Norwegian Long Haul Roster
 

Few questions about NLH:

What kind of roster can a FO expect?

Is there a "better schedule" depending on the base? (LGW vs BCN)

How hard is to change bases?

How hard is to upgrade in the 737? (move to Short Haul)

And to move to RCA and CA in the 787?

Is true that they give you days off out of your operating base?

Thanks in advance!

Also interested in this. Formal standby days per month, average layovers down route, changes to contract after the initial 3 years.

Interested in the long haul gig.

Seems to be a well kept secret. Which is somewhat alarming.

I spoke to a chap in the company a while back, pretty honest. Told me expect to deadhead a lot as part of the job.

Not sure that would be too fun mindful of the lack of a business class on their operation. Especially if deadhead comes at the end of an extended duty.

Not part of the operation so happy to keep an open mind, as the above was purely "chat" at an event. However, I suspect many wont apply unless we know what is being signed up to.

There's no secret. Just ask Rishworth. They can provide some example rosters.

de fumo in flammam

You're spot on there. Positioning in Economy was one of the listed grievances that caused TCook to go on strike last year. You need a good working practice agreement to deal with all these issues or you rapidly have no life at all.

Can anyone share a typical roster?

Does it depend on base?

To answer any questions and provide information on the long haul roster may reflect negatively on the Dreamyliner lifestyle. Norwegian’s lynch mob/red nose numpties would never allow that (see what follows this post).

Roster information has been requested and flatly ignored many times previously. This suggests the roster is exceptionally bad. Moreover, it suggests little is being done or can be done to improve it.

Despite the purported welcome extended to unions, Norwegian’s 787 pilot fraternity have no union representation directly with the airline. This precludes any collective agreement with Norwegian and its pilots (including “guaranteed” seniority) with which the airline must legally comply.

The irony is that Norwegian’s 787 pilots fly with US based cabin crews who are members of the AFL-CIO union, with direct and powerful representation to the airline. Norwegian’s “welcome” to that particular outcome was reported in the media:

“Norwegian tried to stop cabin crew connection to powerful trade unions” – Link:

https://www.dagbladet.no/nyheter/uhy...mming/67506473

Norwegian and the service providers from which they temporarily rent 787 pilots, all proclaim to “answer any questions you may have”. Clearly, they do not.

I did the above , received no reply, despite using my Rishworth login account .

Direct Bondi provide factual info . His input is useful. Dont shoot the messenger.

Most pilots in NLH consider their options and then sign up anyway . Even if they have to deposit €40000 of their own cash into an unknown bank account .

Its a choice you make to escape the humdrum funkery of working overseas or being a bored & retired , former legacy long haul jockey .

Bondi what is your problem? You are assuming stuff and at the same time demand to have your voice heard and respected. How cute. Why would anybody be so stupid to publicly share his or her roster on a forum like this? Ever heard of anonymity?

10 days guaranteed off (4 or 5 days in a row possible. Also back to back possible), 3-4 flights each month with each flight having usually a minimum one or max three day layover, expect 750h/year.
Just do the math.

It's possible to bid for the 737 after your bonding has finished after three years. Being three years in the company, it will not be hard to switch fleets. There has also been cases of people switching fleets within the bonding, but it's not common practice.

The upgrade is available when you have the required hours for it.

See attachments for the example rosters.
Maybe they stopped providing example rosters, because this prevented a lot of people from applying? It might be ok if you're single and if you don't mind being away from home, but spending 10-14 days in a row away from your family doesn't seem appealing.

Thanks for that. You’re right, if you wanna have a family life it doesn’t look ideal.

Very GOOD rosters indeed if you live close to base.
Typical LH. and with sufficient rest between flights.

One roster is from AUG 2017, the others from 2016 and probably not representative of what's happening now or? The one from 2017 doesn't look that bad actually and it's still a 84 hours roster.

£7600/ month for skippers ( full tax for uk resident) would be a pay cut for 90% of guys who meet the lhs requirments. Even THY pay more haha.

21 - 22 days away as I understood it, has been normal ops. Was 3 years ago when I went through the process. The increase of bases and aircraft may have a positive change on time away.

Most retirees, single and or divorced pilots are married to flying and time away is generally a bonus .

Beer belly alert !

So let me get this straight. You failed your assessment and now you are back to take vengeance? :}
Those figures are wide off btw. ;)

TVM for publishing the rosters; it actually is far better than I expected with later departures from LGW and reasonable time off in HOTAC to recover between trips. Nowhere near as much DHD as I expect. Stby could work at a weekend, short breaks with family down to home counties with the chance of a callout and trains back for them.

Understanding is, if you have a bank promissory note or similar, no cash needs to be transferred (got that from the horses mouth, for example having the cash in an offset mortgage account would be fine).


In terms of pay, its not the best, but then again, its more than what I am on now, flying a heavy category jet for the past decade. Prospects of rapid LHS from relief captain salary (which is better than what I am on now).

Only downer they need to look at is the abated per diem/subsistence allowance. Don't understand why this is necessary, other than penny pinching.

Any word on permanent contract T+C post Rishworth, opportunities/timeframe to Type IRE/Training Dept? Any opportunities for the likes of fuel saving/FDM analyst when down route to fill the time?

Nice try. Sorry to disappoint you, but it wasn't for me . But hey, shoot the messenger, right?

What part is not correct? This is the reality, not a criticism!

Basic Pay GBP `7600
Allowances Capped at GBP 900
Little or No Overtime , no matter how long your duty times of FDP's?
Leave will allocated by your employer
Positioning in economy
Best Western level of hotel

And wtf, the poster above wants to do FDA during their down route rest period. Thats duty. You are on rest . Any incident on the way home and the book will be thrown at you. Wise up.

Sorry, my understanding of FTL is a set min rest period prior to crew in, not 48 hours. Or during Deadhead. Wise up.

Jeez, some of the community are right princesses. Ive not seen a single hotel less than 4 star on that schedule and all relatively convenient to get in. Hardly a Hanoi Hilton. Good to see transit time to the airport accounted for. Currently working as widebody command for 5500GBP Gross a month with fully receipted subsidence and a cap of circa $50 USD down route. What's an overtime payment?

Who the hell do you work for earning so little as a wide body captain?

HM Government.

Your pension is certainly far superior to those in Rishworth/OSM.

Also please be aware that annual leave is first come first served, so sorry for those of you who are sat at 35,000ft when the leave bid opens at 0900Z.

My pension was cut by a third in 2010, is now career average and doesn't cover 16K of my salary, as it's allowance,but we still pay tax on it. Like for like, a 6/8% scheme is pretty much worth what you will receive.

Whilst these days are much better for time off, we regularly used to lose 20+ days of our annual leave allowance (which we weren't paid for) due to operational requirement (i.e. not enough pilots) No guaranteed days off and 130+ flight hours in a month (not including taxi time) used to be common, as were 8-10 sector days.. one day off in ten too.

I know the grass isn't necessarily greener, I have been extremely lucky and have had some amazing times and proudly served, but looking at the Norwegian offer, it's hardly a barren desert.

TangoAlphad, I am happy to be corrected but it was last year when I had the conversation.

VinRouge, have a look at other long haul carriers for roster comparisons, it may give you an idea on how other airlines operate, and by other carriers I mean Europe long haul based carriers.

Pension wise, I heard 1% is what is on offer with Rishworth and 5% with OSM after 3 years.

The vacation system is like TangoAlphaD said a point based system, taking into account previously assigned (or not) vacations, seniority etc...

Norwegian is certainly not a barren desert nor is the best airline ever on the planet. Of course you will find airlines with better rosters or money but I challenge you to find an airline which offers this kind of career outlook on a wide body as Norwegian does. If you want stability and legacy airline rosters then by all means join a legacy airline or an established carrier like virgin but then don't moan when your 50 and still in the right seat with your upgrade nowhere near in sight.

You win some, you lose some.

That being said, I have averaged 12.5 full days at home each month (not necessarily OFF days) in the last 6 months and I commute (almost never on the same day as the outbound flight). Whether you consider that horrible or good is up to you. I'm certainly happy with my choice and very much enjoy the flying and the working environment.

Yes, the leave is not first come first served anymore. It’s better now.

The main thing to remember is ....there is no typical roster..... you can request the various patterns 442 or whatever but month to month the deadheading varies as does the flying.

Some months may have multiple positioning,,, start Gatwick go to USA, back to scandi, back to USA maybe finish Gatwick maybe some place else. Could be Paris or BCN.

3-4 trips a month, 10 days off, those are the Certainties .

And a take home pay of £5500 to £6000 for UK tax payer ?

With my school fees running at £2500 per month , im not sure how Norwegian , in the a long term , will enable pilots to better their childrens future , run a decent sized family home , the Range Rover school run , and be a member of Royal Troon to boot .

Apologies, im living in the past , i know , the industry is what it is now . NLH is one of my options for my retirement job, but with all that positioning in economy, a DVT is a a more likely outcome ;(

Tangoalphad

Have to agree money wise the 738 deal is pretty good especially if you end up in LGW and want to work/earn good money. Since last June it’s been double day off payments which is just under £1400 for a skipper and there are plenty of them, there are lots of guys that sell 20 days a year, do the math and some of the guys on 80% are selling close to double that!!

Equally many are not interested and prefer there days off at home, but the choice is yours.

LGW is full on year round so these are not just peak summer months, especially if you have some of the restricted qualifications such as Funchal or NN Winter OPS or ETOPS for the long short haul operation to the US and that before LTC LTCC LCC TRI TRE, tick a few of the boxes and you’ll be between £120K - £160k+

Conversely want time in the sun and low living costs and loads of time with your family go for LPA/TFS put up with a few nights stops and you’ll only fly a couple of days a week.

Well, you need to have left school to join......seriously a lot of the guys coming from the ME realise they won’t make the same money as they did there but you pay your money and take your choice. If the fees are £2.5 k a month for a school I’d suggest you’d have to take home £10k after tax to accommodate that and I’m not sure where that would be the case in Europe for DEC.

TangoAlphad

Swings and roundabouts. You get 12 DO a month , we get 10 but when it comes to leave we do t lose 1/4 of a DO for each leave day in a month .

Quite sad to see the standard of accommodations.. basically the same as a low-end US regional. I'm sure the Holiday Inn Oakland is lovely for a 2 day layover. And a Park Inn? That is deplorable. Hope they allow stealing extra booze from the galley to make up for the layover.

av8sean

Wow, what a positive attitude . Both a prima donna and a thief....
Most of the hotels are fine, some of them are quite nice. You’ll never be there that long anyway.

I think you missed the point.

Is it possible to specify/prefer certain overnights?

Anyone any idea if the bond for the 737 Max ( ie NLH) is the same deal as for the 787 ie. you make a deposit of €40,000/30,000/20,000
depending on current type?

£18000/3 year bond. But nothing paid upfront. Contract is with OSM not Rishworth.

Hi guys, Just a question.

I’m type rated FO on 73 and last January I applied for Relief Captain 787 and also for 737.
I did the online assessment and after that I received an email from NORWEGIAN Pilot recruitment Team Asking me to fill a form due to new recruitment procces. This mail was on last January 22nd. I send back the form and from that day I have no news from NORWEGIAN.

What can I expect? Do you think guys Should I write an email or just wait. What’s the next step? How fast is going the recruitment?

Last jan ?
Er, yeah, I should follow that up.

There’s 11 new 787s coming this year, a requirement for lots more pilots

I haven't been there but I doubt any US based crews stay there. That place wouldn't even comply with the flight attendant contractual standards. If a 3 star motel/inn on the side of the freeway is acceptable to you after a long haul trip, then enjoy.

Korean love the Park Inn.
Infact all their hotels are low ball 3 star.
Don’t expect to get a interruption free rest . Ear plugs mandatory.