Yeah I've heard similar to the post above. They were offering those in the hold pool for mainline 320 EF for 2025 but I think that's done. I'm in the paddling pool for ML since Jan and am not expecting to hear anything till Q1 2026.

Similarly have been in the hold pool for EF since Dec, was told Sep/Oct start dates but recruitment have now said it’s uncertain when a course will be run. No mention of waiving the 12 months.

Offers from other carriers are becoming somewhat appealing for the certainty 🥲

What alternate options are you guys considering? Anyone thinking of Virgin instead, especially for Long haul and the new increased pay ?

I take it, this is for NTR? Or it doesn’t make much difference?

For SH, Jet2 is v v tempting

The person I know is A320 rated but <1500 hrs.

I wouldn't be saying no to other jobs in the hope that BA may call you for EF when they say they will, that's for sure! A year is a long time to be in a hold pool and who knows what C19 type event can strike at any time, rescinding any offers made.

Disagree from the POV it’s extremely easy to get 100% of the pilot community behind a 20% consolidated rise to take us back to where we should be right now. Besides the obvious workload problems everybody just wants their 20% back regardless of their status. The real problem is a multilayered one, Balpa seem determined to solve the company’s problems for them expecting something in return that never comes and IAG simply don’t want to spend any money and are quite happy to increase profit at our expense.

One of the company’s managers’ jobs is to get as much bang for their buck from the company’s employees. A union’s job is to protect and improve their members’ lot. Sadly BALPA reps within BA believe it is their job to help the company achieve its objectives without upsetting the pilots too much. They have completely the wrong objective, and appear to never want to change. The majority of pilots continue to support them, so that’s what we continue to have.

If we want to see an end to the erosion, we need a union that actually wants to be a union, and they will never want that until the majority of pilots realise that is the only way. Too many people accept the current situation, whilst whinging about it but continuing to pay their subs. Doing the precise same thing will continue to provide the precise same results. Money talks. Big BALPA is after the money, and the reps are after the money/lifestyles their roles provide. They’re very happy with the status quo.

As an outsider looking in I was surprised at how quickly BALPA appeared to fold during the 2019 dispute. I'm in ASLEF and we won in the 2022-2024 dispute by going out at least once per month on average for the best part of two years and making the whole "minimum service levels" government plan unworkable. Quite frankly we could have done a lot more if a small number of people with limited savings had been better prepared but ASLEF couldn't risk even small numbers of people crossing picket lines.

Do the younger BALPA members, who are probably worst affected by JSS, regularly attend BALPA meetings? One of the challenges we face in rail is that my generation and younger often want the benefits of the union but don't turn up to branch meetings to have their say.

I don’t know company wide numbers, but of my intake only a handful bothered signing up. Most of the others in my age bracket hadn’t a remote interest, mainly because they’ve experienced BALPA elsewhere and want nothing to do with them. They don’t want the benefits of union membership because they don’t believe there are any.

The benefits of being in an effective union are huge, and it would hardly even be a question whether someone should join because those benefits would be clear for all to see.

Membership density at my place is something like 99%, it has always been high and it shows in the influence the CC have. That said there's always an element of chicken versus egg, with a strong union attracting more members. I used to be at a company where ASLEF weren't as strong and that was reflected in some drivers joining the RMT instead.

I'm currently studying ATPL theory alongside the job, so it's interesting to see the differences compared with my current industry.

What sort of US routes could a year 1 seniority pilot on the 787 expect to actually get roster wise?

Think 2 crew ORD/IAD/BOS/JFK. All weekends. Looking at bottom of the list in July there’s a few AUS in there too.

Just to update prospective new joiners...

The company has agreed an improvement to the Long Haul rostering situation on a 1 year trial period. Key takeaways:

Minimum 3 days off after a longhaul trip (can be waived if you desire). This is designed to end the trip/2/trip/2 which we all found fatiguing towards the bottom of the list.

Slight reduction in CAP (up to 3hrs/month less).

Increase in golden days (advance notice day off) from 6 to 12 per year.

The cost to this is a tightening on the rules of where you can place golden days around other duties or leave, and putting ground duties inside reserve periods. Both of these "techniques" could be used to force the system to give chunks of days where you would not be usable which created inefficiencies that the company wants to address.

The hope is that these improvements reduce the sickness and fatigue rates while making the operation more predictable and efficient.

The Golden Day thing is slightly annoying (coming from someone who abused that possibility of extending leave at every opportunity) but by doubling the amount we receive the company are still going to find that people (ie me) put them at the start and end of leave but it’ll now only be possible to extend by two days either side rather than three for the cost of the same proportion of Golden Days. No major biggie really.

A very positive step. As an outsider with a limited knowledge of “CAP” is this likely to naturally increase the variety of routes for those at the bottom too, on the basis that East Coast/3 off/East Coast etc probably won’t achieve CAP?

On a different subject, is there a possibility to get unpaid leave in BA if you don’t have children?

The effect on variety - yet to be seen obviously but I'd say limited change. We are already limited to 3x 2crew trips per month. The reduction in cap (hours you need to work in the month) will help to make it more achievable with the increased days off... but by my calculations it won't be enough by itself.

Another change we have seen recently which i think will have an impact is company paid hotel on certain back to back trips (all of them east coast). Now with a free hotel and 6 days work generating 6 clear days off you may well see east coast trips going further up the list as pilots bid proactively for them to get those 6 days off.

As I understand unpaid leave is pretty hard to get without kids. It's hard enough to get with kids!

BA capacity test
 

Hi mate, I saw you sent some info regarding the BA EAGLE test/ interview / sim.

I wondered if you would be able to forward me the info you sent please ? I'm trying to figure out which website to use for the Capacity test,

Thanks in advance ,

Junior A320 Roster
 

Hi all, I've recently accepted a place for 320 mainline. Would anybody be able to DM me a typicial bottom of the pack 320 roster/ give me a better idea of what to expect atm. Anything appreciated