A few pics I took tonight

#1 Taken circa 1800

#2 Taken circa 2120

#3 Taken circa 2155

#4 Taken circa 2250

#5 Taken circa 2300

Camera Kit
Canon 350D
Sigma 50-500mm

What are the differences in security issues between someone looking for work experience and someone looking for an actual job…?

Getting a pass for employment is a very lengthy process – references, disclosures etc etc – process can take several weeks to several months.

Temporary passes for work experience is another matter. Still some hoops to jump through, but they can be issued for kids on work experience.

For example when we get the work experience kids in, they do get to go airside, assuming we can get a temporary pass. We try and make sure they see most of the operation from check-in desk, engineering, operations, even a flight etc.

Unfortunately the youth of today don’t seem to be that interested. The last work experience week might have been the last time we offer it to the local school. We had a rude individual, who was ‘bored’ for the entire week. The fleet manager went out of his way – got the kid upto an aircraft to show them around the cockpit and let them use the FMS etc. Managed to get a couple of flights for him. Still wasn’t enough for little Johnny, despite him wanting to become a commercial pilot….. In the end we sent him home, before the week was up.

Considering the effort put into these things, not worth the hassle anymore.

As for family – aviation is a very small industy – friends and family assist big time in getting a foot in the door. Out of a family of nine, six of us work in aviation. Three of us have worked for the same airline – two of us still do.

If the smoking ban is anything like Scotland – everyone will be wondering what the fuss is all about.

Plenty of stats out there – google brings up some interesting arguments for and against the compulsory wearing of helmets for cyclists.

What I find really interesting is that cycle helmets are not designed, nor give adequate protection, to withstand the type of impacts encountered with moving vehicles. To be frank cycle helmet standards are pretty shocking.

Taking head protection a step further, there was research that pointed out that more lives would have been saved if all road users wore helmets (pedestrians, vehicle occupants).

http://www.cyclecraft.co.uk/digest/effectiveness.pdf

Shamrock – re maintenance, the line work for the Airbus fleet is primarily conducted at LHR, the line work for the Boeing fleet is conducted at EMA and the line work for the Embraer fleet is conducted at ABZ. The majority of heavy maintenance, for all fleets, is contracted out to 3rd Parties.

Would be nice to see a 748 preserved, as its a fairly unsung hero of UK civil aviation.

A retired colleague of mine, Capt John Smith, was rumoured to be the most experienced 748 pilot in the world. He had flown the 748 for most of his career and it was rumoured he had circa 17,000 hours on the type.

Not only a true gent with a great sense of humour, but an avid enthusiast of historic aviation. Unfortunately John passed away last year after a long illness.

Think it would be somewhat fitting to see a preserved 748 in Dan Air livery, with John’s name stencilled somewhere under the left hand windscreen.

The danger with comparing salaries, is the lack of background information.

For example what constitutes the 22K quoted as the ‘starting’ salary at BA, as I suspect the basic salary is more likely to be around £15K, if not lower.

What constitue the ‘shift’ days as quoted by BA? Does the 150 days per year include training and standby duties etc etc.

For UK aircrew, which includes pilots and cabin crew, their average availability is circa 220 days per annum, regardless of the operator and is based on CAP371 and the EU Working Time Directive. 150 days flying per annum would not be a million miles away from a typical UK based airline.

Its possible to spin all this information to suit a message you wish to make. BA are definitely ahead in the propaganda war.