Quick question - does one need an EU licence prior to applying to BA DEP when they next open up? Or can one go through the selection process without, and convert if successful?

Thanks, I have asked them by email but no reply.

You don't need the EASA licence to apply, but you will need to convert before your start date. CAA takes about 2 weeks according to their website.

2 weeks ?!?!?!

:}

I'm entering week 5 with my license conversion from the IAA to the UK CAA.... Not anywhere near to completion

Is there an indication as to the prospect of further long haul courses in Q1 2016, as it's been stated that 2015 will be 320 courses only? Or has the steady flow on to the Airbus in 2015 freed up 5yr FOs wanting to move, negating the need for any more direct entry long haul stuff?

Internal movement from SH to LH is happening. The 2016 bids close at the end of the month and then by the end of October results will be announced. After that I think the recruitment plan will shape up regards DEP LH.

Well, it took me 13 years to reach Stage 2 and on the day it would appear I'm still not BA material. That's the BA chasing over and done with. Upwards and onwards with a job I actually love doing at a base that's more convenient than a local flying club :ok:

All the best folks.

Super pilot - sincere commiserations, I suspect it will be the company's loss...
If it is any consolation whatsoever, I would respectfully suggest that the way things are going, it may well prove to be in the longer term, a blessing that it hasn't worked out for you. I've just come back from a really enjoyable trip but the attritional nature of it all, cannot be disguised. Most of us are completely knackered and I for one am being forced down the part time route in attempt to regain some balance in the work/life equation.....

I bumped into a SH skipper the other day who had hit 900hrs on SH!!! Think about that for a moment....when you think of all the domestic sectors plus CDG, BRU, AMS etc etc that is a shed load of flying. In my first year on the bus c10 yrs ago I did 750 and that felt like hard work. I'm LH now and recently exceeded 100 in 28 and my annual total is rolling along at about 850....

Just my observations. Good luck and safe flying. Rgds Sid

Sorry to hear that superpilot, having worked for two other airlines myself, BA is just another airline. As the saying goes, 'same circus, different tent'.

Has anyone moved from the Gulf recently?
 

Looking at the expansion numbers planned for next year, I'm considering applying if BA re-open the application process.

Im currently flying in the Middle East, wide body FO, approx 1-1.5 years away from CMD. Has anyone made the move recently? If so, was it worth it?

Im not unhappy here, and earning good money with pretty good career prospects. But Im concerned about what happens after 10 years here. Being mid-30's I still have a while to go. Which is my main reason for considering applying. I see BA as a job for 20+ years. But if its not significantly better, I would be hesitant about going.

Just hoping to get some input from others before I apply. Thats of course if it opens back up.

Thank you!

Are the day one, two and Sim days still being allocated and run or has the requirement for this year now been meet with regard to courses and hold pool?

Did my sim assessment around 2 weeks ago now and still no answer from BA as of yet.... does anyone have an idea as to how usual a wait of this long is?

Thanks and good luck to the others going through selection at the moment!

Harry I'm doing the Sim Assessment in September (they are totally booked up ie nothing available before then), a friend of mine is soon to do his interview at Waterside and another about to resit day one. Given that anyone sitting the sim in September is going to have to provide three months notice and take care of the referencing etc I would doubt that any of them will receive a start date before the end of the year. I'm also led to believe that they are more or less finalised with numbers for the remainder of 2015.

Therefore I would hazard a guess that any positions from this point on will be hold pool for 2016. How that affects the next window of opportunity for applications will obviously depend on how many that are being churned through right now manage to pass. However they did say during my presentation that the numbers estimated for next year are in the region of 300 again.

shabon - A longer wait generally seems to indicate good news. It took them 19 days to get back to me when I got in. I know of two or three other guys who experienced the same. It seems that bad news seems to come is about 7-10 days after the sim at most.

Regarding course dates and hiring for this year; they've just about filled the remaining spots for 2015, although there may be one or two left at the very end of the year. The remaining courses for 2015 are all going to be for LGW Airbus apparently. For 2016 the company is expecting to take on another 350+ guys.

bear in mind that most of the sim assessors are line pilots and everyone is working like a one-armed walpaper hanger at the moment, so it may well take them a few weeks to actually be back in the country to sit down with the training department and go through everything. Mine took a good 2-3 weeks when i joined 4 years ago and that was without the manic crewing going on at the moment

Non-rated DEP
 

Hi all,

I am non-rated and I passed selection last month so in the hold pool awaiting a position. Have heard the news that BA are now prioritising 320 rated and FPP pilots and it will probably be next year before they take non-rated again.

Does anyone know if/when they will start taking non-rated pilots again? I know a friend who was in the hold pool a few years ago and got kicked out after 12 months so had to go through all the selection again! I am really looking forward to joining BA, wanted to all my life and just praying that does not happen!

Any thoughts?

Experience
 

@john1007

What kind of experience do you currently have, do you have a Boeing rating of some sort?

PRACTICE SIM - STICK BUDDY WANTED
 

Anyone here with a BA sim assessment coming up fancy a practice session? I'm looking for a sim buddy.

I have the BA sim this month. A mate who was recently successful recommended a sim company that runs sessions tailored to the BA process. it'll be not far from Gatwick, 4 hours-ish in the box, and ASAP.

PM me if you're interested. :ok:

FRFO

If you don't manage to buddy up with someone, Cardiff Aviation are good at that sort of thing for a solo session. Not unreasonably priced (£600 for just over 2 hours 744 with the motion on). They've got some good intel on the type of format you'll face on the day. Certainly helped me anyway.

Best of luck.

@icejock

No Boeing rating unfortunately.

John.

Figures for LGW for years 1-5 (your engagement freeze) will be pretty much the same as LHR as the pay points are identical and the allowances are pretty similar. There are less nightstops and therefore duty pay will be a little less but the figures for SH will be similar. If you work on the LHR figures then take £200 per month off I doubt you would be disappointed. The issue is that unless the few £ per month difference is a deal breaker for you, I would not wait for LHR if you can get in earlier and get your seniority number sooner.

Application timeline
 

For anyone interested in a timeline for the BA application:

Initial application was spring '15
Invite day 1: + 3 days
Day 1: 4 weeks later
Invite day 2: + 1 day
Day 2: 3 weeks later
Invite to sim: + 1 day
Sim: 4 weeks later
Hold pool (email): + ~ 3.5 weeks

In total start to hold pool was just over 3.5 months

Good luck to everyone applying

I forgot to mention that within the engagement freeze you can bid for a same seat/same aircraft , i.e. FO on the Airbus at LGW to FO on the Airbus at LHR, transfer to LHR which should be processed in seniority order on the annual bid and attracts no further freeze. So, given that recruitment is to both bases you should be able to move to LHR is you desperate to be be there, certainly within a couple of years.

Sim Assessment 12/08/15
 

Good morning,
I don't suppose anyone else has their sim assessment on Wednesday (12/01/15).
Please get in touch if you do.
Thanks,

Qs
 

Hi,

I'd be very grateful if somebody could answer the following:

1. How many leave days do you get at BA?

2. At my current airline we have an agreement that crewing cannot swap you to a duty that is more than 2 hours either side of a rostered duty. Do BA have anything like this?

3. I've heard differing figures for experience requirements to go straight onto long haul. Can anyone confirm this?

4. I have an event in early May I would like to attend. I understand that you don't get a say on leave for the first year. How likely is it that I'll be able to swap to have this time off?

5. Is there a limit to how many hours you can be rostered in a month or does it just need to be legal? Also, is there a minimum number of days off at roster publication over and above legal minimum?

6. After how long can you use staff travel?

Thanks

1. Full timers get 4 weeks leave plus 2 " duty free weeks", so without going into the arcane details call it 6 weeks.

2. BA can't "swop" you onto anything....in theory at least your final roster ( published just before the start of the month) is exactly that...that said in the event of disruption once down route all bets are off (which I guess is the same everywhere).

3. Can't answer that without knowing what you've heard.:ooh:

4. You may get the leave you want, you may not, you bid for it but what you get depends on the demand for those particular days and also how much high value leave you've hoovered up in previous years. Outside of leave you fundamentally have zero control over your days off regardless of how long you've been in the company. That said you may be able to swop to get the days off, than again maybe not.

5. Assume EASA limits with not too many blocks of days off at base.

6. 6 months.

Thanks wiggy.

I've heard it's 1000 hours multi-crew but there was no mention of total time.

With regards to days off, is there no minimum number of days off per month when the rosters are published in addition to EASA? (I'm currently guaranteed 10). You mentioned blocks of days off but I'm more concerned about actual number of days.

I've recently been given the good news so I'm in the pool at the moment. The trainer at the sim suggested courses in March/April. Has anyone heard anything different?

The current rule set has quite a bit of wriggle room in it - we are meant to have an average of at least 10 days off in each consecutive 4-week period, averaged over three such periods...In other words you are not guaranteed 10 days off every 4 weeks. It's also worthy of note that the rules go on to say that
"whenever practicable days off should be taken in the home environment.":rolleyes:

I have seen comments elsewhere that some in short haul are not getting 10 days off at home per month, maybe someone more familiar with the short haul side of the operation will have more info.

Of course, that's for LHR crews.

LGW is different, where you are guaranteed 11 days off a month, excepting that for two summer months it's 10 and two winter months it's 12.

The 4 weeks of leave that full timers get is 2 weeks twice. The downside is the leave includes what would have been days off. You're allocated leave using credit hours. The credit hours do not equate to an average days work - they are significantly less.

So, 4 weeks of leave are not 4 weeks worth of worked hours. It's about 3 weeks worth of worked hours and the shortfall for the 4th week you have to make up by working harder during the other days of the month - of take a pay cut.

Or just bid for a blind line and the credit become's BA's problem and you keep the money. You probably work a lot less in the process. Granted I can't chose my days off but I work a hell of a lot less on a blind line than I do on a trip line. And I get to keep my wrap days as well.

I've yet to work to cap when on a blind line.

But that's a personal thing. I'm not fussed when my time off is, but I am fussed about having it.

No such thing as a day off under EASA FTL!
Scheduling Agreements and UK Working Time Directives will be a help!

I believe that the 1,000 hour jet requirement for long haul has to be on an aircraft with a MTOW of over 50,000kg.

Anyone here have any idea when some sim dates may be available? I hear they might be using a 757 sim as well? Any musings?

Would anyone be able to explain how the carmen rostering system works in LGW? How much control do we have over the rostering in LGW?

Carmen is a preferencing system not a true bidding system. You tell the system what you would like to do and what you want to avoid. It then produces rosters based on these preferences. Carmen will cover the work, if that means blowing off preferences that is just tough. As a junior bod you will get some "satisfaction" I think it is nominally 40% and this grows with seniority. You can bid for specific trips but the more you ask for, the more specific you are the greater the chance this will fall into the unsatisfied portion of your bid. Carmen is a b***h but it is better than nothing. If nothing else it can help you get earlies or later. Everyone has their own theory about Carmen. In my experience it is better to be very junior on Carmen than very junior on Bidline, though quite what Bidline is these days nobody really knows.

JT

:D :D

BA Direct Entry Pilot.
 

I've tried over 20 times per day for the past week to book a simulator assessment slot but it keeps saying "no slots available". I even received a reminder e-mail asking me to book one! I'm going to e-mail them tomorrow's to ask what's going on.

It is, and there's a lot "flux" as well ( I think that's the right word)....:}

Good luck.

Best to call up. They gave me a good idea of when slots were going to become available. I had my interview at the start of July and my sim slot is for early September.