I didn't realise 7/7 was on the UK contract. That's a good roster pattern to get and might have changed my decision to leave.

I am not on a UK contract, but a eminent contract in Northern Europe. TBH, even if Ezy opened a base right on my door step, I would still continue to commute. Some of our contracts are really good for family life, and mine is one of these :ok:

I have heard rumours though, that UK is going to have new part time contracts in the near future, so a 7/7 might (??) be coming as well.

Until the agreement is in place rumours aren't worth a great deal. PBS took a long time to come.

Thanks for the info but to me nothing has changed. The northern UK bases are still dead man's shoes, London bases still overworked and no 7/7.

I'll stick to my 4 trips a month with the blue team :ok:

Rexbanner.....

Long Haul low cost doesn't work???? I beg to disagree Sir. If you take a look at the many airlines (some Legacy) around the world that now offer this, I think you may be surprised. JAL to be the latest I believe.

....as for the comments regarding Norwegian, don't believe all that you read.

2/3 years for command for direct entry, but command process takes 2 years and think you have to wait 6 months before entering the process.

Earlies are a combination of nice 2 sector days, mostly reporting at 5/6am and off duty about 1/2pm. Some long 4 sector earlies and some short 2 sectors about too. Lates tend to be less predictable and expect your roster to change somewhat each week during summer.Some are lucky, others are not. Deep nights finishing at 2/3am are common on lates, BALPA doing a lot of work trying to get rid of the max FDP duty days. LGW and LTN standby used frequently to cover the rest of the network so expect a few out of base trips, especially captains.

Pay is pretty good for captains and if you join as an SFO it is £71k inc sector pay. No incremental pay rise but new pay deals every few years. Not a perfect place to work but look after yourself and home every night in a secure job, there are definitely worse gigs around. best of luck if you decide to join!

One major thing with Easyjet: The finances are good. Even if the next volcano erupts on Iceland, if there is a another terror attack or something else happens to the industry, that would put most other airlines in the financial danger zone, Easyjet is still one of the most secure employers around. Operations can be at a complete standstill for 4 months before money starts to run dry.
For someone with a family to support, this counts for a lot as well.

Well, I've done exactly that; left BA B744 recently after just two years for a command at Ryanair and so far am very happy. Doubled my salary for the same amount of work... and a fixed schedule to boot. No JSS aka Junior Shafting System for me :-)

Hi Buter
Yes seen what's possible under EASA but most UK AOC I know worked hard and responsibly as did the Unions with scheduling agreements to filter out the few concerns they had.
Not sure what you mean by flat earthers sorry. My question is how many times do you work to the limits of EASA. How many times have you operated JNB min rest JFK. How many colleagues commute in before they work these trips it can't all be one way traffic

Oh yes it very much is an issue at BA......I'm sure somebody will be along in a minute to give you a BA (especially shorthaul) POV on fatigue/lifestyle/EASA FTLs as implemented there. They might also mention BA has (apparently unlike Easyjet) a really P Poor fatigue montioring system ("ah but by bidding for that line of work with that trip on it, and thereby volunteering to do it, it can't be fatiguing..)..

There's the additional problem at BA of actually getting approval to go PT because doing so seemingly interferes with the business plan.

Very interesting topic, thanks to those contributing.

Just wondering how long a new joining long haul DEP could reasonably expect to wait to achieve part time?

Forgive me if I repeat some things that I may have said elsewhere, but I will give you my input on the subject matter for those that are interested. I am a TRE at easyJet and have worked there for nearly 15 years. It is, overall, a great place to be. You can argue contracts, countries to live in, perks, management failings etc, etc. If you take it as read that both BA and easyJet are fundamentally safe airlines with healthy balance sheets, then we can move on to the key points that separate them.

Arguments for BA -

1. Opportunities to fly different aircraft types.
2. Mix of long haul/short haul as you wish.
3. Seniority bringing great advantages as the years go by - once lost those advantages can never be recovered.
4. Pay increments every year.
5. Stable rostering, if you want it - easyJet has more roster instability, particularly at the big bases like Gatwick.
6. Great staff travel.
7. Generally well treated by management (although some BA pilots may argue differently!).

Arguments for easyJet.

1. Preferential bidding - ie you ask for earlies/lates and generally speaking get what you ask for (unless you are a training captain!).
2. Fixed-pattern rostering - 5/3/5/4 so you know your off days years in advance.
3. Quick time to command.
4. Good starting salary for captains (£104750 plus allowances, 7% pension contribution, performance bonuses, sector pay, loyalty bonus (incremental pay in all but name).
5. Very few night stops.
6. Opportunity to live and work in numerous bases across Europe.

Of all of these, there is really one stand-out difference that anyone comparing easyJet and BA should consider - night stops. At easyJet you get home most nights and at BA you do not. Arguably that is the biggest single factor in any decision to be in easyJet against BA. I personally love coming home every night to my family and therefore BA has always been a complete non-starter for me. I fully appreciate that is not everyone's position, but it is most definitely mine. If you join BA at, say, 25 years old, you will be there for 40 years. You could conceivably spend 20 of those years not sleeping in your own bed - that simply is not what I want. In the final analysis, I would say that is the key distinctive about whether or not to make the leap. It is a one-way move from BA to easyJet and only a handful of pilots have done it, which tells its own story. BA has so much to offer, but if you want to be home a lot then easyJet has got it. If that is not your main issue, my advice would be to sit back at BA and enjoy the numerous other great advantages of flying for one of the world's top airlines.

Thats a great summary Count. Thanks for the input.

And thanks everyone else for the great debate. Nice to see that the thread didn't turn into the usual pprune arguments, insults and all over doom and gloom. Nice to see that there are still a lot of adults on the site.

For those of us clueless about life at BA, why is long haul so unbearable? What you are suggesting is tantamount to somebody leaving Delta Airlines for Spirit Airlines here in the states. Does not happen regardless of time to command. This being the case when most, if not all legacy carriers, are operating under essentially bankruptcy contracts. Pay is reasonable, work rules are non existent. It's hard to imagine that LH life at BA could be that bad...

So out of curiosity what does Easy pay vs. BA short haul? Don't the Easy guys work a hell of a lot more than BA? I good friend of mine from university is a captain for Swiss ( formerly SR ) and when he was on the 320 he said he worked his but off. Right to the limits of the regs. Now on the 340 and is pretty happy. Interesting how much all this varies depending on region and airline.

In the states the seniority list is somewhat upside down. At my airline guys are upgrading to captain in 3-4 years but need 5-6 years to get in the right seat of a 777. They look at short haul rosters and want no part of it. Personally I think its better to rule in hell than to serve in heaven, but to each his own!

Interesting thread. But it's surprising to me that nobody has mentioned the difference in the day to day job when comparing RHS 747 with LHS on a medium LOCO jet. I mean, what is it about being an airline pilot that floats your boat, as it were? In my humble opinion, there is a fundamental difference between longhaul and shorthaul jobs.

I gave up a previous career because I didn't want to sit at a paperwork-strewn desk surrounded by grey filing cabinets, looking out a window at a view of brick walls and concrete. For me, being an airline pilot is about the Vr and Vref, the hand-flying, selecting of AP modes, judging descents, and beautiful (and ugly) views into 150+ sometimes challenging airports, over a variety of routes and with a multicultural mix of interesting personnel. Those being the parts of the actual day to day job I most enjoy, longhaul flying and even the boring two-sector days, with 4-5 hour legs that the likes of Thomson fly on the 737, simply does not hold much attraction.

I have been with the same LOCO for the best part of 9 years, have lived at the base closest to my family for 7 years, fly a stable roster which allows me to plan childcare months in advance, and I'm in my own bed almost every night. The occasional out of base trip becomes a pleasure. I'm also training and checking, which brings an added dimension to my career. I'm happy with my remuneration, though benefits are non-existent and this is a company with a high turnover of staff for a reason. Interestingly, the leavers are split pretty evenly between short and longhaul airlines.

Overall, however, it's clear in my mind that being RHS 747 with BA would not give me what I want from my flying career. Much as I would love to spend a day on a 747 flightdeck, I wouldn't trade jobs. Horses for courses. For some pilots, flying longhaul or joining a legacy carrier is the Holy Grail. ;)

Couldn't agree more.

I am not based in the UK, but in southern Europe, 15 mins away from where I was born and grew up and at the moment there is not a company that could offer me a better lifestyle than easyJet.

In the last rolling 6 months I have flown exactly 268 hours, 616 in my last 12 months. I am at home every night, and have my days off set in stone for the next years (5 on 4 off). I get paid reasonably well, amazing part time options available, good benefits and get to fly with with great colleagues.
We have long days, yes, and fatigue is an issue sometimes, but never was I called in the office or questioned when I have reported unfit or fatigued for a duty.
There is no perfect job, but this one does it for me, right now.

Exactly. In some cases our flag carrier doesn't pay as well as some of the low cost/charter airlines over a whole career due to quicker progression.

And Aircrew generally want to work as little as possible and get as much pay as they can get away with - "they" know that also