They're generally very good. Most are either city centre or resort (Carribean/Indian Ocean). The New York hotel can be a bit of a lottery but the location is excellent for Manhattan.

Thanks Planedrive, in regards to TR, I presume that is a bond over 3-5 years?

Indeed. Good deal if you keep that command, maybe!

I'm reliably informed that the ex VACC Chairman, who was at the helm of pilot representation during the contentious 2020 redundancy consultations (and wholesale permanent change to all terms and conditions) has recently been appointed in a management role as Head of Flight Crew at the airline.

Captains made redundant. Seniority binned (and yes - it DID exist, despite new joiners alluding otherwise in posts above, and there was an industrial agreement that was extant covering it!). Scheduling agreements binned permanently. All whilst consulting with a BALPA union Chairman - who now gets a management position. He is now your boss. Good luck with any pay and lifestyle negotiations there!

The court cases of the "unmentionable" forgotten victims of the above debacle, that paved the way for your command in your thirties, have not gone away, by the way. It will all out eventually.

Just saying.

Hi All,

Quick question here, does anyone know if the flight pay at Virgin is taxed? Just hearing different things from different people.

Thanks in advance

Flight pay ( which was a fixed amount) was integrated into salary post COVID and is thus taxed at your marginal tax rate.

You do receive allowances down route for purchasing food etc. This is paid at the prevailing HMRC world wide rates which are tax free. Certain destinations receive a top up/ gap payment which is taxed at your marginal rate

Ah right, thanks for clarifying it for me

Apologies if this has been covered, been scanning the tread and haven’t seen it.
I understand flight pay is rolled up in basic now, how much are the trip payments and are there any other payments to take into account when working out final income?
Many thanks.

Has there been any more news on potential payrises?

raising the pay appears to have not worked. During December and January , many resigned.

Where are most leaving for?

I heard, although not confirmed of course, that VS BALPA asked for a 40% payrise (for justifiable reason) and VS came back with an offer of 3%. Anyone else heard this?

Lots to BA apparently.

Virgin are that desperate they are opening visa sponsorships for Eu nationals to work for the airline.

the way they treated people during Covid I’m not surprised

See this....

Can you trust your Training Captains? The Captain Lawson case.

There are many court cases lodged by flight crew still pending. Is it all "just because of Covid"?

On the upside for anyone looking for that "dream long-haul gig" - there is an advert out today further dropping DEP entry requirements to type rating only with no recency requirements for anyone who has been unable to fly in the 4 years post-Covid.

.....I guess you just ought to ask : why?! The terminated flight crew with unfair dismissal claims certainly are.

FYI, this is not something new. They had it in place since at least 2021.

Were the dismissed just not allowed to rejoin like the others? What were the requirements?

Apart from some who had suffered performance issues pre-covid, there were also a few characters who thought it was the right thing to do to tell their former employer in no uncertain terms what they thought of them, in public, in return interviews, and/or across social media, but who still then expected to be offered their jobs back. Whether or not anyone else agreed with them, most thought it more prudent not to burn bridges. Apart from these handful of cases, Virgin did follow through on their promise to reemploy everyone else.

Gosh. On my rare trips into the office I always take a stick to bite on along with worry beads. Helped my career prospects well

Simply not true. Do you know how many unfair dismissal claims are currently being defended by the airline? Were you in those "interviews"? If so, then with respect you prob should not be casting aspersions here. If not, then you prob should not be casting aspersions here!

Anyone with any historic and documented performance or discipline "issues" were not even offered a place in the hold pool. Everyone in the pool was apparently pre-judged as being a suitable candidate, else you were not there in the first place. Many had decades of exemplary service and spotless training records. However, all were apparently still subject to a "robust" interview to get their old jobs back. Did any other airline implement a strict and scored interview process for employess to get their old jobs back?

Be careful of repeating narratives without facts. Are you seriously suggesting hundreds of crew, deemed suitable already to be in a hold pool, all walked into an interview and told their prospective employer exactly what they thought of them? Seriously? Why would these hundreds of crew bother to do that?!

I note from your earlier responses in this thread that you say :

Are you aware of the "written" redundancy agreement that Virgin had and its pilots paid for via pay concessions that had been extant for a very long time? That goes some way to explain the shock and upset suffered by pilots that were axed with decades of service. That shock and upset, I would respectfully argue, is not a "crime" to be punished, but rather a human reaction to be understood with compassion.

What actually transpired was that some interviews were more "robust" than others. The real reasons why that was the case are at the heart of the court claims.

Until you see the evidence, then, your opinion is unfortunately just that. You are, of course, entitled to it, but unfortunately not your own facts. Please try and understand that there are individuals in severe distress due to these events, and such repetition of unsubstantiated naratives only serves to make their situations worse.