Interviews at Monarch (merged)
 

Hello

Interview with Monarch next week for Boeing fleet.

I've been reading with interest the current threads on Monarch, most seem to be about life on the Airbus fleet; found no info on Boeing fleet based LGW.

I would appreciate any insight into life at Monarch on the B757 based LGW, for example, is everybody dual rated on the B767? Is the Boeing fleet busy all year round?

Thanks.


L.

Hi Lembrado

757 is reasonably busy year round at LGW with scheduled flights and quite a bit of charter night flying in the summer, but not as bad as A320 at MAN for overall hours. Unless the company obtains another 767 (rumours change almost daily) then you will have a long wait to get your hands on it. We are apparently getting rid of two 757's at the end of the year, which may mean forced draughts for lower seniority guys onto the A320 fleet if they don't get enough volunteers, however progression to the A330 is likely to be quicker than to the 767.

I'm sure you have read elsewhere that the interview is a fairly relaxed affair geared to see if you fit into what is still a fairly nice culture to work in.

Good luck.

I've got an interview lined up at the end of the month.

Have no idea what type i'd go on if i got offerd the job and just wanted to know how things are at MON now?
Any better than things suggested a few months back?
Any chance to get offerd the A330 or is it still done on seniority?
Has pay imroved?
All these sort of things would be helpful to know. How longs the contract???

cheers.

i would also be interested to know too please!



Thanxs guys!

Monarch job a300
 

hello all,
currently being offered a job as f/o with monarch on the a300-600, currently working in the middle east contracting. i have 4000 hrs and over 500 on the a300.

Just wondering what anybody thinks about this position, or the position iam am in, and maybee help me with the decision.

middle east is nice with the tax free income and everything paid for,
also might be takeing a bit of a pay cut!
better to choose a manchester or london base?

Thanks for your help.

s

Are they still looking for type rated people only ?

A330 is purely by seniority from the A320/1 fleet. This applies even if you are already A330 rated.

So can any one from Monarch be kind enought o answer a few of our questions...?

Would really aapriciate it, thank you before hand.

f/o at mon start pay is £42032
no sector pay
day rate is £2.52
voyage rate is £3.02
pension is 8% money purchase

A300 is best fleet in terms of lifestyle and workload...but is a dying fleet and will go in the next couple of years ...will be replaced by 787 or 350 but as to when ???

A320 at MAN is the hardest working 900 hours and will earn the least due lack of voyage/no sector pay
BHX/LGW 750 hours with no overnights
LTN 725 hours and two thirds of your work will be away flying out of EDI/BHX/MAN so will earn reasonable amount of allowances in the summer..around £800 per month

A330 is done on seniority regardless of base and will probably take 3-4 years to see.
commands are taking around 6-7 years,

interview is just a chat and is a relaxed affair...if you have a type rating and a pulse should be no problem !!

people you work with are great,lots of pressure on T&C's from a bean counter mangement style which means BALPA have spent a lot of time in the last few years battling to preserve existing benefits and improve our lot,very active CC who are doing their best to improve everyones situation.
It's not perfect but there are worse out there,hope this helps someone.

PRNAV1,

Like most people say, good people to work with BUT, the company is changing and with it the attitude of the pilots. The new contract is not great, the pension even worse. No scheduling agreement means the company have total control over your life and frequently exercise the right. MAN on the FBW is by far the worst case but other bases are going the same way. Whether you join on the 75 or 300 as the junior guys you can expect to end up on the FBW in the near future. For the 330/767 beach fleet life is relatively good, but it will take a while to qualify. If you’re looking for a place to get your hours up to qualify for BA/VS then this is the place. As far as I’m aware there are no temporary contracts being offered, if you get offered a job it will be for as long as you can stick it. Lots of jobs going in the marketplace at the moment, many with better T&C than Spotty M, choose carefully! Good luck.

Thats brilliant, thanx alot.
so out of curriosity what is the take home after tax on all the respected fleets? i want to know including allowances and everthing if poss.

and how long are you bonded?

I suppose the upside is that if you join on a fleet you're already rated on, and then you get put on the bus, then you'll get a free, unbonded rating out of it(?)

£42032 Minus tax/NI/pension contribution divided by 12. Plus about £250-300 per month flight pay on the FBW. Plus more if you are on voyage (see mudcity above). Whatever you take home it’s not enough for the hours and disruption to home life (for those who have one). Bonding, depends on whether they cock up your contract, 6 months, 18 months but 36 months is normal.

Monarch has a reputation as a good place to work. However, things have changed dramatically over the last few years.

Many of last years intake are shocked and are activly looking elsewhere, which is why you guys have an interview. Be warned.

Mudcity - are we talking about the Monarch CC????

So let me get this right,

we're talking 42k before tax. so how much do you take home after tax and all the pay outs for pension+NI every mnt?

what would i expect to earn in extra's on the A300 fleet, such as lay over allowence, sector pay in an average mnt? (before/after tax? if it's taxable at all?)

...and finally what is the average take home per mnt, of an FO on the A300 fleet, after everything?

Thanx before hand :) .

Though you may be joining on the A300, you should be asking about conditions on the A320, because that's where you'll end up, within a year or two. The A300 is on its way out.

How many sectors a day do you do on the 320?
What is the average sector length?

Regards BR.

Normally two sectors. Average length probably three hours.

If you want to get an idea what salary you will take home, go to www.e-gismos.com they have a programe that will do it for you. Just plug in your actual gross salary. Add to that about £250.00 to £300.00 allowances that are also taxed and come with the take home salary. There is NO sector pay at Monarch.

Also think of accomodation costs within 1hr 30mins of getting from pad to crewroom. Staff carpark to crewroom (20mins except luton).

:ugh:

Longarm, thanks for the info.
What is the current Bonding arrangements?
How much and how long for?


Regards BR.

...but some one mentioned taking home 600-800pnds in allowance's in the summer and what about pay per hour???

600-800 pounds allowances in the summer would be unusual for fleets other than the 767 and A330, or A320 pilots covering for other bases (mainly Ltn crews).Above salary the only other allowances paid are flight allowances. Depending on the length of flight this will be around 20-30 per day. 200 to 300 per month seems to be normal for crews operating out of home base.

Sorry don't know about bonding.

So we're talking 2300-2600pnd a mnt tops!? after tax of course, on most fleets...

Not so great after all. :hmm:

Have any of you who are interested in the T&C at Mon been offered a jobon the 300 or are you all destined for fbw/757?Just wondering as the old bus is meant to be going soon!

can any monarch employee confirm prnavs comment about pay??

thanxs

£2400.00 per month inc allowances(no sector pay), about right with no pension taken out. Hope your flying loans / bills are small.

Also lots of roster disruption so don't plan anything around your roster. Your 8 days off come in pairs and stay where rostered unless you sell them back. Rosters out 1700 on 20th each month running from 1st-end of next month. Only 37 days leave including bank holiday allowance usually issued 5 months inadvance. 3 weeks winter, 2 weeks summer.

thanx for the reply so far,

Roughly how much extra with sector pay? i hope quite abit...:(

PRNAV

As several people have stated there is NO sector pay. £2300 - £2400 in your pocket, after pension deductions. Thats it - end of.

Although you do get an M&S vouchers at xmas. :ugh:

oooooh touchy!

I can confirm that on a take home basis per month with standard pension contributions is 2400-2500. Not good for the position and work done by many in my opinion.The extra cash you can earn elswhere would be handy in a pension, as you will need it down the road. The package at Moanrch is sub par to say the least and they know it. Result being the exodus to BA and VS that in the past, would have never happened. Join if you please but you will not know many of the newbies long as they head for the exits. Hopefully this is addressed and the contract is returned to its once sensible offering.

shame, guna have to say no to that then....oh well.

Wait PRNAV, we didn't tell you about staff travel yet...

Go on...:hmm:

I always thought the best staff travel deal at mon was with hoverspeed or have I been missing something?

Still no info on Bonding.
Anyone please?


Regards BR

That will be Hoverspeed that has gone bust then.............

Bond is 20K / 3 year linear reduction, like in the old days. Staff travel is a game of two halves IMHO. You are issued with a Credit card sized pass which can be used on any scheduled service, just turn up at STD -40 and if there is a seat you are on for the cost of the airport tax. You are issued with a further card for a spouse / significant other who can utilise this perk even if you are not travelling. I find this works very well and is straight forward and effective, albeit for a small(ish) number of destinations. Without going too deeply into the mire that is "concessionary" travel on package holidays, I simply don't bother and don't know many that do. You could generally do better on the internet or even high street.

prnav1, Be careful reading comments on this forum, many who contribute are the ones who are ignored in the crew room due to their constant whingeing.
Many new joiners from other companies have a more balanced view of Monarch as they can compare to previous experiences however some, not all, of the straight through rookies have yet to face a dose of reality.
If you are talking about pay of the different airlines it is pretty easy to compare. Terms and conditions too will vary but wherever you go there are sure to be others within the airline on a better deal, thats the way the business has changed.
Wherever you go you are going to work your butt off, you may be lucky and join an airline that gives opportunity to gain experince on various types of aircraft and one that will in the next five or six years be re-equipping with new aircraft like First Choice and Monarch (to be announced in the next few months).
If its staff travel you are after then short haul to to Spain is excellent with the family "credit card" that can be used as often as you like...... some part time cabin crew commute to Spain for their 2 weeks off.
Other staff travel is pretty much minimal due to the fact that Monarch do not own the seats so you are limited to Cosmos and associated companies.
Whilst the recent pension confrontation will not effect you the main focus for the future is going to be roster stability. Most fleets have a problem but the FBW fleet in Man are the ones who tend to suffer the most due to pilots hitting their 90 hours per month and then everyone having to shuffle sideways to accomodate any changes.
I joined Monarch probably before you were born and I can assure you our present T&C's were achieved after many hours of patient negotiating by our PLC then CC. There has been an erosion mainly on the final salary pension and the Company Council have finally reached a compromise which doesn't please all. Hopefully some of the new entry FO's will soon be elected onto BALPA CC to carry on the thankless task of fighting for better conditions in the new contract
If you join Monarch you will work with a great bunch of pilots and cabin crew ( yes we all whinge occasionally!! ) and I believe have the opportunity of joining a comany that is gearing up for the future challenges with new aircraft and ample opportunity for a command within 5 to 6 years.
Its your call but do some more thorough research elsewhere before making your mind up.
Good luck with your career you have some difficult choices to make.
B&C

I. Management are known to post on here.

2. That was Burntandcold's very first posting.

3. After a big expansion last year, time to command is still running at 7 years plus. No one is getting a command after 5-6 years, as suggested.

4. Nothing has been agreed regarding the defined contribution pension. It is 8% company contribution, but only provided the employee also contributes the same. If the employee does not contribute, nor does the employer.