flying with BA
 

Hi everyone,

I am currently working for a german airline and have applied as F/O with BA. Given that I pass assessment etc. I would like to know what kind of flight scheduling awaits me: I would be flying the 777, as far as I know, and would want to shuttle from London to Germany. So my questions are:

Anyone of you already doing what I intend to do?
Someone told me that with the 777 its 6 days work 6 days off, can anyone confirm that? What about standby duty, etc.?:confused:

Thanks for your help!! Happy landings!:O

I'll be moving to BA on the 777 soon. The rosters are definately not 6 on 6 off. Expect 4-5 trips a month with no set pattern.

Initially you will be on 'blindline' where you are basically given a roster although you can state preferences. Once you have some seniority you then bid for lines of work.

Looking at a bidpack for oct05 a typical month:
5-7th: JFK
12-15th: ORD
18-20th: PHL
23-26th: MCO
29-31: DEN

777 apparantly not as commuter friendly as 747.

six on/six off -don't plan on it...the majority of trips are three day trips and will be separated on your roster by two clear days - however you may may be able to "back to back" two 3 day trips , either as part of the allocation process or by swopping with your colleagues. Sadly you may have to back to back in order to hit the monthly hours target .

Shuttling/commuting - lots of people do it from all over the EU and further afield.

Standby duty - You need to understand the terminology here. You will do a Reserve month very roughly once every year / 18 months (initially). Whilst on Reserve you are required to be contactable by the Company every evening for allocation of a duty the following day. Also within that month you will do several days of "Home Standby" where you have to be available for report within 2 hours.

JT8
 

Hi
we crossed on the previous posts..just a couple of observations and welcome to the wonderful world of Bidline...the rules for which contained in a book the size of small novel:uhoh: .

As far as the 744 ( which I'm on) being commuter friendly: maybe...the lines for the junior guys are roughly similar on both fleets - historically the 744 has more of the longer trips than the 777 this will no doubt change over the next couple of years.

Junior pilots don't always end up "on" Blindlines. Blindlines are "pay protected", i.e. the company is responsible for your roster and if they can't get you to the monthly hours target ("CAP") you don't get your pay docked. You get no such protection on Triplines - it's your roster and if you consistently are unable to pickup enough work to make CAP you will loose pay. Since there are only a fixed number of Blindlines these may get mopped up by the "not quite junior" guys protecting their income, meaning the the pilots at the bottom of the list end up being assigned Triplines.

As to the line you quote - I'm not an expert on 777 lines but I suspect that line may fall below slightly CAP and so depending on how hard you've worked in previous months you may need to do an extra trip to make "CAP', e.g. by Back to backing a trip onto the JFK - anyone in the know on the Fleet care to comment?

Thanks for clearing up a few points wiggy. The line I quoted was actually well over cap helped by the ORD having a shuttle inbetween.

I'm still surprised and a little confused why cap is so difficult to achieve even after doing 5 trips a month. Surely the cap should be reduced or credits adjusted to achievable levels. Hardly anyone in the bidpack I have seems to be making cap! :uhoh:

I'm not sure thats quite accurate. If you bid for blindlines and nothing else then if you don't achieve any bid you are automatically awarded a blind line. Or if you don't bid at all.

Hand Solo -I stand corrected, it's BLR 3.5.4.8 thanks for clearing that up.

JT8 - You've found one of the major problems the 777 pilots have -that of making CAP....it's been a long running problem and one that doesn't look like being resolved in the near future. You don't say if you are looking at a "Stage 1" or a "Stage 2" bid pack - it will tell you on the front page. At Stage 1 you pick up a line, which may well be below CAP. You then have the opportunity a little later, at Stage 2, to bid for extra trips to top the line up.
Also there is also a "Bank" system which allows you, within limits, to overwork one month and then use the excess hours (above CAP) to compensate for a shortfall ( again within defined limits) in following months.......

Wiggy: Its a stage 2 bidpack! :uhoh:

Mind you still seems better than my easyjet June roster: 110 hours! :{

OK - what you are seeing is the lines the guys/girls have got as a result of Stage One of the process...if they are well below CAP they are now going to have to fill in with extra work by bidding for individual trips that you will find listed in part of the pack....there are lots of funny rules to this Stage that I won't bore you with now ... but rule 1 is make sure you get to within 15 hours of CAP otherwise the Company "wipe" your line and roster you:uhoh:


Hope this helps

HI guys, I've tried searching both here and ppjn, but no joy. How does one apply to BA, is it through email, post, or online app.? Thanks for the response.

So was this system invented by the same guy who came up with Mornington Crescent???:} :confused: :}

I think you'll find that application is initiated via the website normally, but if the 'apply' link is not there, they aren't recruiting just now. That said, why don't you give them a ring? They are, after all, the authority on the subject!

Scroggs

design gradient bro it works the commuting aus deutschland even as a junior F/O its not perfect and you really get to like heathrow from the inside. PM if you want more details ow

thanks guys, that has given my some insight, appreciate the effort and waka will take u up on the offer... thanks!! :)