British Airways to employ ex-fighter pilots

British Airways are planning to hire ex RAF and Royal Navy fighter pilots to fly their passenger planes.

British Airways is set to employ ex-fighter pilots

The move comes as British Airways launches its biggest ever pilot recruitment scheme for 10 years and will see the ex military personnel, many of who have seen action in Afghanistan and Libya, swap Tornado Jets for Boeing 747s.

British Airways hope to hire 800 new pilots by 2016 with half of the places going to first time trainees, most of who will train on the new Airbus A380 and Boeing 777 planes, while ex-military pilots will fly older planes.

A spokesperson for BA stated “For us it is a great way of introducing experience and knowledge from existing pilots with newly trained recruits. For the MOD, it provides a managed career path for pilots who have completed their service.”