Thanks Boeing 7E7 for the reply and it all seems quite positive so far, In the summer you don't get any problems then with back to back longer night sectors with duty hours. I presume at present on the 737 the longest days are the LCA & PFO sectors although I am sure SSH will be back soon. What happens with the Cape Verde flights are they a stop over sectors ?

No down route aircraft swaps are not a problem if organised correctly and not done at the last minute like on my recent flight where all the bags were loaded and then decided to do the swap or like at my previous employer do an aircraft swap with an aircraft you know is running 1hr30mins late already.

At present I am not to fussed about the long haul and Canada would be ok for a few weeks but not for the whole winter with family life.

All in it looks quite appealing I will keep my eyes open for the next recruitment drive and see what position I am in then.

I just like to read threads like this to see what's going on in the industry. I have to wonder: is this really something that people are looking at when considering a potential employer? I can't think of anything less relevant.

To alleviate any fears on an a/c swop.

FO leaves the rest of the crew on the a/c to go to the new a/c.
Vice versa on the other a/c.

That way someone always on board to catch that APU Fire and all PPP and CDU preflight can be compeleted before the rest of the team arrive.

Simple!

Aircraft swaps would never put me off applying for a job just so much better when planned well.

I have just had bad previous experience with another employer who would quite regular plan these and know before you have even left the UK that the aircraft they want to swap and for you to bring back to UK has a couple of hours delay on it and can assure you not much fun waiting around on the ground waiting for your inbound aircraft when you should be nearly home.

I am pleased to hear that this does not seem to be the case with Thomson and things look rather positive

Thomson are opening recruitment again sometime in September.

This just arrived in the company e-mail....Good luck, guys and gals!


Good afternoon

We are preparing to launch our second pilot recruitment campaign of the year and we will be accepting online applications from Monday 12th September for two weeks to join Thomson Airways as 737, 757, 787 and Non-Type Rated pilots at bases across the country.

The links to apply will be going on to Crew Portal on Monday for you to share with any interested colleagues and associates or alternatively refer them to Find your next career in travel with TUI Jobs UK our company careers page where they can review the job description and apply for the roles.

OOI, Part year contracts to begin with?

Oh bugger, we started him off again!!

Are they still not getting enough internal pilots bidding the 787 that they need newhires for it?

787
 

Iver,
It's true to say ,quite junior pilots have successfully bid on to the fleet.

The lifestyle is not for everyone.

It doesn't help that you need to based at either of the big two. Quite a lot of pilots would opt for the fleet if base options where considered. A lifestyle enhancement perhaps?

deleted. Found the answer myself.

Any idea of an average salary and a typical monthly roster for a FO on B787?
Thanks

Last few months about £4400 take home. Three day sim and five shorthaul and one bullet long haul last month. This month two short haul one bullet long haul and two weeks leave. Average is four long haul a month unless a long month and I've been here 11 yrs.

4.5k a month without overtime, three or four long hauls a month depending if the trips are bullets i.e. 24 hours downroute or longer ones. (Some trips are 8 days long) Only a bit of shorthaul in Summer but for me literally only 4 shorthauls this year. Overtime is a mixed bag, I got loads last year, dried up a bit this year but that's the nature of the beast. Interestingly, I've picked up 5 days overtime this month making my take home in excess of 6k. Can't really comment on take home on the new contract but that only affects basic pay, duty rig and hourly pay is the same as new joiners making each bullet worth between 4-500 quid. Four of them a month and variable pay is well in excess of 20k a year. Add in annual pilot bonus (not guaranteed but the company is doing really well so for now we expect it) usually around 1700 quid paid in December pay, holiday pay of 600 paid each June and share options that add a couple of grand in free options plus decent staff travel which you can add to tax free! discounts at every retailer under the sun it seems and finally 42 days leave with the ability to add 15 gold days (days off you can choose) and it's a top place to be. Oh and I forgot, my roster means my roster, it's rock solid and never changes unless I add overtime.

Still think it's the best gig in town although the part time contract will put lots of people off (understandably) and new joiners are offered an inferior pension contribution. Also factor in 10+ years to command, not something that bothered me as I joined at 25, but someone joining in their 40s is faced with a much bigger predicament.

Good luck to those who take the plunge and I would say see you on the line but as I see a crew room twice a month on the 78, maybe I won't... cheers

Thanks guys for the quick replies!
It does not seem bad at all...
Just the last questions: how many days off/month? Any chance to get some of them consecutive in order to commute?

If it's just a LH roster it's easy very nearly always three days (in general) off after a trip. Not really less. A few pilots I know of commute to France Channel Islands up further north.

Whats the latest please with the commands? Are more people looking to retire now?

Forget coming to Thomson for a command, they are currently running at 13 years and although we have a decent retirement bulge coming, (70 within 3 years) that still only takes it to those who joined 11 years ago. after that, pretty steady at 20-30 a year, and new joiners are around 400 off the most junior Captain.

If a new joiners joins the offered terms, what would be the average monthly take home pay


This position is a Permanent Part Year contract which means full time working between May and October (peak period) and 2 weeks on / 2 weeks off from October through until May. The salary for this is 81.3% of the Full Time Equivalent Salary and is spread equally across 12 months. Pension contributions are based on actual salary.
For the first 3 years a payment of £7,000 is deducted from monthly salary prior to tax / NI deductions for training costs.