Thanks Iver, unfortunately I'm not at the offer stage quite yet. Just passed day one, in for day two very soon.

Good luck! If BA does not work, at least you could apply to the well-paying majors in the States. I met a retired Delta Captain visiting the UK recently and he said his son made roughly $200K last year as a Delta MD88/90 FO with some overtime flying (green slips). At least you have options. Good luck!

Thanks Iver. You're absolutely right. The prospects at the majors on this side of the Atlantic are extremely good at the moment. It's very refreshing to see things finally falling in the pilot's court.

Can anyone on the 320 at BA please help me out with what their roster was for say a random month last summer then a random one this winter?

I work for an airline where we have grey days, not days off but days where nothing is rostered. IE a rostered day off is protected, so that if you land after midnight, you cannot have a day off that following day. I assumed this was pretty standard among the non-loco airlines, do BA have protections on their days off?

So when you guys say 5 on 2 off etc, are you at work every day on?

Can anyone kindly post a (say JULY & DEC) roster that meets the target hours in full like this for example?

1 LHR-AGP-LHR-LBA (hotel)
2 LBA-LHR-PRG-LHR
3 LHR-CAG-LHR-AMS (hotel)
4 AMS-LHR-RAK (hotel)
5 RAK-LHR-NCL-LHR
6 OFF
7 OFF
8 OFF
9 LHR-CAI-LHR
10 ...
11 ...
12 blah blah blah
13
14
...


thanks for any help, really appreciate it.

Hi all,

Out of interest does anyone know:

1. if based at LHR, how many nights per month on average would you expect to spend at the hotel away from your base? I understand it depends on your biddings and seniority, but how would it typically look like for a new joiner on the 320?

2. how many legs per day do you fly as a junior on SH with almost no control on your roster?
how busy can you expect to be? how many hours/y.?

Thanks a lot

Just to add to the last two questions:

How long can a new joiner on the a320 expect to wait before going long haul preferably on 777 fleet?

Lead.

This month

5 on 2 off, 6 on 3 off, 6 on 4 off. All working days. 17 days in a shorter month. In the summer it was similar but 19-20 days work. TASS or grey days as you call them evaporated with the shortage of 320 guys.

Generally three day tours made up of 3 sectors (hotel) day 2, 2 sectors (hotel) day 3, 3 sectors (home). Two day tours are 3 sectors day one and two. There are some long two sector day trips which tend to be senior and 4 sector days which tend to be junior.

Engagement freeze is 5 years on type. You will likely have to wait longer to get onto a LH fleet. At the moment the wait is around 6 years but the situation changes regularly. You may even get a move before the 5 year freeze is up. The 777 is becoming the fleet to be on due route network, and hence the preference of senior F/Os moving across from the 747, so it could be a longer wait if that is your chosen posting.

If you join on SH you will work hard - my figures for days off are similar to Bex. I'm working as hard as I did at ezy, if not harder if you count total hours at work. Nightstops vary with seniority. New joiners will be on blind lines, often these will comprise 3-4 day trips working weekends, with a few day trips thrown in. SH is no picnic and gets worse by the year, once EASA FTLs arrive things will get really fun.

All that said, still a good contract, still a decent career to be had. There isn't much better out there, as long as you count patience as a virtue and don't mind wearing a silly hat ;)

Thanks all

April Start Date
 

Hi All,

Trying to find course mates.

Can anyone with an April start date PM me! Cheers!

The guys on long haul, 777, 747. Are your trips mostly one local night bullets? Or do you get some 2 or 3 night layovers?

Cheers

Over the years (747,777) single nights are increasingly the norm unless:
Either of the sectors demands two local nights (i.e.long range stuff..and who knows how that will work once EASA is implemented on long haul)
...or there's a grandfather agreement still in place (the almost legendary west coast agreement that covers LAX and SFO but not SEA...and again ditto regarding EASA),
..or if there isn't a daily service - often happens when a new route is introduced.

Worse case I personally experienced a long time back as a junior captain and trip line holder on the 747 was 5 single night stop eastern seaboards in a calendar month....(4 of which were JFK. I actually like New York but even I have my limits.) I'm not suggesting that's the norm or even frequent but I'd suggest junior guys onto the 747 are going to be doing a lot of single nighters unless they can pick up a long range trip in a seeded blind line or are prepared to go places where you don't want to spend more than 24 hours!!

Hi wiggy.
Have you given much thought to how the proposed new Bidline system will affect the allocation of trips? It could see a very significant change to the system we know?

Hi

TBH I'm still at the 'N' stage of 'NUTA' when it comes to the new Bidline:8

I suspect one of our other regular contributors might hopefully have some educated views on the subject....

I am lucky enough to have just landed in the holding pool. Does anyone have any idea when the June courses are being released? I believe most the May courses have been allocated with lots of guys going A320.

Does anyone know how far through the '300 pilots required for 2015' we are?

If the rumours are right then I think we are a way off finding the 311 that Crystal says we need. Third hand info but Iberia pilots have said there could be an option for them to join BA with the option of a return to IB. As I said though third hand and unverified source. The crux would be that recruiting 300 is going to take a long time and certainly all year to get online. CAP is at 92hrs in March so we are short

Hi,

Anyone in the sim on March 4th, drop me a PM.


P.s During our lunch chat we were told there were around 150 through the door so far this year.

Not strictly true, maybe more detail of your concerns required Rudder.
Maybe not for the guys that stack their work to one side, ignore FRM and enjoy nice runs of days off however...Works both ways surely?

I can't believe how stupid some people are by posting dates they are either in the sim or at an interview, day 1 etc etc

Have BA management been offering yearly RPI pay increases? Better than, worse than RPI?