There are no restrictions for internal fleet moves, beyond the type and engagement freezes, so you can go directly from 777 to 350 when your freeze is up, provided you have obtained the necessary seniority.

Would anyone be willing to PM me a screenshot of the roster for January on the 777 so as to get an idea of life as a new joining FO?

Thanks in advance.

I noticed on PPJN that BA are trialing commuter bases on short haul. Does anyone have any further information about this?

What's the roster like at Euroflyer? Is it every night at home or 4-5 days away from home?

Everyday at home

I understand that Euroflyer pilots join the same seniority list. How long would it take to move to the mainline's A320 family fleet out of LHR?
LHS if it makes a difference.

If joining LHS, you will be one of the cheapest captains there, so I certainly would not expect to be released before the end of the initial engagement freeze.

Is there any reason why any experienced Captain wth the requisite hours wanting to join BA and get themselves on the MSL wouldn't have EF DEC ahead of a direct entry RHS job?

Appreciate that the T&Cs aren't market leading for a Captain but if the alternative is paypoint 1 RHS then...?

Someone who is keen on direct entry Long Haul, or wants to commute from afar, has an aversion to long daytrips or early starts, maybe has an established life in a place too far from LGW to be driving daily.

Granted when I joined EF didn't exist, but if it did I would have joined mainline RHS 777 over DEC BAEF.

Horses for courses!

There are people considering forgoing an LHR command in favour of the ease of staying RHS for the last 10 to 15 yrs of their career, never mind going to Gatwick to up the ante for less pay.

Trip 3 days off over and over. That’s your full time roster.

What is the difference between a 2 stripe and 3 stripe FO? Total time?

4 years in company. That’s it. Plenty of 2 stripers walking around at the moment with thousands of jet hours and an ATPL, as well as command experience. It’s a bit much IMHO (particularly as the cadet second officers wear two stripes too), and it means that during the pre briefing coffee the “where were you before?” is quite a loaded question.

Is it worth doing any of the various online mock tests for the Eagle test itself, even if they are not fully accurate against the real thing? Or better to just read the instructions carefully on the day and take it for what it is.

Loaded in what sense? I am interested

I get asked by the genuinely curious with whom it's all a pleasure to discuss and culminates in a sincere "great to have you here" atmosphere. A lot are also curious how my previous operator did certain things and we'd have some great conversations. An insignificant minority are made nervous by the 2 stripes however and interact with me notably different. This becomes more obvious on 3 crew trips where the other FO has 3 stripes. Arguably the "best" captain I have flown with so far didn't ask at all. It may or may not be a coincidence that he was a seriously competent operator. The other end of the spectrum are the ones who see 2 stripes and take from it that it is their duty to redo your line training. Of the 3 experiences of this nature, 2 admitted to having failed trainer bids .. can't think why.

For what it's worth to those looking to join and total clarity, the CRM is to an exceptional standard and any bad experiences are the outliers. It is simply an incomparable environment to my previous loco where every 3rd day you'd be wondering how the other person wasn't in a straight jacket.

It's a policy which I think is misguided, and is a deterrent to attracting experienced pilots, especially experienced jet captains. And where I fly, there is some correlation between stripes and past experience, so it's not a question that needs to be asked. The people I know who swallowed their pride and swapped 4 for 2 BA stripes, found it an irritating time, with much lip biting required. Another colleague who had to make the same 'double demotion' to go to KLM decided not to go. I used to fly with many ex BA captains, and on avergage, found their deep down CRM poor - patronising, verging on autocratic, though superficially genial. Admittedly, that was many years ago though.

Unless you’re a computer whiz kid, I’d highly recommend https://www.skytest.com/ for the capacity test. It’s a decent representation of the actual test (though that’s a bit harder in my opinion) and will show you the various elements and the best way to prioritise. It’s really about workload management and task prioritisation. You will make errors, but better to miss a ‘fuel check’ than have a TCAS RA!

Good luck!

after 8 years LH at BA I have come across this only twice, try flying for CX and then compare. BA is very relaxed and so what you have to bite the bullet for a few years. If it’s so important to have extra stripes maybe it says more about the individual than the organisation. Each to there own I suppose

I was thinking exactly the same. If you’re that bothered about a little bit of fabric on your shoulders, you need to have a word with yourself.

Stripes are usually an external indication of experience. A skipper on first meeting an FO is going to have a different first impression if they have two stripes compared to three despite it having increasingly less bearing on actual experience. It’s something worthy of discussion when almost every other operator uses two to denote a position such as cadet/second officer or experience <1500/<3000hrs, and given how low commands are going I presume there are now many 2 stripers sitting in the left seat during their upgrades.