Right Engine
Its well known that Easa FTL is more advantageous for morning departures but not so much for afternoon. The issue of previous'safer regime,' can only be perceived at this time - the new fdp's have been around for many years in Europe under the guise of sub part Q - flown by many more airlines than left in the UK. This offers UK airlines a level playing field.

My questions to you;

What was the name of the last decent sized UK AOC to start up?

If a BA crew member can fly in from home say AMS, hang around for4 hours then go fly for 3 sectors or a 2 crew flight stateside - if your that concerned over the longer FDP in the morning are you willing to comment on the commuting question ?

Someone doing a silly commute is not germane to this issue, whether it be an air commute or a drive from Inverness to LHR prior to operating a service.

Commute from Oxford area
 

Hi,

Im due to start with BA soon, and have decided to move South, as I don't want to commute too far.

Do many people commute from the Oxford area? If so how do you find it? Ive been offered a long haul position.

Secondly, how do Standby duties work from LGW? I understand for LHR it is 2 hours to report to the car park. Is it the same to the LGW car park?

Thanks in advance!!

Lots of crew live in the Oxford area, it is an easy drive down the M40. It is well within the 2 hours to the carpark for a Home Standby - only SH do airport standby. There are no standbys for LGW as such unless you are SH, the 777 does fly from LGW but all pilots for the 777 are LHR based and special rules apply to LGW reports, so if called from sby for LGW they can still only expect you to be at 2 hours to the LHR carpark - they may ask you to try to be at LGW asap but it is not a requirement.

pomme pilot

With reference to the specific question of being LHR based and being called out for an LGW trip of home standby, It's worth emphasising the point Juan made - there is no time limit, you are simply required to use your "best endeavours" to report at LGW at the earliest opportunity. It's definitely a rule worth being aware of the first time you do reserve since it's just possible somebody might ring you up and try to persuade you otherwise....;)

Good luck on the course.

Thank you again for the info!

Hopefully all will go well with the course and I'll be able to offer the same help in the future!:O

Sorry if this has been asked before but it relates specifically to the DEP long haul recruitment campaign recently.

To anyone who has applied, how long before you got either an invite/no thanks from them after submitting an application? It closed a few weeks ago, it's understandably a pretty busy time of year (or perhaps, more likely not so busy) but my application still says 'submitted' and nothing else. I'm going on holiday at the end of Jan and don't want to get caught out should I be so lucky.

Can anyone (PM if necessary) give me an idea what blind lines might look like on the 747 for someone at the bottom of the seniority list? How many trips per month and so on?

If anyone can see the rosters with the new EASA FTLs applied, so much the better.

The 747 is a slightly special case as there are "seeded" blind lines. Ie one long trip (the seed) and the rest are constructed by the company. At worst you'll do 5 trips but BA are pretty bad at constructing lines so probably less. My easiest month was 1 trip and then I did an overtime trip and I had a week's leave.

No one can show you an EASA roster as phase 1 bidding for Feb only closed this morning and Feb is the first month we'll be fully (haw haw) compliant with EASA. Most people on other fora are less than confident the show will stay on the road but that's another matter.

No care required at all, my answer will be no.

For your first question, Don't know. For your second, I don't commute but for what it's worth I think doing an extra 2 hours duty after an 05:55 report that used to be called 'Discretion' is not safe. And to be rostered it consecutively (and legally) is going to result in more tiredness related errors.

fly4more, stage 1 is aptitude tests before stage 2 interviews, although you could say submitting the application itself is stage 1!

For aptitude tests I highly recommend "assessmentday" and "skytest" websites. Apparently the latter has had the latest BA test added to it.

Has anyone heard of any swimmers moving from the pool recently?

I was wondering the same thing. I've been sat in there since Oct. 320 rated 3400 hrs. My sim buddy got the 380 back in Nov and a friend who passed the sim a week after me the 320.

Hi guys :). I am looking to apply for the BA FPP when it reopens later this year. I got to the final stages of the process last year, only to fail as a result of the two written tests and the BA aptitude test. I know this is the DEP thread, but since the final phase of the FPP process is similar to the DEP route, would you be able to point me in the right direction for optimal preparation?

Rex Banner . "You can only wonder what Easyjet are going to try and get away with"

For the moment , Easyjet are rostering to CAP371 . Largely as a result of united action by the pilot community. An indicative ballot of the pilots indicated overwhelming support for industrial action over the safety implications of EASA FTL.

The matter is now at ACAS , the Easyjet pilot community has more experience of FRMS and the light touch of self regulation than most , we are concerned .

(Sorry about the thread creep)

Nil further yes I'm aware of what's going on at easyJet and fully support the pilots in their fight against the implementation of EASA regs. In fact it would have a positive impact to the rest of the industry if the union is successful. I'm sceptical however as to the odds of long term success.

I've worked EASA regs at another low cost operator and can certainly vouch for how utterly senseless and dangerous they are. At said operator (I'm not afraid to say Wizz Air) we could check in at 05:30 local for a 4 sector day with a total duty time of 12:15h. Not only that but you could be doing this after another four sector early (11hr+) the day before! Needless to say, the flights being carried out WITHOUT controlled rest were the exception rather than the rule.

One particular week of five earlies on the spin (including at least one of such duties) I remember as PM feeling my head nodding in the cruise then managing to rouse myself sufficiently to look across at the PF whose head was doing exactly the same thing! How we haven't been able as a pilot community to collectively fight this in an effective way is an utter disgrace.

My point is though that the genie has been let out of the bottle now and there is enormous commercial pressure for easyJet to follow suit. If such previously fatiguing duties are now defined as legal then easyJet will try to roster them, make no mistake.

It's going to take a smoking hole in the ground to sort this out ultimately (and unfortunately) but even then managing to pin the blame squarely on the role of fatigue in any accident is going to prove very problematic and difficult. Look at the Colgan Air Q400 crash in Buffalo, screamed fatigue all day long. What do the FAA do? Implement a 1500hr experience rule for FO's! Irrelevant but it provided the window dressing that something had been changed.

Sorry again for the thread drift guys.

Well said!

To be fair to the FAA, Rex, they did also implement new rest rules and reduced duty times after the Colgan crash. While flying for the regionals in the US, I noticed a significant improvement in my alertness once these rules had been brought in. The fact that EASA have essentially gone the opposite way is most alarming.

fly4more: you are provided with pencil and paper for the maths test. No man and a suitcase test anymore. The cross-hairs one with the keypad to enter the number and the coloured shape, with hits and misses recorded.

For verbal reasoning I strongly recommend www.assessmentday.co.uk/aptitudetests_verbal and SkyTest for the computer based ones.

Nil further /Rex
As you know sub part q has been around for some time and LCC and State airlines have been working it for many years. If Easyjet use EASA I doubt they would apply it with a free hand , more likely in controlled way which with their FRMS they have no option but to. E.g x amount of flights @ xx hour s in the week. You also conveniently forget to mention that the limits on afternoons are less under EASA so there are some small swings the other way.
This should not be an industrial discussion full! Stop

So ignore the clearly fatiguing (read dangerous) examples I have shown and then give EASA FTL's the all clear because a minority proportion of afternoon duties (which is not the time that the majority of people feel tired at work) now have shorter limits. Great argument.

By the way there is an airline I have named in this thread who ARE operating EASA with a free hand with no scheduling agreement or FRMS system who are happily flying around in EU airspace unimpeded putting significant pressure on the bottom line of easyJet (at least in the accountants' eyes) who in turn influence British Airways.

Twiglet1

Unless you are an easyjet pilot flying full time easyjet rosters then you can have no possible understanding of the fatigue issues in easyjet .

I note from your previous posts that you appear to be some sort of fan or apologist for the EASA FTL regime .

EasyJet pilots are not asking for more money or to work less .We are asking for an FTL scheme that has at least some science in its workings to remain in place as opposed to the politically and commercially driven mess that is EASA

As for FRMS , it is noble concept and if allowed to do its job free of commercial pressure and tweaking then it could be a devastatingly effective tool .......

Apologies epic thread creep. Chief Brody below is correct , time to vacate !

Nil Further / Twiglet

It's time to vacate this thread with your Easy FTL back and forth...

777 first officer bidding
 

In terms of bidding , I have a few questions for any Long haul (preferably 777) pilots;

What is the least popular destinations and what are the most popular ones for first officers?

Even with a blind line, are you allowed to trade with other FO's?

Even though there is no guarantee of success, can you specify a particular start time or end time for a particular day? (In theory could you request for example; Saturday nights from 6pm onwards, or request to work every Sunday)

Do you also get to bid for your annual recurrent sim training slots?


Thanks guys!

Yes, and Rex.

Back on topic.

Is the Fixed Flight Pay 1 or 2 months in arrears?
Is the £3.39 "away from base pay" 1 or 2 months in arrears?
Are either/both payable for ground school/sim?

It's 2 weeks leave in winter, and 2 in summer. Are they 7 day blocks?
Same question re the "duty free" weeks, and do you have to be contactable in the "duty free" weeks?

Thanks.

VxVy
 

As far as the 777 is since I'm not an FO I can't tell you their preferred destinations other than the obvious ones such as SIN and EZE ..

Anyhow to answer to some of your other questions...

AFAIK Yes but I'm not an expert on that - I believe there might be problems with credit transfer if you're trying to trade with a Tripline holder.

You can certainly submit blindline preferences but at the moment at least Pre-Ops (scheduling) build the Blindlines from the selection of whatever trips are left unallocated after all the Triplines have been put together, so their/your choice is limited. Best you might expect is a result from a broad preference such as "long trips preferred", or "LHR trips preferred". I certainly think you'd be very lucky if Pre-Ops actively considered a preference for start/end times....but you can always ask....

Annual? I wish! It's six monthly - Yes, you can submit a preference for certain days, and training admin might try to comply with your wishes, but again no guarantees - you often get something out of the slots that are left after they've rostered those on courses....

Excuse me P0tt3r I actually tried to relate my comments on the introduction of EASA FTLs to the impact on the industry and British Airways (in the context of a previous comment from someone implying that it was a bad decision to join BA as a result of the implementation of EASA FTLs as if the rest of the industry were somehow immune!).

The comments regarding how EASA was being dealt with specifically and exclusively involving easyJet were nothing to do with me. But as you rightly say, it's time to move back to the recruitment theme..

Fixed flight pay is paid every month so I don't think it's in arrears. TAFB pay is one month in arrears.

No.


Its one 7 day and one 6 day block, both start on a Saturday.

7 day blocks and you are not contactable. You can work in a DFW if you wish but not in Leave.

Thanks Carnage.

Does leave attract "wrap days"? And do the duty free weeks?

Nearly. ;)

Two seven-day leave blocks starting on a Saturday, with associated wrap days.

Holidays: can only be taken in blocks of 7 days. Always start on a Saturday. You get wrap days (days supposedly free of duty) either before or after the 7 days. Before, then you get 3 wrap days prior to the Saturday OR 4 days after i.e. you only get one set of wrap days on a 7 day block. If you manage to get 14 days off, then you'll get 3 wrap days at the beginning and 4 off at the end, unless you bid otherwise.

Ok. So each leave block is 10-11 days including wrap days (at one end), and may or may not cover 2 weekends.

Very useful thanks.

Since it does not appear that ground school duties attract any duty payments, can someone confirm whether the type rating sim duties do?

Just trying to do some financial planning for the next couple of months :ok:

The hourly payment you are referring to is called TAFB and stands for 'time away from base'. If you are a Heathrow based pilot, and you are doing your ground school and simulator training at Heathrow, then you are not leaving base.

The flying pay allowance is paid from day one with the company. It was in my first pay packet earlier last year.

Thanks bucket_and_spade :ok:

Excellent. That makes sense to me.

Permafrost, sorry if I misled you there. You asked about duty based pay and despite its name, the 'flying pay allowance' is not a duty based payment. You'll receive it every month regardless of whether you fly, have a conversion course, are off sick or on leave.

So I've just had my uniform fitting, and the shirts feel absolutely massive. Any idea if they are allowed to be altered? If so, any recommendations?

Apologies if too far off topic.