Absolutely Buter!

As hinted at before, getting a direct entry LH offer might sound like winning the lottery. However it does come with a health warning.

Having just joined the company your seniority number is at the bottom of the group, since every year there is a lot of movement from people who are unfrozen you will generally stay for at least 5 years at pretty much the bottom of the seniority list of that specific fleet before slowly starting to move up. This is because the people who move onto your fleet from other fleets in BA will have a higher seniority number. For SH since the biggest source for new pilots is external recruitment you will generally start moving up the fleet from the day you join.

Reserve points, as a new joiner you start with the lowest amount of reserve points on the fleet (people moving fleet within BA get the average amount of reserve points). On SH this spread isn't generally that large but on LH it can be. Therefor it will take longer to get a reasonable amount of reserve points. Also we have a banding system were if you have been in the company for a while you will get more points for doing a reserve period. On SH pretty much everybody is in the same (lowest) band and therefor everybody does about the same amount of reserve periods a year (after you have managed to get your points to the average after joining).

Xmas and holiday points. Once again joining LH you will find a lot of pilots during their time in the company have build up a fair amount of Xmas and holiday points. As a new joiner you start with 0 points so it will take a few years to get your points up and be able to get the holiday you want or Xmas off. On SH most are less then 5 years in the company and have relatively few Xmas and holiday points. Also on SH there are relatively few Xmas trips.

Commands / Engagement freeze. In the first 5 years of your BA career BA can do and post you where ever they like. If you are desperate for the 4 stripes all junior commands are on the Airbus 320 fleet. BA not being a charity organisation or a state airline they luckily try to control costs. Therefor they are more likely to release somebody from his/her engagement freeze for a command on type then releasing somebody from another fleet for which the course takes much longer and will include two typerating courses (the LH position needs to be backfilled). Also a warning for those who think about command early in their BA career. Your pay rise will be marginal. The reason; you are going to be the most junior skipper with very credit inefficient rosters. If you would have stayed as a FO your rosters would have been much more credit efficient which is reflected in the pay. Also as mentioned above about LH the same is true for an early command. You join a group with most in a higher band of reserve points, more holiday and xmas points. So please if you do go for that early command do so with your eyes wide open and don't start complaining once you have that command that your pay and lifestyle are bad. You bid for it, the perks didn't change and there is a reason the commands went and are going junior.

My experience in BA: My life is much more stable now than with any other airline I worked for before. Being able to bid for your roster (either JSS or Bidline) is a massive perk. However lifestyle took a hit last year being so short of pilots. Secondary terms and conditions incl Pension and LOL are better than what I had before. Most guys I fly with are very professional and for me more importantly practical. The cockpit gradient is almost flat, definitely flatter then other UK airlines I've flown for, if it is your sector you run the show. I also haven't flown with anybody who spends more then 10 minus briefing LHR (don't think I generally even get a brief longer that last longer then 5 minutes for a LHR dep/arr). Having said the exception being there are a few who are slightly harder work who did indeed mainly join as DEC a few years back, they are very friendly on a personal level but can be slightly more authoritative and like to dot the i's and cross the t's when on the flight deck.

BA might not be for everybody (I appreciate that some might rather work for Virgin and Easy, which by the sound of it are very good employers as well) but having joined BA as an experienced FO on SH a few years back I well and truly do enjoy it and wouldn't like to work for any other UK airline. For those in the selection process or thinking about applying. The selection process is hard work and can be a pain in the arse, however it is a very fair process (no age, gender, race, nationality, background discrimination what so ever as somebody hinted at before) and so worth the effort once you are allowed to go straight into Waterside (offices) instead of turning left (recruitment centre).

Hi all,
Does anyone know if there's much change in lifestyle or lifestyle progression for someone that goes into DEP Shorthaul Yr1 at LHR vs. LGW - i.e Would it take longer to see an effective change over the years at LHR over Gatwick? I understand there are more tours at Heathrow, for example, but I'm thinking more in terms of days off per month or the time it will take to not have to work every weekend of the year etc.

I know of a friend that moved LGW -> LHR at around the Yr5 mark and has now gone back to Gatwick after not enjoying the Heathrow lifestyle in comparison. I guess for someone like me, you can't miss what you never had in the first place :confused:

Can anyone also help out with this concept of reserve - It's not something we do at my current employer. On a 28-day reserve block, do you have absolutely no idea what your days off will be/is it possible to plan any remote form of lifestyle in this time or do you just have to accept it and give yourself up to work for a month? How do people find it?

Thanks in advance!

Also you could wait until you are assigned one in the middle of the summer where you get a reserve period like bex88 describes. Or you do the smart thing, are proactive and get your reserve points up by doing a quieter reserve period in Winter which is the more civilised version with more stood down days.

@Enzo999 @bex88 @Jumbo2 Thanks such a helpful insight - thanks guys.

I really don't want to sound like a broken record, but feel that people really need to come in with their eyes open. Reserve period requests are processed (quite rightly) according to seniority. I have yet to be granted a reserve period following a bid in the "quieter" months. I imagine bidding for RSV in Dec might almost be guaranteed. Allocated in the busier summer months though is another story. So your advice is slightly misleading.

BA Sim
 

Have the Sim on 4th Dec 0930. If anyone on this forum is the same. Send me message. Would be great to chat with you!

Are DEP getting sent mainly to A320 or does it vary quite a lot between FO and SFO with experience?

But don't whine about being type frozen.........:hmm:

Seems totally random. Flybe DEPS with no jet experience going to 777, ex FR 737-8 going to A320. Just pot luck.

Not sure what you mean by FO and SFO, you'll all start at FO.