I too have been finding several of the questions on here pretty entertaining of late. People will be asking what the current crew meal options are next. Is it really necessary to know about headsets before you join a company and find out for yourself?

These are fair and reasonable questions. It’s a forum for questions and answers. If you don’t want to provide a constructive answer or dialogue then don’t participate. There are scores of pilots joining - some waiting for calls and others with very little information other than a start date. Naturally, people will gravitate to this thread for some clarification. Surprised to be met with negativity and despondency from some contributors. Though, glad that the vast majority of people have been welcoming and engaging.

I think why there is such mirth at headsets being the reason to join a company like BA is that the old hands know it can change the following week if/when a new Tech Manager wants to make a name for him/herself by saving money and binning the present headset and selecting a cheaper Chinese version. Hence, the advice not to select an employer by the headsets or crew meals as it could all change after you join. And then you will be a very unhappy little bunny. Good luck either way.

Hi there, thanks for the added context, makes sense. Though, wasn’t expecting my question to be misconstrued so heavily by others. Headsets certainly have no bearing on my decision. I am very privileged to be offered the opportunity to join BA. Just wanted to ask the experts and those with the experience an honest question. Everybody has been new once? I don’t know, I’ll just take questions elsewhere. Shame really, a great welcome to the ranks…

I understand the request for info. All I would say is BA is a big uncaring employer that pays lip service to many employment rules. If you are going to sweat the small stuff, you will be very unhappy in a big company like BA. If you want to come to work and fly, travel around Europe and the World , eat whatever is put in front of you and be grateful, wear whatever headset your employer provides you, and know you will be paid at the end of the month, then come on in, the water’s fine.

People come to this thread to find out useful information about joining BA as a DEP. If they have to read through multiple posts about irrelevant trivia, they find it difficult to find that useful information, and end up asking the same questions again and again. It is best to keep this thread for relevant DEP questions and answers. By all means start another thread for your questions which hold absolutely no bearing as to why you might choose to join BA as a DEP. The reason people are thinking you are basing your decision to join on the headset type, is because that is what this thread is for.

And that is precisely my point.

Sorry GS-Alpha, I can’t take responsibility for other people not reading through the thread and not using the search function.

Also you say the thread is ‘for people to find out useful information about joining BA as a DEP’ - I am asking a question that is relevant and for information that I think may be useful. Unless it’s for you to decide what is ‘useful?’

Anyway, happy to take offline if prefer. In the mean time, two other respectful and well meaning colleagues have reached out to me to supply the information and offer their support.

I presume by your words, you mean I am not a supportive well meaning and respectful colleague? Feel free to ask your daft questions, I won’t bother contributing any more.

Forgive me, I feel almost stupid asking, but is anybody able to explain what people keep referring too as "credit". I repeatedly see people mentioning "high/low credit trips" etc, and coming from a 320 ACMI carrier, I can't seem to put the pieces of the puzzle together. I did use the search function, but it just showed me more people mentioning credit rather than an actual explanation of what it means.

If it's something straight forward and I'm missing something very clearly written in black and white, my DMs are open for you to call me a blithering idiot.

Hi NotSoSmart,

Simply put, each trip is given a credit value. Broadly speaking, it’s related to the number of flying hours in the trip (with a minimum value per day at work) plus a small amount for time downroute over a certain length. The exact ways it’s calculated differs slightly between longhaul and shorthaul.

CAP is the total amount of credit each pilot needs to achieve each month. It’s usually in the 80-90 hour range and varies slightly by month. JSS (the roster generator) builds you a line of work to get you up to CAP. Ground duties, part time, leave etc all attract credit as well, and this is all factored into your month’s roster.

To sum up, credit is BA’s measure of how hard it wants you to work. Therefore, ‘credit dense’ trips tend to be more popular - a lot of flying in a shorter amount of time so that you’re at home more is the logic of most. Other airlines may use ‘days at work’ (so that the shortest, easiest trips therefore become the most popular!). Each method has pros and cons.

I hope that helps.

champ

NotSoSmart

v v simplistic take on it, which may be slightly out of date so open to correction:

BA wants you to do a certain number of units of work in a month (the CAP). The unit of measurement is credit/credited hours.

TBH the term could have been “credited bananas” or “credited widgets” but “credit/credited hours” it is, which can cause confusion if you have not come across the concept before and have only ever considered hours = flying.

Everything that can go on a roster (flights, sims, leave, ground training etc) will have a credited hours value attached to it by BA. That value is agreed with BALPA, how it is calculated for a given activity is I’d suggest beyond the scope of this discussion :bored:.

High credit/low credit, as in “that’s a high/low credit trip” means what it says on the tin.

Credit dense means an activity that generates a lot of credited hours for not a lot of time at work…..

HTH

Is e learning which is carried out at home assigned a credit value?

It does as of a couple of weeks ago.

Part time
 

Hello, if you were to go to 75% part time, for example, could you request to go back to full time later on?

Sim assessment
 

Hi all - any feedback on what the assessment for NTR 320 BA/BAEF looks like?

Any tips/suggestions?

you can request but there's no guarantee. It's been done but they make it very clear when you sign the contract that this is a permanent change.

Hi guys.

Just wondering if anyone Has received a verbal offer recently?
I’ve been in the holding pool for quite a while now.

Thank you

Can anyone drop me a PM regarding BA’s LoL cover? Had a quick question. Thanks in advance.

Heard that pilots are trying to increase the pay at the lower end of the pay scales ?
Maybe to entice more pilots to join also ?

Is this a valid rumour