Pretty junior! 😉

Sounds a fun airline to join after all.

Can you also bid to avoid any of the really boring self-centred pilots on the 3 day trips? (those trips that give you so much more exposure to flying, than just going around europe in benign weather).

Not sure I can fully decipher whether or not there's some sort of undertone, but there is an option to "freeze" out people you'd rather not be with if that's the question.

Any idea how training capacity for SH is looking at the moment? Been swimming for a while and 6 years of flogging it in and out of Luton 4 times a day is starting to grate a little.

Assuming (and correct me if I'm wrong) the pool is a kind of FIFO system so if anyone has accepted a SH course recently would you mind disclosing your own wait time?

TIA

I am a swimmer myself (FO) with no news, but I am following their vacancies and spoke to one of the applicants from my interview. The applicant is also an FO but went via aspiration for Comand vacancy. Interview result was May and course start was set as October. I also noticed they stopped looking for DEP FOs other than for LH fleets since around June. They do post Aspiration for Comand adverts time to time. Now purely speculating on all of the above tells me they have enough people in Hold Pool. They don’t seem to want to fill it up any more for now either. Would be nice to learn some more solid rumours though as it has been a while.

Edit: the above is actually BAEF.

I believe you are correct. Thinking about it I'd say the first of the SPA cadets will be due to come into the sim in the next few months with a larger training footprint than DEPs. Slightly bad timing on my part (not complaining, we were all cadets once). Aspiration for command was on the radar, but would have meant completely uprooting my life to somewhere within a reasonable distance of LGW and the engagement freeze made it significantly less appealing

Thought I’d post in here as BAEF thread seems dead.
Swimming since Start of July, wondering what the lead time people are currently experiencing is? Cheers

Read the second post up from yours :o)

A mixed bag, as stated above, you’ll be able to get some LGW trips absolutely but think 3 day JFK, MCO, TPA, Caribbean with a shuttle etc. You won’t be getting sight of a Mon-Fri PUJ five dayer for a decade at least nor a 6 day MRU. But overall LGW trips are a poisoned chalice for a lot of the 777 pilots as it’s a pain to get to for anybody from the north (and for a few of the other commuters).

(Oh edited to say the new 787-10 IGW orders are in some part intended to replace the LGW 777 fleet. Now we know that BA will squeeze every last drop out of the -200ERs so this isn’t going to happen imminently or even in the next 3-4 years but, outside of that, all bets are off so if you’re planning to be LH for a long period of time and LGW trips are a deal breaker worth bearing in mind. Especially as dual fleeting the 777/787 appears pie in the sky and dead in the water at this point.)

You may be swimming a bit longer since two TCs one M one F asked to resign for inappropriate behaviour allegedly.
Roster extractions and cosy down route days off.

CP 320 just resigned.

we don’t have a CP 320

I think you know what he means…

Check the FAN, my mistake

This stuff was a bit too cryptic for me, until I googled BA new story in The Sun. For anyone else wondering

Quick question for any Airbus guys that recently applied. I was thinking of applying for BA LH, I’ve got over 3000 A320 hours, but looking at the Ad it says they are taking predominantly on the 777 fleet. Are they not taking candidates on the A350/380 fleet at all (unless TR)?

Thank you

There’ll be very few if any internal moves to the A380 next year as the flying programme is reduced to accommodate the cabin refurbs. As a DEP your chances of getting the A380 are somewhere between the square root of F all and none. Although I stand by to be surprised but that’s the current plan. Can’t speak for the 350. But it makes sense that the majority of the LH need will be on the Boeing fleets namely the 777.

if it helps I passed sim in July, Sim partner going LH got start date for November on 777 after 2k hours at Ryan.

It does appear that pilots on the 777 are dropping like flies……

I think the 777 recruitment focus is for multiple reasons, but one will be because the 787 secondees will be heading back off the 777 as the grounded 787’s return to the skies. Similarly as already mentioned the 380 is undergoing its cabin refit, and there is relatively little movement off either of the long haul Airbus fleets because they are relatively junior fleets. There will be some 350 expansion coming at some point, as we take delivery of the 6 new hulls, but I can’t remember when they are due.