Virgin Hiring
 

Hello All,
I'm new to PPRUNE and hopefully I'm posting in the correct area. I was wondering if Virgin hires American flight crew members? If so, what are their mins and how does one go about applying? Thanks
IB

Que scroggs............again. :D

Standby caped crusader - I'm sure that scroggs will shortly come up with the goods.

Stand back, people...

Virgin will consider anyone who has the correct qualifications, a CAA/JAA licence and the right to live and work in the UK. Just like the US, the EU has residency and work restrictions. We don't have a Green Card, but you need to have UK/EU ancestry or passport to work here permanently. If you're not sure about this bit, check with the British Embassy - you might find the info on their website.

As for qualifications, you'll need a minimum of 2500 hours, mainly on commercial jets. Most of our new-hires have at least 4000 hours. Airbus time is preferred, but not essential. An FAA licence is not acceptable; you must have a CAA/JAA licence. If you need to convert your licence, there's lots of information here on how that can be done and how much it costs - it's not cheap!

Applications are via the Virgin website.

If that link doesn't work (and it may well not), go to Virgin Atlantic's website. Follow the link to 'All About Us', then the sub-menu item 'Working For Us', then the sub-sub menu 'Pilot Recruitment'.

Hope this helps.

Scroggs

Hi Scroggs,

then how come I have never been invited for an interview?

I am waiting for that slot now since 3 years. I have a full and valid JAA ATPL with a valid TR on 330 and A32F and a UK issued class 1 medical.
4000Hrs TT, 1200 A330, 2500 A320

I am a 100% European citizen so I have the right to live and work in the UK.
Standard reply although very friendly when I call recruitment: problem is ATPL has to be UK issued!!!!

I am getting desperate here....

:sad:

For around 200 STG the CAA will convert your whatever JAA licence into a CAA/JAA licence, if this is your problem.....

well, thats not what the nice people at the UK CAA told me...

According to them, in order to convert your licence to a UK one you need:

1) To have your official residence in the UK

or

2) Be currently hired by a UK operator

To be considered by Virgin nowadays you need to have the UK issued ATPL.....

So if you are living and working abroad, like my case, there is no way you can get your licence converted or to get the interview with VAA....

Its a shame if you ask me, so far for the EU, open skies and a unified licencing system

yeah, you are right, I was under case b that time, however, if you find a little general aviation outfit which will give you a job for a certain periode of time.....;)

I wasn't aware that Virgin insisted on a UK-issued ATPL. I will try and find out if that is actually the case and, if so, why. I don't guarantee getting an answer - or, at least, one that will help very much. I assume such a restriction, if it exists, is legal; Virgin is not in the habit of using or perpetuating illegal employment practises.

However, it seems to me that the process of converting your licence is straightforward enough, and would be unlikely in itself to prevent employment. If the company liked you enough, it could agree to employ you subject to getting the licence conversion done before you began flying, so I doubt that this is a stopper.

Far more likely, in my opinion (and it is just my opinion!), is that there are sufficient applicants locally (ie within Europe) to not need to look further afield. I can't see any company making things more difficult or expensive for itself than it needs to, and Virgin is way, way oversubscribed for pilot positions. It can take whoever it wants - and that means (among other things) whoever is easiest and cheapest to employ. Sorry if that's not what you want to hear - and please understand that this is purely my speculation, and not some kind of demi-official company statement!

Scroggs

Oy, Scroggs... you calling me "easy" and "cheap"? :ooh:


:}

Oh, I forgot about you Danny.

Virgin can and does employ cheap, easy pilots - like me. It also employs Danny. Obviously, if he can get in, anyone can...:p ;)

Oh how it pains me to agree... but he's so right. :\

signeti, perhaps you should read Scroggs earlier post where he states that he will try and look into the matter. I am not aware of any requirement for a 'UK' JAA licence and I have never seen it mentioned anywhere.

I don't think that calls of "shame on you Virgin" would make much difference. I mean, are you going to stand on a spectators balcony somewhere and shout at a taxiing VS B747 or A340, shaking your fist in the air shouting "shame on you!"? Perhaps find out where Virgin Group headquarters are and stand outside calling "shame on you!"? I must be fick cos I just don't get it.

Why not wait until Scroggs has looked into it and then if it is indeed a policy, I believe they still have a spectators balcony at LGW and I know there is an area at MAN where the crew would certainly see you waving. Dunno about hearing the calls of "shame" though. :rolleyes:

There are quite a few UK airlines that require you to have a UK issued licence. I know that some airlines have this policy because of having previous problems with other CAA´s (Italy to mention one) that are "JAA" countries.
The problem is that when people had their LPC/OPC and the TRI/TRE signed the form, the foreign CAA (where the licence was issued) refused to accept the TRI/TRE because he/she was not approved by the local CAA. So, instead of getting in to this problem every now and then they require you to have a UK issued licence.

I had no problem converting my licence...but it was £194!!!! :yuk: :{
/CP

thanks for the civil reply captain prop,
hey danny , maybe you didnt notice this isnt jet blast , its the terms and endearment thread,
may be if you reread my post you would see the disclaimer
" IF THIS IS TRUE "


I wont be flagging down any virgin aircraft anytime soon ,
so get off your high horse, i think i had a valid point ...

nuff said

I think Captain Prop has it about right, though I've asked the question and we'll see what the company says. On the face of it, it seems a bit of a nonsense if you can just swap your licence for a UK one for a bit of cash. I don't understand how that makes any difference to what might have happened in the past!

When I have an answer, I'll let you know.

I can confirm that Virgin Atlantic do require a UK issued JAA ATPL. I have been lucky enough to be selected by Virgin and I had to convert my non UK issued JAA ATPL to the UK CAA issued one. For me it was just a big paperwork exercise.

Hope this helps

AD

OK, as AD says, the requirement is genuine. I understand it may be a CAA requirement rather than a Virgin one, but I'm trying to get clarification on that.

However, it is not necessary to hold a UK-issued ATPL at the time of application. It's perfectly acceptable to obtain one subsequent to success at interview.

Hope this clears up some of the confusion!

To further what Scroggs put on his last post I didnt have a UK issued JAA ATPL when I applied or when I attended the assesment/interview day at Manor Royal. The chaps who interviewed me did mention that a job offer would be conditional on obtaining a UK JAA ATPL.

"Shame on you... you... Virgin you!"
http://www.virgincrew.net/forums/graemlins/angry.gif


;)

did i hit nerve there danny ? no let me guess ... we're not supposed to criticise your employer is that it ???
I have deleted my post as its obvious you will try and kill any attemp to discuss the matter realistically.

this may be your website , but that dosnt excuse you being a bully :mad:

I don't see any attempt to prevent discussion of the matter, but I do see someone who's made fairly wild assumptions and got on his high horse before he knows the facts of the matter - while knowing that I was in the process of trying to discover and deliver a reasonable, and reasonably authorititive, answer to the question posed by Studebaker.

Signeti, I suggest you go back and read this topic through again (remembering to include your deleted post), and then ask yourself who and what is worthy of criticism here.

Scroggs

Studebaker978

Could be possible that you're not the type of person they're looking for?

Here here

Your out of line signeti.

Have you considered adopting the angy man as your signature? I'm sure if you ask nicely!!..............:uhoh:

Sorry if I offended but a requirement to be a Virgin is to have a sense of humour... oh, and before I forget, a thick skin! :ooh:

Toodles from the Apple Store at the Florida Mall... yes the new one... it's like dying and going to heaven. :rolleyes:

Well, Virgin Nigeria is hiring...
Maybe a good alternative!

Thanks for the replies guys....It more or less confirmed what I allready knew.

So there is nothing more left for me to do but sit an wait.

Regarding the " cheap pilots" part, written by Scroggs. Well, I am coming from about 40min flying across the channel so I do not think that should be posing any problems now is it? And no, I do not have a french accent....

As far as I know the relations between "my" CAA and the UK CAA are almost perfect so I can not immagine a conversion would be too difficult. I was just worried about the circle hiring --> req UK ATPL -->req residence or employment in UK --> etc

But Scroggs seems to be almost sure that this would not be " a fail" item and that employment would be offered on a conditional bases of converting the licence when needed. Not a problem for me there.

Whether or not VAA thinks I am a suitable candidate? I do not know. All I know is that I totally fit in the profile and that they have never spoken to me before, so my maybe defunct personality is yet to be discovered ;)
Sometimes I wisched they would just tell us: Mr XXX, you are unsuitable for our kind of ops for this and this reason...Then at least we would know and we would be able to move on.

As I said, thanks for the replies and I will keep my fingers crossed. Maybe, just maybe, one day I will be sitting with you guys in the flightdeck saying: remember studebaker on PPrune, thanks for the help"

Keep it safe up there



S978:cool:

I still have rejection letters from every airline I have ever worked for, including Virgin. Just be patient.

We let you in after we rejected you? I shall have to have a word with Janine...:p

Good luck Studebaker!

Perhaps I should rephrase that... they rejected my 'application' as I didn't have the necessary hours or relevant jet experience at the time.

Moral of the story is, don't ever give up. Any rejection is only the situation on the day they wrote to you.

I have had an application in now for well over 3 years, meet all the minimum requirements.
Just over 8000 hrs total, nearly 5000 hrs medium jet.
But I don't have a Bus or Boeing on my license.
So I must assume that I'm too old ?(46)
Or require one of the above on my license to stand a chance?

Just wish that they would put me out of my misery, if I'm not suitable/too old, then tell me so.

I've been updating my CV with Janine every 3 months is that enough or should I send it in every month?:confused:

Feed back from a collegue of mine who is a few years older, was told that he wasn't suitable for the Airbus.( not Bus or Boeing rated either)

Shame as he is an excellent Trainer, TRE IRE. Or was that the problem, being over qualified?:{

It's not possible for us to know why any individual was unsuccessful at interview, or is not picked up from the huge pile of CVs on Janine's desk. I'm afraid we're not actually in the recruiting department, so we don't have that information. As you can imagine, though, with the huge numbers of applicants we have, luck will play a large part in the process.

So, do I send a CV in every week then if this is a numbers game?
At least it should appear at somwhere near to the top of the pile every week and still show my enthusiasm?
Or is this exactly what you dont want?:confused:

I think Ive got a pile of about 50 rejection letters.....all very motivating stuff:)

Maybe someone's been reading Jetblast

Qte:
36. Avoid employing unlucky people - throw half of the pile of CVs in the bin without reading them.
;)

Age
 

Best not be over 50.....all the ratings, hours and good references from bmi and the like counted for naught I'm afraid. I applied at 50, in their time of need (for A340 F/O's). Just 1 e-mail acknowledgement from Beardies Brigade.

Now 52 years of age, 1300 more A330 hours, and nothing further from VS.

Yet Janine was very pleasant, but non-commital, and no personal abuse/or incorrect verbiage involved.

But hey, this is aviation, and my experience can be quite typical, so no major-league whinge from my quarter, just disappointment. The time has passed, and on with my career elsewhere.

@ Scroggs:


Sorry to annoy you with this (?), however:

Could you manage to find out about the need of an UK-issued Licence for prospective applicants-- or is an JAA-ATPL just fine initially?

BRGDS

I'm not sure I can add anything to what was said on the first page of this topic. To summarise:

You need a UK-issued JAA orCAA licence prior to taking up employment with Virgin.

It would seem to be acceptable to apply with a JAA licence issued by another country, but you must get it changed to a UK-issued licence prior to starting employment. (See AERO-DYNAMIK's posts earlier).

Scroggs

Thanx for clarification! ;)