Quote:
Originally Posted by bizaro86
Nah, Southwest pays their pilots competitively in the US market as well.
It isn't a low-cost vs full service thing, it's a Canada vs USA thing. There are plenty of jobs that pay less in Canada, and the majority of pilots aren't able to move to the US and fly anyway. But Westjet is a full service carrier now so it isn't unreasonable to expect them to pay like one. The problem is the AC contract is really old, so neither side has a good reference point for what is fair in the current market.
I think like many things they'll end up somewhere between the two sides, but I hope they get there quickly for the sake of people flying in the next little bit.
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Interestingly Southwest pilots just authorized a strike as well (so did American Airline pilots) as they are in negotiations too.
Air Canada pilots just voted to join ALPA (same pilot union as many airlines including WestJet) and are keenly watching what happens with WS - they will be looking for similar things in their next contract too.