Post self deleted Buter as it wasn’t necessary to keep bickering about the amount of five day trips available on a BA recruitment forum.

January JSS dry run however has (as hoped for) thrown up a far more commutable SH roster than currently is the case with Bidline pre swaps which was more or less my point. Should only get better too with increasing seniority. However it’s a moot point for me as I’m off to sample the delights of Carmen!

Hello everyone,

Just looking for some advice, if anyone is ‘in the know!’

I recently attended (and passed) the second stage interview and group assessment and wanted to get some info regarding A320 command opportunities. It was claimed that with over the applicable command hours requirement, one could expect a short haul command, if so desired, at LGW (or even LHR!) within 6 -12 months of joining. Is this a real possibility? Are the command slots really going to those that junior?

Many thanks in advance.

Not sure about 6-12 months but 18-24 seems feasible at the moment, probably LGW rather than LHR although JSS means all bets could be off.

Would you have got a command in that time frame if you had joined in time to bid for the following training year? 2016 = yes but not LHR, 2017 = no, 2018 = no for LHR, yes LGW. 2019 training year, rumour is yes for LGW but I believe it’s no for LHR but they have gone very junior. Hopefully that helps.

Now the truth about a junior command. Really really bad rosters. You will work at least 9 in 10 weekends if not more. Generally 2 day 6 again and again. The bonus was TASS which could mean a few extra days off per month over more senior guys who choose their work. Under the new JSS rosters that will have gone. You can expect to work 18 days a month or more all year on low credit trips with long turns at LHR. Add to that 3 reserve periods each year. It’s ok for a bit but for years and years you will sit stuck at the bottom as more senior guys parachute in above you. Essentially it destroys your life. It’s ok though because you will be rewarded with a captain pay check........except you will be paid 30-35k less than at EZY or RYR. Colleagues of mine have not had a clear weekend in a year! (Excluding leave)

LGW is probably a better option due to the rostering system.

BA is a good company to work for but the seniority driven rostering is terrible.

Any chance you can pm me the descent/climb issues?
rgds

BA can at any time within your engagement freeze direct you to a new posting. Its covered in our agreement. But as you suggest it is probably cost and training capacity that are the driving factor.

Haha that’s a good one, I’ll bite. Joining direct onto a Long Haul fleet and bypassing the seniority of eligible internal FO’s (for the reasons of the training footprint and cost no less) then moaning that you can’t now take a SH command for the exact same reasons, which are why you guys are on your Long Haul fleets to begin with? Clear case of having your cake and eating it there Tricia, gotta call it I’m afraid and for once I’m on the company’s side.

(And before we use the term “directed” in the same breath as DEP Long Haul I’m sure there were plenty of these people attempting to turn down Long Haul for RHS on the Airbus :hmm: )

If you want to make BA your career the only smart move is taking the earliest start date on whatever fleet you are offered. I was only offered long haul as at the time they didn’t have enough internal bidders who met the hour and insurance requirements.

Don’t join BA if your sole reason is expecting a very early command would be my view as you are likely to be disappointed, if only because those who are now getting very junior commands will be in those seats for a long time with very little movement. The only reason Gatwick particularly is going so junior is the need to man up and fly the slots acquired from Monafch internally.

Fully sympathise Tricia however when you joined it was very likely there were bidders senior to you who were denied their move to Long Haul because it was cheaper to employ Direct Entry Pilots and only pay for one course, rather than two. To the vast majority of Short Haul Pilots in the RHS, Long Haul is seen as the golden ticket, granted it wasn’t in your circumstances but I would suggest that’s fairly rare.

Given that this has been happening for the last few years (and has happened in British Airways for a long time now) it should be of no surprise to you that BA are now using the same rule set to give junior commands to those who are rated to reduce their training costs. I post this point of view as someone who wanted long haul but didn’t get it, why should people like me not now benefit from being rated on type - BA have clearly shown precedent - if they want to gain their command? (I don’t BTW)

I’ll take that wager ;-)

Tricia, LC and the rest of the PnP team have previously said that some type freezes will be waived this year for those with a valid C32X bid. If you’ve put in for a Gatwick command, there’s a very good chance you’ll get it.

Of all the multitude of rules within BA, I have always presumed that the one rule known to all new joiners (be they DEPs, TEPs, CEPs), was that you go wherever the company sends you within your first 5 years period. Then once you are in, you learn “bid only for what you want”, but you won’t get it unless BA choose to unfreeze you. BA are hardly going to choose to unfreeze people where it would cost them money to do so. They do it when it suits them, and that is all. Some people have been known to do 3 courses within their first 5 years because they’ve been in the right (or wrong) place at the right (wrong) time. The great thing is, when you are eventually unfrozen, you’ll have lots of people stopping you from being bottom of the list.

There has been a little bit of talk about DECs, and bids like yours are precisely the reason why that will not be happening any time soon. All the while there are internal pilots wanting short haul commands, BALPA will insist they are unfrozen first, and I am sure there are plenty of frozen bidders available.

There is another huge reason why DEC will not happen any time soon and that’s because BA is about as attractive as Anne Widdecombe for potential DEC recruits, potentially earning £30k less than at easyJet/RYR to suffer horrendous rosters working every weekend broken up by reserve every other month, for a long long time too.

There is some info a bit further back in the thread.

Generally 2 sector day trips. Some tours but not that many, mostly 2 day 6 sector stuff but some longer and better layovers available. Typically in the summer expect 10-14 days off per month with the winter more like 14-18. It’s noticeably seasonal, summers a full on, winters aren’t. At the bottom of the list you can expect mostly weekend work. If that isn’t a problem you can get fairly good rosters.

Expect to move pretty quickly up that list, assuming recruitment continues at the forecast rate.