Confessions of a YYC Travel Junkie

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Shaye Ganum had a pilot from another airline on this morning. I came in half way through but what I heard was interesting.

Fascinating.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Fascinating.

If true..

[MoneyGuy]

Originally Posted by Fuzz

Fascinating.

Good one. I only heard half of the call so headed to the audio vault for the rest.

The caller didn’t identify his employer but said there is very little opportunity to move with only a small handful of major airlines. When he has in the past he’s taken pay decreases. He didn’t say why he moved for less money.

He said Westjet loses a pilot every 18 hours on average (Westjet says it’s hiring many as well). He said Canadian airlines pay half of what American airlines pay as a percentage of income.

[Lubicon]

Originally Posted by MoneyGuy

Good one. I only heard half of the call so headed to the audio vault for the rest.

The called didn’t identify his employer but said there is very little opportunity to move with only a small handful of major airlines. When he has in the past he’s taken pay decreases. He didn’t say why he moved for less money.

He said Westjet loses a pilot every 18 hours on average (Westjet says it’s hiring many as well). He said Canadian airlines pay half of what American airlines pay as a percentage of income.

Everything is seniority based so you are starting over at the bottom of the pay scale, equipment scale, and if applicable your scheduling when you change airlines. From what I have heard (probably exceptions for everything) the majority of the pilots leaving are from Encore or new hires so they aren't giving up much. Some others have left to the if they are able to work there and with the new payscale at Delta it doesn't take them long to get back to where they were at WestJet in terms of pay. But they are starting at the bottom of the seniority list there too.

[Slava]

Doesn't this fight essentially come down to the pilots saying they want to be paid like Delta and WJ saying "well, great, but we're more like Southwest"?

[Wormius]

I think the gist of the fight was that if you don’t want to keep losing pilots to US carriers, the airlines here need to pay closer to what US carriers do.

[BlackArcher101]

But yet we are not even close to comparing to US carriers, less pax, more costs due to less density, higher fuel (assuming). I not sure how a company like westjet could stay in business if they matched larger carriers in the USA. I'm actually surprised westjet is still afloat after covid.

[sa226]

Westjet was the only airline to not accept government bailout money during covid. Plus on the heels of covid, they bought Sunwing. I think they're doing okay.

Sent from my SM-S918W using Tapatalk

[bizaro86]

Originally Posted by Slava

Doesn't this fight essentially come down to the pilots saying they want to be paid like Delta and WJ saying "well, great, but we're more like Southwest"?

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.

[Lubicon]

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.

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.

[chemgear]

Looks like near term flights have gone up in price as people book for backups. Or increases as demand is jumping.

[Gundo]

Soooo if I have a flight booked to Vancouver next Tuesday on WJ should I hold onto hope or should I re-book ?

[calgarygeologist]

Phased network takedown to begin tomorrow morning at WestJet as they prepare for the strike.

[bizaro86]

Well...check-in for my westjet flight tomorrow has been completed. I think we should be ok as the plane turns around and comes back to Calgary tomorrow evening before the strike starts.

It'll be interesting to see if the Feds mandate them back to work or not - given how far apart they are I can't see a negotiated settlement being close...

[chemgear]

Saw this sucky situation.

https://twitter.com/user/status/1658956056456724481

[Bigtime]

Cancellations starting to be noticeable on the YYC arrival and departures page for today.

[calgarygeologist]

I saw an email from a WestJet executive with a strike update yesterday and it does not look promising for a quick resolution. It sounds like they are expecting this to be a drawn out process. I asked a buddy if any higher ups have communicated anything about potential back to work legislation from the feds and he said nothing has been mentioned yet.

[tvp2003]

How much do airline pilots actually get paid nowadays?

I saw a couple of figures floating around which are apparently not accurate/indicative of what the average pilot makes…

[Johnny199r]

Originally Posted by tvp2003

How much do airline pilots actually get paid nowadays?

I saw a couple of figures floating around which are apparently not accurate/indicative of what the average pilot makes…

Figures are all over the place. Union/pilots say the numbers that the airline throws around are only for pilots after many years and don’t include all the low wage years/unpaid training to get there.

[chemgear]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

I saw an email from a WestJet executive with a strike update yesterday and it does not look promising for a quick resolution. It sounds like they are expecting this to be a drawn out process. I asked a buddy if any higher ups have communicated anything about potential back to work legislation from the feds and he said nothing has been mentioned yet.

Could be a gongshow tomorrow (in the news on social media).