80 FPPs? I though they only took 15-20/year or something like that?

The initial FPP plan was for 400 over 5 years.

Your last post is a lot clearer Rex thanks. I think all a future more experienced candidate can conclude is that people already in the hold pool will not go to long haul ahead of them. However, I don't think they can say they'll get a long haul place ahead of an unfrozen apirational bidder. The bottom 1/5th of the 747 are new DEPs as it is!

It must be hard for the airline to balance the business needs for recruitment and also try to meet the fleet transfer requests from the existing pilot workforce. Are this and next year's numbers of 300+ pilots to be recruited each year so extraordinarily high that inevitably less fleet transfers will be granted? The training capacity and costs are too great, surely? Or is BA considered large enough to absorb these extra costs?

What is written in a BA pilot's contract regarding fleet transfer? I assume there is no guarantee after 5 years of having any request granted.

Correct, don't join assuming you will be definitely be able to move fleets after 5 years. You may possibly be able to, but there are absolutely no guarantees.

After five years, you're guaranteed to be unfrozen and free to bid. That's it.

Having said all this some of us were wavered from our 5 year freeze this year, I now occupy the left seat and love it!

Another example of the truth of the old adage that gets trotted out at annual bid time of "always bid what you want, regardless of any freezes, never bid for something you don't want".

I suspect (as possibly has happened to Sinbin ) I benefited from being at the front end of a recruitment bulge and other peoples inertia. Less than 2 years into BA I escaped from the 747 Classic fleet to a new but initially unpopular fleet ;). Others just senior to me delayed bidding off by a year and ended up stuck on a fleet with a deteriorating lifestyle for over a decade, or went to shorthaul......

In a nutshell assume freezes will be applied, and also assume that if you are junior and are trying to bid off an unpopular fleet and on to a popular fleet(s) you're going to struggle to move, regardless of being out of freeze.... but always bid.

An update for you all on what was said at the roadshows this week:

- Looking again for around 300-350 pilots next year

- 81 FPPs and currently around 70 in the DEP hold pool

- They expect to start allocating courses again at the end of the month and expect to empty the pool within 2 months of starting to offer courses

- DEP to long haul slots disappeared quickly to early entries this year, they expect the same in 2016

Should hopefully cheer up those of us swimming...

Juscud,
That does sound very optimistic!

Thanks for sharing the info :ok:

nice bit of info... thanks for that Jwscud!

Attended the roadshow today. It was well structured very informative and the team made us all feel really at ease and welcome.
Came away from the roadshow feeling very positive and upbeat about future recruitment and the recruitment process in general.

Judging by the banner ad I've seen on other parts of this forum, it would appear that BA are trying to attract train drivers...

Ah .... those ads that I just don't see. What a wonderful thing ad blockers are. :E

FYI for anyone interested.

Late May - Initial Application
+ 12 days - Invite to Initial Assessment
+ 19 days - Initial Assessment
+ 2 days - Invite to interview
+11 days - Interview (managed to book a cancellation, otherwise I was looking at an extra 30 day wait)
+ 1 day - Invite to Simulator Assessment
+57 days - Simulator Assessment (No earlier dates available)
+ 5 days - Acceptance into the hold pool
+ 21 days - Job offer given for the A320 in January.

So from initial application to the end it was 128 days. Just over 4 months.

I assume you are already a320 TR glipglop?

I have a sim booked for late November, anyone know what type its on or when they found out. We were told either 757 or 744 during the interview day.
Anyone who has been through recently have any more up to date gen?

BA will send you a briefing on the simulator assessment. I was sent one which included information on how to fly both the B747 and B757, in the event of the B747 sim being tech.

At a recent assessment on the B747 we were told they are going to start doing the assessments on the B757 only, I think from November. Be patient for BA to send you this information which they did for me 3/4 weeks ahead of time.

Would anyone here happen to know when the FPP will reopen?

Veroflyer - at the roadshows they said 757 from start of November so I would imagine that's what your assessment would be in.

Correctemundo. :)

I know someone who did it earlier this week, and it was switched to the 757.