Working for Virgin

Ok, we've all heard (and know) how great it is to fly with VS 99% of the time (why would be here if not) But I want to know, how good it is to work for virgin - i.e. how you are treated by management, hours, attitudes to health, safety, welfare, family, etc. I'm particularly interested in being a pilot (got 11 flying lessons for dooing good in my GCSEs) and I would like to particularly work for virgin, as (according to branson's autobiography) virgin treat thair staff well, because treating staff well, means that the customers are treat well by the staff, means that you will get more customers returning to use the business - and thus will make more money.

I'm interested in what anyone who works for virgin (or knows someone who does) thinks.

Hi Blythy

VS are a pretty good company to work for compared to others I know of. The salaries (for groundstaff anyway) aren't great but the concessions are excellent and there's the usual pension/healthcare etc. Pilots are looked after pretty well although I don't know the ins and outs of their pay/conditions.

Currently we don't train any pilots 'ab initio', ie we only recruit ones who already have plenty of hours (from the forces, charter carriers, etc)...there are probably more details on the VS website about specific requirements. Longhaul flying isn't for everyone - you get plenty of time off but you spend half your life recovering from jetlag. Maybe that's more appealing than night Dalamans though!

Cheers
Alan

cheers, yeah I've had a look at the website and they want people with 2500 hours logged time (45 hours for PPL, 250 for CPL, 1500 for ATPL) then with about 900 hours flying time a year, they're looking for someone who has had about a year with a previous operator

I wouldn't consider working for ryanair though - that CEO is profit driven and is talking about the lot of them being the most pampered in the industry, when they probably work 11hrs a day, away from home every other night etc...

I've looked into sponsorship schemes, (e.g. BA) but they have a high application rate, low acceptance, so I'd rather work my hours up, probably as an instructor, and then work my way through a small operator (eastern seems like a good company to start with) and then go with VS.

Blythy

have a look here as well

http://www.ppjn.com/

It will give you an idea od salaries

Blythy,

Congrats on the GCSE results and on the great presenet. Is it A-levels next?

The girlfriend of a friend of mine is currently training as a commercial pilot. She got her private license via the usual flying school route and is now doing the commercial license module by module. She works for a block of time until she's saved enough and then does the next module or two. Not the quickest way to a license maybe, but an option if you haven't got sponsorship or sufficient personal financial resources.

Emjoy your lessons.

quote:Originally posted by Blythy
I've looked into sponsorship schemes, (e.g. BA) but they have a high application rate, low acceptance, so I'd rather work my hours up, probably as an instructor, and then work my way through a small operator (eastern seems like a good company to start with) and then go with VS.

Another good way of getting your single-engine hours up rapidly, before you get a single-engine instructor rating, is to go and fly tow planes at gliding strips. That builds your hours very quickly indeed, and lots of cycles too.

Then once you have your ATPL, go and fly for one of the regionals (Eastern, Flybe, Air Southwest, Loganair) on twin props like the ATP, ATR, Dash-8, etc.

Chances are that VS would want you to have some jet experience before they took you on, they may not take you straight from a Dash-8 to a 747 when you're up against pilots with plenty of jet hours logged.

That would mean working with one of the LCCs or charters, so you can get hours logged on slightly larger jet-powered tin.

Cheers,
Mike

thanks for the info, suggestions

Another good way of getting your single-engine hours up rapidly, before you get a single-engine instructor rating, is to go and fly tow planes at gliding strips. That builds your hours very quickly indeed, and lots of cycles too.

Not a bad idea, and I think there's a gliding strip nearby.

Then once you have your ATPL, go and fly for one of the regionals (Eastern, Flybe, Air Southwest, Loganair) on twin props like the ATP, ATR, Dash-8, etc.

Aye, it'd be great working on those for a while, especially the dash 8 and the little jetstreams.

Chances are that VS would want you to have some jet experience before they took you on, they may not take you straight from a Dash-8 to a 747 when you're up against pilots with plenty of jet hours logged.
That would mean working with one of the LCCs or charters, so you can get hours logged on slightly larger jet-powered tin.

I'd rather work with an LCC - better chance of being based (hopefully at newcastle), more regular schedule. Saying that though, the pilots at these LCCs are supposedly treat like dirt, almost bus drivers.

Congrats on the GCSE results and on the great presenet. Is it A-levels next?

Yep, gonna be doing maths, physics, IT and business studies and I'll probably drop business studies after a year (common practice at our school, 4 AS, 3 A2)

it's a good site that Alan, thanks