Problem is whilst there might be a basis in fact ( usually starting with somebody running a feasibility) I think those rumours can become circular...the extra 380 rumour also has been running eslewhere, not just on pprune or flyertalk but there's still nothing concrete. On an in house forum it started last week but in that varient it was triggered by someone claiming he had heard a story from a senior cabin crew member who had served Mr XXX who had told him that , etc etc...

As for specifically the 777W rumour, all I can say is that in all honesty that one wasn't circulating even amongst the BA 777/77W community in the last 24 hours so forgive me if I for one take it with a pinch of salt, at least for now...

That said over the years rumours have always been that BA would take more 777Ws if they could get them, much more so than 380's.... so if you want to go with a rumour I'd go with the 77W one.

( Tin hat on, retires to safe distance........................, and add's rider that with it being BA anything could happen tomorrow..))

Edit to add: ETOPS that belatedly rings a bell and would make a bit more sense - unlike fleet expansion I doubt a one for one (or three for three swap) would raise much comment if/when that happened..

I’ve heard TAM 77Ws to replace our old 200s, so no new extra frames, just replacements for the old originals.

Is it possible they might pushback retirement of the 777-200's and some of the A319/320's that are due to go soon....even for 1-2yrs to source newer aircraft for the LGW expansion?

Pay attention WonderBus I just said that two posts up :ugh:

Any comments on the webinar chat of Wednesday?

I forgot to dial in- probably tells you all you need to know

Probably only good news if you are rated.

Or you have zero experience and a £120k debt with a licence still hot off the printer

we shall have to wait and see what mid January brings.....

According to what they said I am estimating about 250 holdpoolers currently floating

I think there will be quite a few LH aircraft rated in the pool also looking to join from ME and HK airlines.

That’s a “given” across the entire operation, not just pilot recruitment.....

That would be some serious pay cut and reduction in benefits!

Would it really? What benefits are they losing? Last time I was in Dubai everything was astronomical. The cost of living out there must be huge and HK isn't any better.

In any case, there's more to life than money. Home vs Sandpit.....no competition whatsoever. Unless it's purely out of necessity, I can't imagine many people making the decision to stay or go based on money.

From HK its about a 60% cut but you have to look at the bigger picture, cost of housing, standard of living and pollution. Personally for me its an easy decision to return home, money is not everything.

What about BA's part in the purchase of Niki by IAG? Does anyone think it is going to be a positive aspect for recruitment?

Well they have committed to hire Niki pilots as part of the deal, I doubt that will affect BA recruitment much.

Plus the conditions at Niki were beyond awful, and I do not expect them to improve.

It is reported that Niki is to operate as a Veuling subsiduary so it is highly unlikely to have any effect on BA recruitment.

Looks like BA are wet leasing Qatar aircraft...but at least its only for a short time...possibly just to get the ex monarch slots expansion going....

"British Airways Plc applied on 4 December 2017 to wet lease six Qatar registered Airbus A320 aircraft, registrations A7-LAA, A7-LAB, A7-LAC, A7-LAD, A7-LAE, and A7-LAF, between 9 February and 9 April 2017 inclusive.
The application has been made on the grounds that the lease is justified on the basis of exceptional needs (Article 13(3)(b)(i) of Regulation (EC) No 1008/2008) to enable British Airways to support passenger operations due to late delivery of aircraft."

http://publicapps.caa.co.uk/docs/33/2258.pdf

About a 50% pay cut in my case.

As for 'benefits', let's put it this way. I now have union protection and no longer fly to war zones, or have to endure 45 degree heat and dust, infuriating bureaucracy, mad locals razzing their Ferraris at 3am, 'wasta', the call to prayer, punitive company culture, etc etc.

BA ain't perfect, but it's a lot better than most alternatives, and a different world compared to what's on offer in the Middle East. Wild horses couldn't drag me back to the pit.

200 plus pilots needed in 2018
 

from the horses mouth today - 200-250 pilots needed this year alone due expansion... No news whether LH or SH or DE pilots/white tails

but great news for any swimmers!

I’ve heard we’re no longer scrapping any 747s in 2018.

I've heard BA are about to sign a deal for 20 747-8s

Still three months to go until April 1st.

Ah yes RexBanner but that does not mean there was not the odd wetdream last night.....

Can anyone elaborate? Is 200-250 genuine?

Haven’t seen anything on yammer or the usual channels to elaborate further but I recently had a four day trip with a trainer and he quoted the same figure.

It came from a Chief Pilot video. A figure of 200 was mentioned. Interestingly, this is before the impact of the Monarch slots is taken account of. Good luck to all those in the pool. Sounds positive to me.

How many in the hold pool right now? I would guess less than 50 FPPs would be ready this year?

Seems that all the new routes/expansion from the monarch slots have been announced on BAs website.....all Europe beach/leisure routes!

60 FPPs to join from Dec 17 onwards.. I thought we only had 100 in the hold pool.

Retrojet

Whatever the plan for them is in the short term, I don't think you can draw any conclusions about their use beyond 2018. It may well be the plan to transfer them slowly across to long haul as was/is the case with the BMI slots at Heathrow.

Fair enough....but even for short term....good news for TR'd guys and girls, well I guess it depends on the leasing of Qatar and Titan aircraft initially and then what ever happens in terms of sourcing extra aircraft

BA Cityflyer now flying some of the routes till the end of the year at least confirmed.

I wonder how all these leased aircraft will affect recruitment for us lot.... BACF, Qatar? and Titan?

Retrojet the Monarch slots will affect the amount of intake in a positive way. Using BA Cityflyer, Titan and Qatar is more expensive then having (bigger) BA aircraft operate these slots.

The post from Jet Set Willie is incorrect, there is a lot of wishful thinking within BACF, but so far BACF will only operate a few slots out of LGW, mainly in the weekend, from the 9th of Feb till the end of the winter season. This is when mainline think they have enough aircraft to do these flights themselves.

I understand recruitment have been contacting those who were rated previously to clarify their circumstances, I guess something is about to start somewhere.

Can anyone clarify the latest info?

Which ratings were they asking about?

"Can anyone clarify"

Approx 200 this year, 60+ are cadet with the rest dep
Expecting it to be similar numbers each for the next 4 years
Could be more if lots leave over the current pension and bidding system changes

Source : top horses mouth

Any ideas when the next lot of movement will happen? I know they said next update will be mid-January....any rumours floating around.