The Air Canada OTS thread

[altiplano]

Fair enough but why doing so many interviews if candidates end up in the pool for a year or two? That's just a waste of resources from an HR standpoint. I guess it could be because we never really know what will happen in the future (there was supposed to be a class of 50 every 3 weeks and now it got reduced to 10-15 pilots every 3 weeks). But I don't know, I feel that somewhere someone is messing up and leaving the candidates in limbo isn't fair. Waiting for 3-4 months to then receive a PFO letter when they could have moved somewhere else and start their seniority earlier...I'm sure we can do better for these guys and girls.

Waiting 3 or 4 months on a job offer isn't that long. Aren't PFOs typically going out earlier than that anyway?

Aside from that, anyone waiting on an answer and not taking other opportunities is making a mistake. There is no sure thing in this business.

It's like wanting to work at Delta and turning down Unitedv while you wait... that's crazy. You take the first one that comes, and then you leave if a better opportunity presents.

"Supposed to be" - they've hired hundreds this year. Numbers that have never been seen in the past, maybe somebody has a count? I'm just guessing maybe 350 so far and more still to come over the next couple months.

And this is during a time of an unprecedented fleet grounding with associated training problems and stoppages. There are 225 open positions waiting to fill and train on the 737, but you can't hire for a fleet that isn't flying. When it gets ungrounded and past the initial reentry to service, I expect that will pick up a lot of those that haven't heard. Perhaps in the new year/spring we will see some big courses roll in. There are 26 737 deliveries scheduled for 2020 all were planned before summer, plus the backlog that didn't make it this year... 50 airplanes total. I think we had around 20 on the property when the grounding occurred. There may be some slowdown, but they will want to get them as quickly as they can crew them.

[21cdnflyer]

Waiting 3-4 months is extremely long.

My question is, why is no one following up with HR? If they tell you 6-8 to weeks and you haven’t heard at 10 weeks, I would shoot an email to see what the deal is no?

Cdn

[Inverted2]

Waiting 3-4 months is extremely long.

Down south they tell you the news one week after the interview.

My question is, why is no one following up with HR? If they tell you 6-8 to weeks and you haven’t heard at 10 weeks, I would shoot an email to see what the deal is no?

Cdn

I think most are afraid to piss off the HR ladies by asking. Get them at a bad time they might just fire you off a PFO out of spite.

[Transition9er2]

I wrote HR as well as some buddies who haven’t heard for some time. The response was “sorry for not getting back to you with a final decision. Your file is still being reviewed by the hiring board, we hope to have a final decision for you shortly.”

I imagine the HR group is busy, but contacting them doesn’t help... we’re in for a long wait.

T.

[bearitus]

I guess no one is getting put in a pool waiting for a ground school once they pass the interview and medical? It's stressful not knowing if you failed the interview or they just don't have a slot open yet. I have been waiting for over a month and from what I hear from others I won't get a response anytime soon.

[CaptainKirk]

Waiting 3-4 months is extremely long.

Down south they tell you the news one week after the interview.

My question is, why is no one following up with HR? If they tell you 6-8 to weeks and you haven’t heard at 10 weeks, I would shoot an email to see what the deal is no?

Cdn

I think most are afraid to piss off the HR ladies by asking. Get them at a bad time they might just fire you off a PFO out of spite.

What? Fire you out of spite? That’s not how it works in a big company. HR would have to put down reasons. If for whatever reason someone claimed wrongful hiring practices you can refer back to those reason. Which are not based on race, sex, marital status etc. Many people go into the decision of hiring a person. Not just one HR person. Btw you also assumed they were ladies. AC also has several male HR persons that conduct interviews.

['97 Tercel]

I dont think they meant firing someone...they said 'fire you off a PFO'...

[parallel60]

I wouldn't recommend emailing HR. Heard from a friend years ago that they emailed HR after 8 weeks of no response asking what the status of their interview was and they received a mailed PFO letter dated the exact date they sent the email. Coincidence? maybe. Worth the risk, definitely NOT in my opinion.

Responses they would offer if you emailed/called them...

1.We have not made a decision at this moment.
2. No response with a PFO being sent shortly after.
3. "Oh, well since you have asked, yes indeed we will hire you now. Thanks for emailing us letting us know that you are still interested because up until now we weren't sure if you were still interested. Your course is in 2 weeks. Welcome aboard!"

Response 3 was a joke.

[speedah]

They’re not monsters. An email is completely fine, they are not going to pfo you because you followed up. That’s some next level stupidity

[parallel60]

Speedah,
You are correct, I don't think they are like that at all, just stating a situation that actually happened. The person could have already been in the PFO pile and that just reminded HR to pass on the PFO now instead of waiting... I'm curious what people are hoping to get out of an email? I suppose if they have another offer on the table and need to decide ASAP it would make sense to email HR. I have heard in the past(8-10 yrs ago) it was known that messaging HR about your status could lead to an early PFO. Sounds like those days are in the past.

[iflyroads]

You will not get a PFO for emailing HR. Beratting them every day though might not present you as the most patient candidate

Your file is reviewed by a few members of a hiring board that meet on a bi-weekly/monthly basis.

Rest assured there are a lot of candidates waiting for an answer, sadly some are waiting since Feb. If it's a PFO you will usually hear pretty quick, if it's a requirement to redo the interview, medical, phych tests you will be contacted by HR

[21cdnflyer]

I would follow up

['97 Tercel]

Until the border opens....

[Hangry]

Until the border opens....

Keep dreaming...

[JoeyBarton]

Air Canada is receiving so many good resumes from wj sw porter, express, plus all the overseas..One thing right now is all the wb fo open spots..The way flt ops is dealing with it is hiring some overseas guys who want to come back to Canada straight into the the right seat of a wb (4 recent new hires all 777 rated were awarded 787 fo). It is just cherry picking from HR which is smart and tailored to the needs.
One would think there might be a shortage of candidates but it is not the case. The upgrade time is so short very experienced pilots like canadian north or sunwing checkers are flocking into AC.There is no shortage of applicants and a 4000TT express capt with 1000h left seat 705 is the smallest resume you would see these days.
Air Canada will never have a hard time to find quality resumes, everyone else will.

[21cdnflyer]

Air Canada is receiving so many good resumes from wj sw porter, express, plus all the overseas..One thing right now is all the wb fo open spots..The way flt ops is dealing with it is hiring some overseas guys who want to come back to Canada straight into the the right seat of a wb (4 recent new hires all 777 rated were awarded 787 fo). It is just cherry picking from HR which is smart and tailored to the needs.
One would think there might be a shortage of candidates but it is not the case. The upgrade time is so short very experienced pilots like canadian north or sunwing checkers are flocking into AC.There is no shortage of applicants and a 4000TT express capt with 1000h left seat 705 is the smallest resume you would see these days.

Air Canada will never have a hard time to find quality resumes, everyone else will.

Ate you sure considering most OTS guys come with a considerable amount of 705 TPIC

[JoeyBarton]

It is their choice how they staff 787 and 777 fo. Yes one can be qualified coming from the regionals however it is probably more than ideal to have an emirates 777 fo in that wb fo seat instead of a 3000 TT Dash 8 as a new hire.
Like it or not it's happening anyways..

[21cdnflyer]

It is their choice how they staff 787 and 777 fo. Yes one can be qualified coming from the regionals however it is probably more than ideal to have an emirates 777 fo in that wb fo seat instead of a 3000 TT Dash 8 as a new hire.
Like it or not it's happening anyways..

It might work like that in the bush, but not at a major.

[altiplano]

@21cdn

absolutely your first ride at AC, type rated or not, is a jeopardy event. V or E at the end = jeopardy.

there have been some training problems and it wastes time, and money on an already stretched training department, AC is assigning types in the initial courses, not always or for everyone, but they are.

[Transition9er2]

I was under the impression the seniority draw for each class was completely random, equipment selection was then done based on that seniority. I was not aware AC “assigns” positions.

Also, any word on final numbers for the Oct 21 class? I’ve been hearing calls were still going out mid-late this last week.

T