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In 17 rolling days I have worked 14........no wonder my friends in the LOCO’s won’t even consider BA when they know the reality of our rostering |
efarto I always find it entertaining when people swap from short haul to long haul and tell me how easy long haul is, be that from within the company or as a DEP. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again; 99% of fresh long haulers feel like you. They recover almost overnight from the extreme tiredness they felt on short haul, and they enjoy having a bit of time off down route and visiting the new destinations. They hardly even notice the time changes and the nights out of bed because they are not long term fatigued and they never have been. We have all been there! A couple of years of long haul punishment under JSS and I guarantee you will change your tune. |
14 days on in 17... long term fatigue on LH... yet people soldier on and refuse to report fatigued. We're our own worst enemy.
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Originally Posted by Windshearescape
(Post 10291324)
Yes it attracts all types, just to note I wasn't having a dig at the crew merely illustrating the point that flying long haul for a few months is easy..
...and yes, I completely agree with your point about Longhaul and how the fatigue builds. |
Given all the negativity regarding lifestyle and health, what is the overall advice here? Is this a caution regarding the early years with light at the end of the tunnel, or is the suggestion not to join at all? Asking as a concerned potential joiner.
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FACoff: that’s SH.... |
I would say if you join , do so with your eyes wide open !! It is still a good company to work for , BUT it is going down hill rapidly ! The light at the end of the tunnel was always the LH life ! But that has long gone |
Originally Posted by bex88
(Post 10291353)
FACoff: that’s SH.... Riskybis - would you say yours is a common view of BA long haul? |
Originally Posted by FACoff
(Post 10291463)
Which makes it worse - you don't even benefit from the time off down route. I suppose I'm just amazed that BA have managed to engineer an environment where they can work people to the absolute bone and ensure they're too afraid to dig their heels in and say no.
Riskybis - would you say yours is a common view of BA long haul? |
For balance, I really liked the sample roster JSS gave me and I'm still nearer the bottom of the pile than the top. I hope it wasn't a fluke and will reflect my rosters going forward. One drawback for me with Bidline has always been that the trip lines of work are too mixed up (e.g. half a dozen early day trips in the first half of the month followed by a late four day tour and then a few more day trips and then maybe a standover or a night Moscow), ultimately satisfying nobody's preferences for the types of work they like doing. The very few lines that are genuinely brilliant lines will get snapped up by the top two or three guys on the list and everyone else is left to compromise to some extent. And the only way to subsequently get rid of the stuff you don't want is by swapping with other people. Most guys (and girls) I fly with have preferences for particular things, and (weekends off excluded) it seems there are more or less enough of those "things" to go around (day trips for the day trippers, tours for the tourers etc).
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Does anyone know roughly what TAFB/Time Away From Base Pay adds up to in addition to basic salary in an average year?
TIA! |
Originally Posted by GetTheQRH
(Post 10291675)
Does anyone know roughly what TAFB/Time Away From Base Pay adds up to in addition to basic salary in an average year?
TIA! For me it has averaged at £870 per month. I'm Full-Time, Heathrow-based Short Haul with a preference for tours. |
For balance, my November has 14 days work, every weekend off (3 long weekends) It's not all doom and gloom!
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For balance, my November roster is awesome. It is the fiirst time I have had a ‘normal’ workload roster all year mind. |
The truth is, no one will really know what JSS is like until we have a few months of live bidding where everyone is regularly participating. If it turns out to be as bad as some people expect, BA will have a massive problem in terms of recruitment and retention and will have to address it.
I mourn the loss of bidline as much as anyone else, but I can't believe its going to be as apocalyptic as some suggest. |
To all who want to join, keep a close eye on this thread over the next few months. It will be extremely telling. If if things go as I expect, these are my predictions. Call it an educated guess. Practically no-one will leave a command anywhere else to go to BA in either SH or LH. No FO from the usual suspects will even entertain joining BA short haul (future “cadets”, your time may have come). No FO from the usual suspects aged much over 30 will want to come to longhaul as the junior lifestyle will not be compatible with young family life (not sure it is currently either to be fair). There will always be exceptions, I appreciate that. My bet is most of those exceptions will have become fed up with opening the curtains in the morning and seeing beige. They’ll be the ones who’ve made their money. I think BA’s day of reckoning is close. |
Thank you
Originally Posted by NLP
(Post 10287180)
Yes, Captain within 18 months is possible. Latest rumours are everyone who has bid for a LGW command in 2019 will get it. LHR transfer as a FO is no problem, in fact you can probably tell them you’d prefer LHR and start there. LHR Captain is harder as you will need the seniority for a LHR command. Latest rumours for LHR command is ~3500 on a ~4350 pilot workforce. Disclaimer: it’s rumour and appearantly very fluid at the moment. I've tried to read this long thread as far back as I could looking for the most accurate and complete disclosable information any of us can get. BA seems like a good (but not great) gig. I guess life is not perfect. One concern I see people getting is the holy pound vs days off. I guess it would help if the airline could guarantee some 15 consecutive days off plus commuting option to our front door and a million in the bank every month for our wives to spend in shoes and handbags. Don't get me wrong this is my kind of employer too, but it would bankrupt soon. |
I would leave it a couple of months after Jan though, as I think there will be more than a few disgruntled pilots upset with their rosters in the first few months of JSS bidding until we learn how the system works. Once things bed down and the union tweaks a few parameters as necessary, we will know whether BA will be seen as a long term gig or not. |
Yep, Easter will have given people four bids under JSS, most will be some way up the learning curve and an overall picture of senority vs. rosters will be emerging. It is only then that we will have a handle on how much control the new system makes it possible for individuals to really have vs. how many are going to be on blindlines in all but name due to the consequences of Global Constraints/crew repair and the unlocking of rosters. TBH I’m sceptical as to how much significant tweaking BALPA will be able to do once JSS is in place, so it’s a case of fingers crossed. |
Does anyone know how long people are swimming for? Recently joined the pool.
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