I know right, I only have 5000 hours on 787. Imagine what I could achieve if I wasn’t an illiterate.

Yeah, sorry my one post about the actual application process flooded the thread. I am sure previous 100 posts about cityflyer, assumptions about why people do not bid for A320 command and opinions about how Emirates pays 5 months bonus while BA gives 1% were all valuable information for my application.

Oh and don’t bother answering this post please. Because I can not read. Only an idiot would send a message in writing to a person who can’t read.

Cots does have a point even if they didn't convey it very well. Most of the threads here (Emirates, Qatar etc) have many posts about what to expect in the interview process. Just because it was posted a few months ago or even years doesn't mean it's "out of date". My company hasn't changed anything for 10 years other than the at home short video.


If you go to page 10 of this thread it mentions that the video interview is new and further posts mention the rest of the interview process.

That only took me a few minutes to find. Maybe that why people get snarky when the same questions get asked over and over.

Interviews for most airlines are very similar. Aptitude test is sometimes first sometimes not. Then a phone screen or video interview at home. An in person with pilot and HR with "tell us about a time" style questions. Usually a SIM eval too..some are heavy on tech questions some aren't.

If you spend 1 hour studying the company. 1 hour on tech stuff and 1 hour on TMAAT questions you should be ok.

Lasty 1 hour on "why us" you should be done. Why us is important cause they want to see if you really want to be there or are you interviewing at 2 other places this week and this is a back up.

What are you experiencing that is different to what you have read in previous posts?

Hi guys,

Looking for some opinons on what to do next. I'm an FO at Ryanair with about 1500h 737 time MAN base which is close to home. I'm considering to join BA long haul either 787 or 777 (no preference really).

From what I read so far for LH FOs at BA, first year pay will be similar to my current pay (approx 80k at about 60h per month atm). Roster would at least initially give me less at home time with BA and generally be not as good as Ryanair while at low seniority.
I'm most concerned about quality of life/pay rather than being a captain so I don't mind putting the upgrade off if BA will be much better in that regard. I would also be commuting from the Manchester area to Heathrow as from what I've read it's reasonably doable for LH.

What im trying to decide is, it it worth to stay where I am for around another 2 years and do the upgrade at Ryanair (approx 150k p/y salary) then get PIC time and look for a DEC position elsewhere in some years time, or should I try get in with BA now knowing command will be 10+ years away?

Thank you!

Personally, I’d do the command upgrade and then get yourself out to the M.E and earn some real money. Staying in the U.K as a highish earner will just impoverish you .

To be quite frank the only way you get good quality of life at BA is being senior senior means staying P2 on the A320 where in 3 or 4 years you'll be largely doing work that you have chosen.
A320 captain will take well over a decade
Longhaul FO will take probably 12-15yrs
Longhaul captain maybe 30 years.

The pay numbers are pretty well known so comparison is easy.

Quality of life really depends on where you want to live, and how much roster control you want. Fixed pattern vs weekends off vs certain destinations? At BA you will never get fixed pattern but at the time frames I listed above you can hope to get a reasonable level of control of the work you do and the days you do it.

BA is great in some regards. But the salary and roster control start off very low and take a long long time to catch up to other airlines.

As I am probably even less literate than you, I am somewhat confused on why someone with 5,000 hours on a 787 is looking for another job. Did you get canned?

The word is that many BA pilots on the 777 and 787 have registered their interest with the likes of Riyadh Air. I think there is a certain demographic within BA that would vote with their feet if the T&C’s were right elsewhere. Many others that have more time in are waiting out retirement, but have given ourselves a payrise by living outside the U.K.

Will this actually bare fruit? Or is it just people having a moan?

I've dug into the FCH forum and there appears to be a lot of discontent about BA/BALPA, but have people actually gone and left yet in any serious numbers?

What’s the difference between a pilot and a jet engine?

The jet engine stops whining at the gate.

I believe there have been a handful of people leaving, but certainly in no huge numbers. The problem with seniority, once you’ve done your time at the bottom, things do get better. It’s hard to leave that. Plus as alluded to, pilots do enjoy a good moan then doing nothing about it! All part of the fun.

if you join as a DEP on the 777/787, you will likely be junior for nearly a decade. Junior shorthaul pilots will constantly slot in above you after their freeze. If you want roster control, forget long haul. Time to command on long haul is currently circa 20years so don’t plan on any less. If you join on 320 you will gain some seniority relatively quickly, and if you decide you want a command, you could currently obtain this within 1 year. With a new pay structure currently being rumoured for new joiners it’s anyone’s guess, but you certainly wouldn’t be earning anywhere near a Ryanair captains salary for around 15 years as an FO

I know this is a bit pedantic but time to LH command is at 18 years right now and will reduce further than that* given there’s a combination of increased retirements coming up and LH expansion back to the pre covid network. There’s 16 or so LH aircraft coming in the next few years, all slated to reinstall lost LH capacity. This will push it down even further although I certainly wouldn’t expect it to go below 15 years and even this will be almost exclusively of benefit to those who joined 9-10 years ago so yes your point about time to LH command for potential new joiners is still basically valid. Told you I was nit picking :}

(*Subject to the usual black swan caveats of terrorism, financial crises, people coughing in China etc)

Who is moaning? The more potential applicants know before they join, the better, right?

Thanks guys, I think I will stick with Ryanair for 2 more years then another 3 in command for the PIC time, then look for DEC elsewhere, maybe middle east but who knows what the situation will be in 5 more years. Appreciate the knowledge for those who answered!

Indeed...that's why I always advocate eating one's dessert first.

Depending on how old you are IMO be mad to stay at RYR.

I was late 30s when I joined BA SH 2 years ago. Everyone at RYR said I would be LHS after a year, as I had the hours already, earning blah blah blah amount etc etc.

Yeah RYR LHS salary is alright. When is your next pay rise?
When do you go up a PP?

You don’t!!!

Yes I joined the big wave at BA and over 500 pilots below me on the seniority and I’m sitting at 40ish% after 2 years on the 320. My rosters now are working so well, even for June.

£60-£80k a year budget for for BA is on the low side. Basic from June is £74k sat at home doing nothing. SH easily add £20k to that a year. Pension would be £11k from BA. That would be the minimum you would earn. As you go up PP you always get a salary increase plus whatever % increase BALPA have negotiated(They could have done much better but hey ho).

If you 40 and over. Maybe not BA but certainly under 30 if you can’t work state side or KLM/AF etc be mad to not consider BA IMO.
At RYR I had no way to swap a duty to be at home on Childs bday. At BA I have missed nothing.

I didn’t join for the salary. It’s been much better than I expected.
I joined for the variety of trips/days etc.
Being able to write roster.
Career options.

How have you come up with these figures? They’re a good decade above the current numbers, and we’ve got a lot of long haul aircraft coming together with a huge retirement bulge.

I believe they meant, it’s those lengths of time in that rank to start to get some reasonable seniority for rosters. At the moment, 10 years puts you about half way up short haul captain’s list. Short haul command has come all the way to the very bottom, what lifestyle you can expect there depends on your expectations….

Ah I see. It’s currently about 25 years to 50% on the P1 status list on the long haul Airbus fleets. Boeing fleets are longer though, and yes, it could well be about 30 years.

yes exactly I was referring to "reasonable seniority" say around the mark of 30% from the top of the list at which point you can pick the days and trips you do to really dictate your lifestyle. They were just my guesses though knowing roughly how the seniority sits on each fleet/seat.

Below that seniority you seem to be at the mercy of global constraints which will re-write the roster you could have had, which means you lose that control.

It's not a hard line by any means... just that above those points (let's say for argument 15yrs FO LH or SH Capt, 30yrs LH capt) you can expect to control your roster pretty reliably.