Monarch or Virgin
 

Have been at Monarch for a few years now, and am now considering my options.

Monarch T & C's have dropped over the past couple of years, so much so that its no fun no more.

Have wanted to fly for VS for a while now. Should I stay or should I go?

Guys from VS and MON why don't you try and sell your airline to me. What are your pros and cons.

I'll start.. VS hosties are better looking. :)))) Well I know that someones bound to say it.

When you are old and grey it's not what you've done you will remember but it's what you could have done and didn't.

Go, and live with the consequences whatever they may be.

NK

Rather an odd post !

If you have been at MON for "a few years" and "its no fun no more", and you have "wanted to fly for VS for a while now", what is stopping you ?

Why should anyone from MON want to "sell" the airline to you ? Presumably you have already bought it ?

I am wondering what "Terms & Conditions" made the job fun for you in the past, that you feel are no longer there ?

The cabin crew are more attractive ????

If this was your first post I might think you were simply a 12 year old or a troll. Hang on a minute, it is your first post ! :}

Had to create a new name, cos I havn't posted on here for ages and so fogot my old password.

A couple of reasons that stop me from applying to virgin is that I will end up at the bottom of the seniority whilst I am fairly comfortable within the ranks at Monarch. Also got new babies that need looking after. And dumping them on the wife while I go and sun it up in Lagos doesn't seem fair at the moment. But the wife tells me that she can cope.

Also being middle aged, I have realised that I may never get a long haul command with MON as there are quite a few youngsters above me.

I have only been toying with the idea of VS for the last 10 months or so. I have to think carefully cos this has to be my final career move.

Grass is always greener etc.....

No contest in my mind.

Virgin is a great company with good T&C's...BUT,

I would be bored fartless with the flying.
Long haul/Short haul....you pays ya money...

Think on the other side of the coin. You leave Monarch to go to Virgin. 5 years down the line you realise that maybe you shouldn't have gone as you hate being away alot, the flying is non-existent and you are still in the right seat.....
what then?

You really are stuck.

Persoanlly, I would bail out completely and grow mushrooms in France.

:ok:

Virgin - Great Company, great people, great destinations, great Cabin Crew, very happy buch of people and the list goes on....

How many VS guys do you see on Pprune bitching and moaning?

With the new salary increase the overall package in VS is much more appealing now and Virgin is getting stronger by the year.

Yes if your wondering I am very Pro-Virgin :)

Would you rather be sitting on the ramp at Luton in the winter at 2am with drizzle or sitting on the beach in St Lucia??????? Total No-Brainer :D

I think you have to do what your heart is urging you to do. I for one beleive that if your seriously thinking about something and really want to do it then just go for it. Yes you could possibly regret it 12 months down the line but at least you would have given it a try. If you dont go for it you will never know??

I would rather be sitting on the ramp at luton knowing I would be seeing my kids everyday. Like lots of people I have tried permanant longhaul and it aint for me. Remember, Work to live not live to work.

What....are you serious?!

You want to leave a company that has a mix of short and longhaul flying to go to a 100% long haul company?!!!

Have you flown long haul 100% of the time before?!!!

Ask yourself the question:

Do you want to fly and see your kids often, or press the occasional button after 12hrs and miss your kids growing up?

After 28yrs of flying longhaul, 3 wives and 4 children, if I had my time again, I know which one I would go for...




VS every time..!!!

:ok:

Thansks for the response guys.

Next question, are VS only looking for airbus rated guys cos I have 757 with total 5000hrs

I used to sit on the ramp a lot in Luton...unfortunately i was based in Manchester. In fact, thinking back, Glasgow, Newcastle, Cardiff, Stansted, Gatwick, East Mids and of course Birmingham were regular delights at 2am. Manchester was one the places i rarely nightstopped in.
I spend more days at home since i joined Virgin than i ever did when i was flying charter. Just cos you`re doing shorthaul doesn`t mean you`re home every night.

VS, definitely.

I take it, nite flyer, that when you forgot your password you also forgot how to use 'search'? ;)

There must be more information about Virgin on this forum than any other airline, with the possible exception of BA. There are two current threads on the first page of topics, both of which - at least in part - answer your questions. Have a look at these and the others. If you then have any questions remaining, by all means come back to me.

Scroggs

Wannabes Mod and Virgin catch-all!

Scroggs

I don't get it!

You have posted loads of really usefull information on Virgin and I for one am very pleased that you have.

What I don't understand is why you have a little dig at folk for daring to ask a question about Virgin? As far as I'm aware you are not obliged to answer every question on the topic just as we mere mortals would quite like other peoples opinions and not just yours.

I hope this doesn't sound rude as thats not my intention. I am interested in this topic and it just seems a shame to disuade this sort of thing, even if one could trawl through previous threads and come to the same conclusions.

Cheers.

185, the winking smiley is supposed to inject a bit of humour! That said, it does get a little frustrating when the information a poster is looking for is not only available (in bucketloads) by searching the forum, it is actually visible on the front page of the forum's contents! I know I appear to have indestructible typing fingers, but they aren't really, they are lifed just like the rest of me - and it's all wearing out rapidly!

Scroggs

You should see his new thighs! Ooh err, Duckie! :ooh:

As for the topic of this thread... I gave up IT flying for VS lifestyle. No regrets. Still have the night flight back when eastbound but it's only one at a time and plenty of rest to recover from it. The thought of three night flights in a row to various Greek, Turkish, Spanish destinations :yuk:

Longer West coast flights mean that you actually get planned rest in a proper rest area with sheets, quilts, pillows, full flat bed and privacy. Plan on about 3 hours each way to ease you through the long hours of boredom.

If you want to commute to and from your departure airport you can. After 6 months fully discounted travel. There are some commuters from as far away as Seth Efrica but I think they're part timers. Plenty from France, Spain and oop north of Watford.

VIRGIN or NOT?
 

Hi guys,
let's say you are a 32 years old 737 Cpt. working in the south of Europe for an airline that is sucking you dry day after day and let's say you would consider a change (for the better of course) even if that meant to be (temporarily of course) demoted and relocated.
I hear Virgin Atlantic is hiring and is one of the good places to be but i am very much open to any suggestion.
In general i would like to fly in a nice plane,in a professional way,in good company,living in a place i can consider "civilized" (commuting considered) and last but not least for an amount of money that would leave me with a smile on payday....or have i seen too many movies?

Scroggs,
You say you are wearing out rapidly! Is this long haul fatigue? In the past all I wanted to do was to fly long haul, but after about 5 years I was grateful to leave it to others.
For those thinking about the future I would suggest a long period of thought, before dumping all for a long haul career.

No, I'm not suffering from long-haul fatigue, just getting old!

Lifestyle's a personal thing. For me, with young children, I get more time at home than my mates in short-haul, and I work less hard than them when I'm away - in nice places. I have well into five figures on hours, so I no longer have anything to prove on numbers of landings (same as numbers of take-offs, fortunately!), and I don't feel the need to be able tell tall tales of derring-do among the Greek islands.

However, this lifestyle doesn't suit everyone. It certainly didn't suit the last Mrs Scroggs, whose objections would have been equally valid in short-haul flying.

Scroggs

I am in a similar situation than Nite Flyer and I am also considering a change of lifestyle.
Actually I am not sure what kind of life I have at the moment... My outfit has decided to venture from the traditional charter market into the low cost one. At no financial cost to me, I decided to transfer fleet and have a look at what we, in the company, refer as "the future".
Well, looks like Mr Scroggs is having a good time, works less than me and even spend some time at home with kids and familiy.
I do not have any kids but between my 4 sector days, the lates, the earlies and god knows what else, I do not see whoever it is I am supposed to live with, in the same house.
She has to get up at 6.30 everyday of the week so depending on the time I come home, we might manage half an hour pillow talk around 12:30 and 1am.
This for a series of 4 to 6 days. Then when comes the week end, I usually work at least one of these days. Sooo it gives us one day a week to catch up and do things. Pretty tired at that time, I must say that the motivation to get up is quite hard to find.

So in my view short haul is no walk in the park. As for being home every night, yes I am... But does the 2200-1 am slot counts ?
Now I am after quality time at home so I have made my mind up (or Tfly v ... for the matter).

Nite Flyer
VS 1 Monarch 0

Lifestyle wise I do think Virgin has more to offer. Yes, the perception is that you will be away from home a lot more, but as someone already mentioned, in reality this may not be the case.

I have done exactly that what you are contemplating, I have left Monarch for Virgin. I too find that I actually have more time at home now than in the charter days. It's something many people only flying short haul find hard to believe, but it's true (what's more, I am better rested so I do enjoy those days off a lot more). With Monarch I was away a lot, either on long haul at some other UK base. Then when you did have some days off, this block of days was often broken up by a nice standby in the middle. Not conductive to a stable lifestyle.

As I said, I also did the occaisional long haul with Monarch, something I did enjoy a lot and which gave me confidence that I would be able to deal with the Virgin lifestyle of permanent long haul. What I had not foreseen though, was the immense effect the bunk has on you well being. Just being able to lie down a couple of hours on a long flight - even if you don't sleep - makes such a difference in how you feel when you arrive, and even more importantly, in how quickly you get back into the rhythm of things.

All of this is not a knock on Monarch as a company. I think it is a very well run company and I have had a great time there. Things are moving along there pretty quickly at the moment regarding time to command, so you could do a lot worse than to stick around. Ultimately, and I am sure I am telling you noting new here, it is a lifestyle choice. Long term, what would suit you better?

Thanks for the replies guys.

I guess its time to dust off handling the big jets again. Thought I wouldn't need that again.

Hope to see you guys at VS soon.

Have fun with that! What were the three types of aqua-planing again??
Good luck anyway, think you`re making the right decision. All of my mates in Mon are applying to join us, don`t know any trying to go the other way.

Cheers

Instead of Handelling the Big Jets get yourself a copy of Ace The Technical Pilots Interview by Gary V. Bristow. This book is a lot easier to read than HTBJ yet it covers the same topics and more in a questions and answers format. Invaluable in my opinion. All the Best.

BP

Regarding the book 'Ace The Technical Pilots Interview' by Gary V. Bristow, it is useful to get your head around all the concepts again (all those things you once knew) but I must say that I was very disappointed by the amount of inaccuracies and plain errors I found in the book. Another proof read (by experts) would perhaps have been a good idea. I also found the writing style a bit tedious, but that is a personal thing, I suppose.