Thanks binsleepen, has the issue of offers/start dates now officially recommenced? (Interested hold pooler who would absolutely love a crack at the 767, short haul or otherwise).

Any DEP on the 380 :}:}

Sigh.

I heard that every day when I was a TLH at LHR. "You won't have any control, Carmen screws everyone" "Gatwick will go under and you'll all be out of a job" etc etc, blah blah. I was just answering the question without adding an opinion, but seeing as you had one...

Personally I quite like being at home every night, with pretty much every weekend off. And I'm not remotely the most senior man there. I was at home before on-blocks time the other day. If you live close and it suits you, it's the best kept secret in BA!

You big-jet boys can keep your toys and your night time atlantic crossings, I'm happy as larry here.

Sim to job offer
 

Hello all,

just wondering how long it took BA to get back to people after completing the sim?

Neither me nor my Sim buddy have heard anything nearly 2 weeks later!

Cheers

Oops, I was talking about LHR, my bad.

Personally I think, for the Junior Captain, that Carmen is far, far better at balancing work/leave than the seniority 'fest' that is Bid Line. Junior skippers at LHR get screwed every time with the 'it'll be your turn soon' mentality when we have a stagnant upper echelon workforce.

The pay point capping is a relic from the past that needs to be addressed but you've got no chance of that with the ivory tower 'everybody must meet their individual cuts' mentality.

I like operating out of Gatwick, shame the management have screwed the crews though.

People joining now will have a pay cap at PP24(ish) at LGW. Plenty of time to get senior on some other fleet if they so desire.

Is BA SH realistically commutable on a full time contract? If not, how amenable are BA to offering part-time options?

It depends on where you want to commute from

Either Edinburgh or Glasgow would work.

Commuting from Scotland can be made to work, though it can be hard work when junior. Many commute from both GLA and EDI for SH but you will spend a fair amount of time in hotels etc down in London while on reserve or for an early start etc. Remember that there is no staff travel for the first 6 months as well. Many pilots rent somewhere local for the first year or so to settle in and see how it could work for them.

hi guys, any rumours doing the rounds if the current intake will extend beyond december 1st ? I know the closing for now is Nov 1st but historically they generally extend...any info anyone ?

SIM Assessments
 

Hello all, is anyone aware of what's happening behind the scenes with regards to SIM assessments? I passed Day 2 back in September and was told to keep an eye on the website for SIM assessment availability but despite checking everyday there has been nothing apart from a couple of cancellations which I was beaten to. When I contacted recruitment (end Sep) I was told Nov slots would be released imminently.
Would I be right in guessing the remainder of us in purgatory will be SIM checked along with the guys and girls going through the latest DEP recruitment campaign?
Any info would be appreciated - the wait is killing me !!:{

Slots were released end of September for November. They went very quickly! I have mine end of November. I'd call the pilot recruitment team and ask for an update, that's what I did! They are very helpful.

Any more inside information on what is going on? We were told by recruitment that allocation of non-rated DEP courses would have started by this week.

Are issues with internal bids holding things up? Any rumours for hold poolers to feed off gratefully received!

Results of internal bids still not released (that's a definite)

Possibility of a problem because of a shortfall of internal bidders for short haul commands....(that's a strong rumour)


You're welcome :ok:

There are certainly issues with internal bids. Or more accurately the system (Crystal) that allocates courses to bidders. Many variables need to be input, such as the network plan, and training capacity, to name but two. Assumptions also need to be made such as rates of sickness, which are not easily predictable as they have grown rapidly recently. EASA rostering!? Retirements 'should' recommence in less than 12 months. Other factors such as part time availability/take up need to be considered. Finally, both type and engagement freezes are currently being waived as there are insufficient internal bidders for certain positions. Some of those positions may surprise you?

It's a pretty complex and fluid picture at the moment, that will definitely mean that in a few years time we will have another pilot surplus.

Is RHS on "the whale" one of those?

Very unlikely.

Commuting
 

I commuted once for 6 years and again I am going back to it early next year.
It is hard work, even if you still have 20 years service like myself.
Also it is expensive at £94 a pop.

Date of entry and also suitability (hours and/or type ratings) bearing in mind quite a few of the hold poolers won't have the hours for long haul. No idea if the rumour is true but funnily enough it was something that was recounted to me also at Gatwick today.

I wouldn't get too excited about any rumours floating around at the moment. The Crystal output is due soon and it is at this stage that rumours breed like rabbits. Many are fuelled by desire and mischief rather than anything solid. Wait and see but don't pin your hopes on rumours.

The latest thing to emerge from a semi-reliable source (BALPA PnP reps) is that DECs or a supplementary bid for SH Command now looks unlikely. In the light of my previous paragraph make of that what you will!

Should have written them down at the presentation, but could someone post the pay scale for first 8 years (that's what the slide had) for SH and LH FO?

Thanks!

The latest on the rumour front is they are now starting to plan the 2016 DEP courses and getting in touch with a few people to check their hours and eligibility for Long Haul.

Fingers crossed the phonecalls with offers of courses won't be too far behind :ok:

toplux - at the roadshows they said you would be picked out of the hold pool based solely on date of joining and eligibility for the slot they are looking to recruit for - so for 777 say, they pick the person longest in the hold pool with LH min hours. Similar obviously for those with appropriate type ratings.

following up on the above, I received an email recently asking for my type rating and hours on type plus a few other questions...

The finger is being pointed in the wrong direction here, as it stands within the IAG Group the profits have to go up at Vueling and Iberia as they are the lame ducks at the moment. BA are massively profitable - more profitable than easyJet indeed even with the legacy T's & C's - and are responsible for the vast majority of the profits of the entire IAG Group. At Vueling, with their staff on binman wages, even then they struggle to make the tiniest levels of profit.

There have been criticisms about the veracity and effectiveness of Balpa recently but even the weakest union would struggle not be able to defend their position given these circumstances. The issue of pay is a red herring and, in such a profitable organisation, you're not going to be able to reduce wages for existing employees. New contracts for new joiners maybe? Well that remains to be seen. (Better sign that contract soon in case!) But bear in mind that it is not quite as simple as replacing short haul wholesale with Vueling. It has been said elsewhere that would be massively damaging to the BA brand, business model and operation and I tend to agree with that.

Whenever I hear people talking about Vueling replacing BA on short haul I think that a lot of people have forgotten the amount of trimming BA has already done to its short haul model and the steps that competing legacy carriers have taken.

Many forget that it was BA who made wholesale changes in the first decade of this century, long before Lufthansa, Air France et al did. BA closed its entire regional operation, both at mainline and at BA Citiexpress/Connect. The airline now only really concentrates on its core London market. They are not going to dilute their brand at Heathrow and I very much doubt they will at Gatwick either.

Look at Lufthansa, they have followed BA's lead, albeit taking a slightly different direction. They have cut their short haul branded flights from all but Munich and Frankfurt. Elsewhere it is now Germanwings/Eurowings that operate their short haul services. However, they have retained their core brand in their primary markets because they realise it would do more damage than good for the flag carrier to withdraw from short haul in their main hubs.

Air France have done the same, retreating from the regions and introducing Hop, but ultimately maintaining their core brand in Paris.

Rather than following the crowd via Vueling, I would argue that BA actually led the way with the 'Future Size and Shape' programme under Rod Eddington after 9/11. BA cut the majority of the fat from the regions retreating to Fortress Heathrow.

With the recent cost savings and increased labour productivity in short haul, BA are making record profits. A core short haul product has to remain to feed our long haul services. A huge number of our passengers are merely transferring at Heathrow to/from other European cities. We are expanding short haul, in the few months that I've been here we've already announced a variety of new routes, most recently Inverness.

BA may not be the Mecca it once was. You will fly 80+ hours a month, but it's got a solid future and many varied options for your career.

Umm...From the pilot side of short haul - yes.

Pin removed, retiring to a safe distance.:hmm:

Have people started getting calls for courses in 2016?

I haven't heard of any NTR swimmers receiving offers for next year yet. It seems like we have all had the same email stating that they are beginning to plan 2016 offers.

Fingers crossed this means that phone calls will follow shortly!

There is a rumour going around that offers are starting to be made again, starting with Long Haul types. Anybody got any firm knowledge to share?

Only that there may be direct entry onto the A380 for the first time.

Hi Hotel Mode,

Can I ask where did you hear this rumour of DEP's to A380. I'm not for one second inferring your wrong but as someone who's hoping to go to it next year I'm selfishly interested.... I'm sure BA in the past have said no to DEP's on the 380 so will be a large change of policy if so....

All, we are Still waiting for the PRIAM/CRYSTAL results so I'm sure when they are eventually published hold poolers will get coursed fairly quickly.

BASHLH; Applications are now being accepted via the official website.

kirungi: Which official website? I'm not sure you've ever been able to apply directly to join BA on a specific type.

There are a heck of a lot of rumours flying around at the moment but like BASHLH I'm a bit sceptical about the DEP to 380 claim but then again maybe I'm not as well connected as Hotel Mode....It seems only 5 minutes ago BA required umpteen hours in BA and umpteen hours on Airbus to even look at the 380....

Then again, never say never.....

Anyone doing a sim check AM on the 27th please get in touch.

British Airways - Careers - Job Details

Link above to the DEP (longhaul) application page (taken from the recruitment manager's LinkedIn feed).

I know for a fact that an ezy colleague, SFO, got on to the A380 directly. The offer was accepted earlier this week I believe. Well done to her!

nowind

Blimey, many thanks, as I said.."never say never"...or something more appropriate !!

Must go off to buy some pop corn - I suspect there's going to be a bit of comment here and more so elsewhere from those FO's already in and "frozen" in a short haul seat....

I haven't got any skin in the game - but I wonder if anyone inside BA can shed light on the veracity of the claim I heard which was that there is a shortage of internal applicants for the A380 as the failure rate is relatively high for the course which has a serious impact on your future career with BA.

Sounded like total BS to me.

If they're talking about people coming off the A320 transferring onto the A380 and failing I'd be very surprised by that, it's only a CCQ after all. If it's people coming off the 747 then perhaps less so.

But from the people I've spoken to at EK, the A380 is very easy to operate. Except perhaps once on the ground!