Never was a truer word said. Just like everyone on this thread is looking for a fresh start, why don't those same names look elsewhere? Plenty of airlines and plenty of opportunities.

I'm 3 years in on one of the longhaul fleets, so out of the honeymoon period and still very happy with my decision to come across. I was never going to get the lifestyle I currently enjoy, even going part time with my previous LCC employer.

I have reported fatigue, it was a tough month with high cap and roster assign. Now to look at it objectively, it was the middle of summer when every airline works you hard, roster assign is now a thing of the past and my personal experience was a good one. No one argued with my report and nor should they. There were many reasons why the CAPs were high, but there has also been and continues to be a lot of recruitment which will help deliver the lower CAPs promised in the move to JSS. Yes I still believe that will happen :}

Speaking of which, I'm just out of the bottom 10% on both the Master Seniority list and my Fleet's senioriy list. I got work in the days I asked for (due child care) and two west coast trips I would never have got under Bidline due my lack of seniority. Friends and colleagues within 500 places above and below me on several fleets all report similar levels of roster satisfaction.

The senior guys grumble about the pension. Personally it's not too different from any of my previous employers but the company contributions and Death in Service benefits are substantially better. PP34 is what it is. If you want money don't come here (frankly you're in the wrong industry) but the BALPA Pay claim is a good one, having actually spoken to the one of the new reps and hearing the CC's position.

The senior guys grumble about staff travel. I took my family to New York in Club for under £500.

The senior guys grumble about the company recruiting cruise pilots onto the 747 and making it harder to get the 3 man trips. The same guys grumble about how hard they're working. The Training Department is at capacity and this is seen as a way to bring relief onto the line quickly, with the rest of the training completed when there is slack in the system. What would you rather? Personally for me it's lower CAPs and maintaining the lifestyle balance.

The senior guys grumble about the invasion of privacy regarding commuting. The fact is some people were taking the proverbial, the company realised they could be held accountable and have issued guidance. Many people commute from around the UK, Ireland, France, Netherlands, Spain, many people have no issues. The latest missive saying you should be in the UK the day before departure to be properly rested is no different to my previous employer saying they want you back in base the day before a block of lates.

The senior guys grumble that only the managers at BA want to run the operation into the ground with cost cutting. eg. A manager's latest interview saying he would like to reduce time off downroute. Shock horror! A manager wants to make the staff work harder for the same pay. "Good grief, how terrible. This would never happen anywhere else" :ugh:

A lot of grumbles from senior guys are from people who have been here a long time and haven't realised that what they're grumbling about isn't unique to BA. Take it all with a pinch of salt, it's PPruNe for Heaven's sake.

Feel free to PM me but if you want long haul, it's a good company and it's worth doing BA short haul as the ends justify the means. If you have a Command in a regional base and have no intention of wanting to fly long haul stay where you are. It's pretty simple really.

To change the drift of this current thread...is there anybody with a sim assessment in the near future who may be interested in pairing up to do some sim prep somewhere before the actual assessment?

Rex - unfortunately the regulation requires you to manage your commute and the AOC has a right to know. It can't be coincidence that the two UK Airlines who have had CAA approved FRMS for many years both have crew members commuting protocols. Its not just about crewmembers the AOC has a right to protect the brand. As always the AOC has to make "rules" to manage the 5% (much less at BA). Don't forget the biggest risk to Aircrew isn't on the aircraft unfortunately it's the drive home.

They have and they do. Ask me how I know. Like yourself many staff there commute on other airlines to stay out of the spotlight.

It would take a competent IT analyst 10 minutes or less to pull out the home addresses/payroll details/beneficiary address (likely spouse) of every BA pilot with a UK address and plot the crow flies distance from LHR/LGW to their home postcode. Add another few hours to feed the postcode into something that would estimate driving distance and time for a, say, 6am report from home postcode. BAs cargo division probably have some code that derives driving time/distance from base to any European address.

G

There are quite a few enviable rosters at the bottom of the list too. I'm going to go with the the learning curve of a new system throwing up shockers everywhere, give it a few months to bed in and for people to learn how to bid properly then see what happens.

Not to sure about that statement. Of the people who contacted BALPA only approximately 1 out of 10 wasn't happy with the outcome of their JSS bidding. Quiet often because of a bidding mistake or misunderstanding because they simple didn't put in the work to learn and understand the new system even though plenty of opportunity was given to do so.

After more than 20 years in BA I am a reasonably junior LH skipper. My first JSS roster is a disaster, far far worse than under Bidline. It may be another 10 years or so before I become senior enough to get a decent lifestyle again.

Think long and hard before committing yourself to joining BA. It has its clear advantages but also a lot of negatives...and the negatives have been steadily increasing whilst the advantages have been quite drastically eroded.

Timing is everything and anyone joining now will be behind the huge recruitment campaign of the last few years.

Pickled. I am sure someone will be along shortly to remind you that it was your choice to take a command and you could have stayed in the RHS bla bla bla.

Pickled speaks volumes of our system. Someone who has been in BA for 20 plus years and still finds themselves junior and with worse rostering than in the past.

With 27 posts Pickled is not “a moaner” but someone who gets on with it. BA seems to be a great place to join if you have little desire to progress beyond the RHS anytime within the next 20 plus years.

What I would say Pickled is while I don’t know exactly what you wanted on your roster I am super junior on my status and my bid reflected that. I went into fall back but I did not get completely shafted because of the construction of my later bid groups. I am sure a JSS trainer could get you from a disaster to something more palletable. Again that’s my new positive side coming out.......sorry 🙄

As a junior (~3years) LH DEP (80% ish on my fleet), I made sure I fully understood JSS. I put the work in, spoke to the trainers and put a lot of careful time and effort into my bid. I was awarded Bid Group 19...... I am working 'fully' over every weekend apart from one Golden Day. My third BG was feasible but Global Constraints trashed everything. In the last 12 months, the worst I have had is working 3 of 4 weekends and that was due to being 'shafted' by pre-ops (note to self - never tick 'drop below clash'...). On average, and this is not down to swapping, I have 1-2 completely free weekends a month and working another 1/2 a weekend. If Global Constraints keep acting in the way they are, it is untenable for me (I'm a single Dad and can't work that many weekends). I have a plan to leave BA if this continues which I have to enact in May. The clock is ticking for me.

My take-away (yes it is early doors) is think long and hard if you have family commitments and you are joining direct onto LH. You'll stay junior for a lot longer than SH. Also, think when you'll likely get a command and what your commitments will be then too. You'll be junior for a while again...