for further recruitment and with no other FPPs arriving after the planned courses in early 2018, maybe this could even be a positive sign for us (however small)?

If they commence training in 2018 they’ll be out of the sausage factory at the end of 2019. Around the time some of us were expecting to be perhaps offered a start date. As it is there’s a huge backlog of BAFPP who have had their training pushed back so I’m struggling to see this as a good sign personally.

Academic requirements lower this time with no requirement for a-levels and it seems the loan underwriting element has vanished.

Surely those two facts aren't in anyway linked?!:ugh:

Don’t anyone in the Holdpool dare to suggest they may be willing to self fund a type rating to put them ahead of the L3 tide. You’d be undermining your future BA colleagues!

Does this mean that the bid results are in, at a management level at least?

I think this cadet scheme is evidently being run with a 2019 intake in mind, so how much the results for 2018 are relevant is debatable (perhaps with the exception of the number of part time bids received).

As much as the headline may be depressing for hold poolers, lets not forget that BA have pretty much always had some sort of cadet scheme so nothing much is changing in that respect.

It isn't a cadet scheme. It's a self-sponsored scheme with the possibility of a BA job at the end.