Do you work at a particular base as an airline pilot?

Do you work at a particular base as an airline pilot?

Ian Pullin (Retired British Airways Pilot) gives expert video advice on: How much can a successful airline pilot earn?; Do you sleep on a very long flight?; What happens if a passenger becomes seriously ill in mid air? and more...

Generally, yes. British Airways had bases at Gatwick and Heathrow, and pilots were expected to work from both bases if they were long haul pilots. If they were short haul pilots, they stayed operating purely at Gatwick or purely at Heathrow. From a long haul perspective, if you flew Jumbos or triple sevens, then you were expected to report either to Heathrow or to Gatwick as required. People like Easyjet have small bases all round the country, so that they don't have accommodation costs overnight for putting pilots up, and stewardesses up. People are operating from a home environment, which is obviously more relaxing than working from an external base in many ways. It suits the company and I think it suits the pilots.