To be fair I'm not sure this is different from any other airline who wouldn't deliberately hire someone they knew to be unsuitable for command. The reality is you still need to pass the command course, and pass rates do seem to vary over time. It's not handed to you on a silver platter just because you got through the selection, let's put it that way.

Correct. The BA command course isn’t to be undertaken lightly though, as it is not really a training course (on SH that is, I cannot speak for LH). It is very short and you are essentially expected to turn up ready for command on day 1. That’s not to say the training department aren’t very supportive - they are - but the course footprint is very short.

Cost of living
 

Guys, tell me how I'm gonna survive with BA's FO salary in the UK. I'm thinking about investing in this position.. it is a huge investment for me because I don't have a UK license neither an EASA one.. so they ask me to go all licensing stuff by myself and when I'm 50% of the process, they'll take me to the Sim assessment.. Such a big airline paying that salary around 5-6K £ a month to FOs not considering them having kids and living close to Heathrow? How am I gonna send my kids to a school there and give them a quality life? I looked for a liveable and reasonable house near heathrow in places like Ealing, need a 3 br place to live.. starting prices are like 3K a month... tell me how am I gonna do the math here.. 1 kid for primary and the other for secondary... I'm gonna need a car for flights... all taxes and oil costs.. grocery costs... the remaining amount is gonna let me survive there and will be O.K. for how long... I can't do the math man... I can't know and trust the company for the command upgrade also... it might come in two years or might come in five... schools are gonna cost me somehow right ?... how about summer holidays? We're gonna sacrifice them? How do you guys make it there tell me please!

been living in the middle east for 6-7 years as an SFO now on LH fleet earning around 8,5-9K £ a month excluding school and housing allowences and yearly bonuses... we live in a huge compound here with all facilities inside such as basketball and football pitches, tennis, squash, gym, pool etc all of them you name it.. super safe for children.. kids going to a prive british school, a very good one...not paying them a penny.. I'd like to move to the UK for their further education in future in college later on but I cant do the math here.. TIA

What Nationality are you, what passport do you have ?

What you have just listed are the benefits of living in the ME. Safe, great facilities, schooling and big tax free cash.

Have a think, honestly, what the benefits are of moving to the uk to you personally.

If it's worth it, do it. If it's not, stay where you are and enjoy those considerable benefits.

If you did move here, look south or west of heathrow more than ealing side. A 3bed semi will set you back more like £600k or £2k/m. I'd hope after 7 years on that money you'd be in a position to buy a place with a small mortgage if not cash.

State schools are no extra charge.

No-one owes you a command so plan on the FO job and a quick command as a bonus.

It sounds to me like your lifestyle is above what is possible on a BA wage.

Maybe look at doing your command and in a couple of years join a LoCo as direct entry captain?

thanks very much for your response.. I am thinking a lot.. day and night... and getting stuck where I am currently.. cant get out of it... buying the property would be one of the best things to do instead of paying high rents... 600-700K is not that bad.. I'll look into that... any region recommendations in maybe the south between heathrow and gatwick? Like safe and good schools in the region... I put in my notes..(checklist :P)

considering getting command and going to a low cost is also in my mind... I'm closer to that actually.. let's see..

This is my personal opinion and others may disagree of course, but generally speaking joining BA on shorthaul at pay point 1 is great if you’re young and single. With kids and looking to live within commuting distance of Heathrow it’s not ideal…..the suggestion above about getting command and then joining a low cost airline might be more appropriate. BA isn’t the airline it was. It’s generally a good place to work but there are other decent options out there, and some people have left BA to take up those options.

I’m sure you’ve looked at the tax situation in the U.K., my take is that that won’t improve anytime soon…having said all that, I wish you luck in your deliberations !

The tax situation is quite horrific and no matter what tricks you may try to play regarding residence, HMRC have made it as difficult as possible to get out of it.

Definitely make sure you have a solid grasp of the UK tax system and its quirks (flaws) before even thinking about working here. The £100k cliff edge is the one you'll probably hear mentioned the most and is especially relevant to anyone junior in BA purely because of where salaries currently sit in respect to the 60% tax trap band (even more relevant if you have kids). With the PP34 scales it unfortunately means it drags on for years.

I find myself agreeing with most of what's written above. The truth is a junior BA salary (in either seat frankly) is not going to give you a particularly good quality of life in the south east, especially with a family in tow. An early command will help, albeit marginally, but you'll be giving up any hope of a decent lifestyle for 15 years at the very least (one of the things BA was once good for, so I'm told).

A few points on pay specifically. Figures of around £5-6k take home aren't ridiculous for a PP1 FO, assuming you work the full month. However part of the '23 pay deal involved a massive rebalance of our pay to allowances, such that a busy month can yield about £2500-£3000 in flight pay. Do the maths and it works out to about 30% of your overall salary, which you do not get if you're off sick, on leave, or just have a quiet month. Budget for £4-4.5k on those months.

Secondly, bonuses. If we're lucky enough to hit the same (record) profit levels again next year, there'll be a juicy 1% of basic to look forward to, which for a PP1 FO is about £720 (£430 after tax). How many months' salary was the latest Emirates bonus again...?

Also our 2023 pay deal doesn’t expire for another 20 months and so far it has delivered a series of real terms cuts to basic salary, with the next shaping up nicely in June. Suffice to say our union is completely ineffective so the only hope we have now is market forces.

Operationally I would say BA is not a bad place to work and obviously the main perk is being able to switch between long haul and short haul. Personally though I'd advocate what others have said - unless you have a burning desire to do long haul in the UK (in which case, worth comparing with Virgin) I'd be inclined to get a command and go LoCo where pay and lifestyle are both fair. Or alternatively, stay put!

Well put, only addition I’d make is that DHL UK is worth considering if LH is your bag, and would enable a far lower cost of living. To be honest looking at the lifestyle of a friend who is LBA based and lives in a gorgeous part of North Yorks I am always struck that their QoL would require a salary multiples higher in the South East.

Just to put an alternative perspective on this.
A take home salary of £4k per month will put you in the 87th centile of earners in the UK.
A take home salary of £5k per month will put you in the 93rd centrile
A take home salary of £6k per month will put you in the 95th centile

https://www.gov.uk/government/statis...-and-after-tax

I recognise the South East is very expensive, and your perspective on quality of life may be very different to mine, but factually you'd be earning a comprably high salary in the UK.
Obviously that doesn't negate that you may well earn more with another company, or have a lower cost of living elsewhere in the UK or abroad compared to BA in the South East!

Or an alternative of an alternative, is this just illustrates how far living standards have fallen in the UK.

Can't say I disagree!

I can’t disagree with that either. When I think of the QoL of the skippers I flew with when I joined the flag carrier 30 odd years ago, it was the 4-5 bedroom house in Marlow on a quarter of an acre, kids in a decent private school and a decent standard of living with a hefty pension retiring at 55. Where did it all go wrong?

Hold Pool
 

Hi all,

Been swimming for a couple of weeks now. Has anyone been called recently for a 320 LHR course? I'm rated so expecting a short course but also recognise that there is limited capacity.

Thanks for the great info in this thread! For those applying or preparing for assessments, it's all as above.

A320 course were being offered toward the end of this year

Hello everyone, anyone recently applied for 787 FO position?
I am asked to do a video interview. I couldn`t find any recent info about the recruitment process. What is in the previous messages doesn`t seem to resemble what I am having.
I am happy to listen if anyone has any insight.

I don’t think you’ll get very far then if you are unable to read. As all the information IS in here. Including information on the video interview. Please take the time to read the thread rather than going for the lazy option and expecting to be spoon fed everything.

As I mentioned two posts above yours, the whole process is detailed very accurately in this thread and is up to date. Going over all 91 pages with a fine-toothed comb worked for me (and probably many others), there is no reason it shouldn't work for you.

Cots889

Wow. I’d love to fly with you…. Best you attend a CRM course quickly.

If you recall, going for a new job is stressful and he was only asking for an update as he was experiencing change. Your post did nothing to help.

Me