Foreign pilots: a few questions to Transport Canada

[Gilles Hudicourt]

Dear Transport Canada,

In light of the recent Germanwings accident in Europe, many news articles posted stories about the way that young Europeans can often go from a being a non pilot, to being a First Officer alone in the Flight Deck of a transport category aircraft in just a few short years and with no flying experience whatsoever.

In Canada, as in the USA, a young freshly licensed Commercial pilot will look for a job in a small company that typically flies light aircraft and will either begin as co-pilot on a light twin or maybe as captain on a light single engine aircraft. He will gain experience in that manner, go from first officer to captain on the light aircraft, or move on as first officer to a bigger aircraft and so on, gaining flight experience along the way. When the pilot reaches 1500 hours of flight time, he will have written the exams for an Airline Transport Pilots Licence, and will eventually obtain a job on large transport category aircraft, but not before getting a few thousand hours of flight. At that point, it is the hiring airline that will provide the new pilot with a type rating, (the course where one learns to fly a specific transport aircraft such as an Airbus 320 or a Boeing 737) on whatever aircraft that airline operates, all at company expense. Typically, it will be at least 4 years, between the time he received his commercial licence to the time he is hired on his first transport category jet. The minimum experience that airlines require varies with the times, but is typically around 3000 to 4000 hours to be hired as First Officer. In the US the law requires that the co-pilot of any Transport Category aircraft be ATPL rated (have at least 1500 hours). In Canada its not the law, but low time pilots just never end up in the flight decks of transport category aircraft.

In Europe, thing are completely different. After paying upwards of 50,000 Euros for their flight school, young inexperienced pilots often also pay themselves tens of thousands of dollars for the type rating of a popular transport category aircraft. The young inexperienced 200 hour commercial licensed pilot who has never worked as a pilot will then begin to look for an airline willing to hire him. Some find an airline that hire such pilots and put them in the co-pilots seat of a large transport category jet full of passengers. They call them "second officers", although they are no first officers on board. Other companies call them "junior first officers". These concepts do not exist in Canada.

Many young type rated pilots in Europe still do not find jobs because some airlines require "some" experience. To gain experience, the young European pilot will buy from certain airlines a block of hours for "line training". This is commonly referred to as pay to fly, or P2F. Line training is a process where the pilot is trained during regular scheduled flights, with paying passengers on board. Line training is done by all airlines, to train their new hires, but it is normally not done as a business with inexperienced pilots as these airlines do with 200 hour pilots. This results in having co-pilots who actually paid to be in the co-pilots seat and who often do not receive a salary at all, or sometimes just receives a symbolic salary, drawn from the funds provided to the airline by the pilot himself, often through a third party called a "flight training facility" or a "pilot placement agency", all profit makers that prey on young pilots while endangering the paying passengers who have no clue. Sometime that airline will eventually hire the pilot, other times they are just sent home once their "line training" is completed, to make room for a new paying candidate. The young pilot who completes such line training now has a Commercial licence, a Type Rating, and 200, 300 or 500 hours on type to show on his Resume and is better equipped to be hired by an airline. He is also 100,000 Euros or more in debt.

All this was to introduce my questions, dear Transport Canada.

When Canadian airlines in Canada, import European pilots as Temporary Foreign Workers and put them at the controls of Canadian aircraft flying Canadian passengers, how many of these European pilots only have a Commercial licence instead of an Airline Transport Licence, as his Canadian counterparts have ?

When Canadian airlines in Canada, import European pilots as Temporary Foreign Workers and put them at the controls of Canadian aircraft flying Canadian passengers, how many of these European pilots have less than 1500 hours experience at the controls of an aircraft instead of the 3000 to 4000 hours that his Canadian counterparts have ?

When Canadian airlines in Canada, import European pilots as Temporary Foreign Workers and put them at the controls of Canadian aircraft flying Canadian passengers, how many of these European pilots had to buy their type ratings out of their pockets instead of having the airline they worked for provide the training, as is done in Canada, and how many of them have a debt of over 100,000 Euros in relation to their training ?

When Canadian airlines in Canada, import European pilots as Temporary Foreign Workers and put them at the controls of Canadian aircraft flying Canadian passengers, how many of these European pilots earn salaries of under $25,000 a year, half or a third of what their Canadian counterparts earn ?

What does Transport Canada know about the training history of the Temporary Foreign Worker pilots ?

What does Transport Canada know about the work history of the Temporary Foreign Worker pilots ?

What does Transport Canada know about the medical history of the Temporary Foreign Worker pilots, both physical and psychiatric ?

What does Transport Canada know about the criminal history of the Temporary Foreign Worker pilots ?

In addition to the Temporary Foreign Worker Pilots flying Canadian Registered aircraft in Canada, there are also a number of Foreign aircraft which were Wet-Leased from European Airlines and which are in Canada, flying Canadian passengers for a Canadian Airline. All of the above questions can also be asked bout the pilots flying these wet lease aircraft.

Transport Canada will not reply to me. But I hope that others, to whom Transport Canada owes replies to, will ask the same questions.

[proper]

Gilles, I think its far time, and good timing to go to the media.
Perhaps we can all unite as pilots, not as Unions/companies and march on Parliament?
I would take off all company and union logos and go and represent myself. That could and should be done!

[Gilles Hudicourt]

I agree and I'm game.

[FICU]

With the media spotlight on the GW accident there is no better time!

[timel]

Let's do that.

Maybe Marc Garneau would want to join?
https://mobile.twitter.com/MarcGarneau/ ... 8691262464

[777LR]

Down.

[paddy]

Preliminary report indicate a mental illness. This has absolutely nothing to do with TFW pilots, Canadian taxation, pay to work or anything else that canjet and sunwing are doing. Stick to fact and stop grasping at straws to make a point. I find it interesting that there were two unfortunate accidents recently. I suspect if the Air Canada accident had happened in europe it would have been "because of pay to fly" yet as it unfortunately happened to some very well trained Canadian pilots who had thousands of hours before even setting foot into an airline cockpit, it's not noteworthy. (please refer to paragraphs two in your post above).

On a side note, I have some stones for sale that keep away tipan snakes...I've been using them for the last six months and haven't seen one snake...only $75 per stone. They are only effective in sets of ten.

[FICU]

The agenda is all about bringing to light the piss poor WAWCON and the pay to train/pay to fly crap that is happening in Europe and Asia that is putting the low time airline pilots in depressive life situations. I too am curious as to what conditions the TFW pilots flying Canadians are coming from in Europe and their level of experience and so should Transport Canada and the pax who they fly. We all know that crap is on it's way over here sooner than later.

[paddy]

With all due respect FUCI that is not Gilles agenda.

[Gilles Hudicourt]

With all due respect FUCI that is not Gilles agenda.

My agenda is keeping European pilots and European practices in Europe.

Theses practices include:
Pay to fly
Paying for your own type rating
Getting paid by the hour with no salary and getting no flights in winter.
Having no paid sick leave
Getting hired at 200 hours and put in the flight deck of transport category airliners
Having second officers on aircraft with no first officers
Calling a pilot a junior first officer to pay him peanuts.
Airlines turning down experienced turboprop captains in favor of type rated 200 hour cadets.
Working as self employed pilots
Paying for your own uniform
Not getting any food on board
Cheating the country you are living in and where your kids go to school by paying taxes in another country
Living in one country but getting your pay in tax havens like Isle of Man or Jersey
Having a European airline with Thai based Thai flight attendents.
Having a European Airline with Thailand based pilots paid in Singapour.
European countries that sell EU Operating Certificates to serve as flags of convenience for non EU carriers.

These are just a few of the things that are on my agenda.

PS I am for reciprocity if it is equal and benefits a more or less equal number of pilots in Canada and in Europe. Otherwise, please stay in Europe.

[paddy]

Again with all due respect Gilles your agenda is anti-competion. Your arguments have evolved to include the issues you mention above but that certainly is not the original intent. while I see you are online and in the interest of consistency within the contexts of your body or argument, would you care to comment on the following? The fact that very seasoned and well trained pilots have recently and within both Canada and under the laws governing aviation in this country had a very unfortunate accident. By your arguments this should have never happened except under the control of either a low paid or p2f pilot.

[Gilles Hudicourt]

Again with all due respect Gilles your agenda is anti-competion. Your arguments have evolved to include the issues you mention above but that certainly is not the original intent. while I see you are online and in the interest of consistency within the contexts of your body or argument, would you care to comment on the following? The fact that very seasoned and well trained pilots have recently and within both Canada and under the laws governing aviation in this country had a very unfortunate accident. By your arguments this should have never happened except under the control of either a low paid or p2f pilot.

What do you know about that accident that I don't ? You are already blaming pilots when nothing has transpired to date? What blame did the pilots in the accident below have ? Or where you even a pilot back then ?

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_ ... _Flight_38

[BE20 Driver]

Let's do that.

Maybe Marc Garneau would want to join?
https://mobile.twitter.com/MarcGarneau/ ... 8691262464

That almost makes me want to get a twitter account. About time one of the talking heads didn't bow down to corporate profit lines.

Gilles has done far more for all of us collectively than we have done individually. The only time I have heard him breath something sounding non-competitive, was in the context of examples of what is/could happen.

If you have a better approach or plan of action, I'm sure Gilles and all of us would love to hear it. Me, personally, I think now is a good a time as any to seize the opportunity that Mr. Garneau and the recent accidents have provided. The media will run with nearly any aviation related story right now. It's worth a try.

[Jean-Luc Monette]

Again with all due respect Gilles your agenda is anti-competion. Your arguments have evolved to include the issues you mention above but that certainly is not the original intent. while I see you are online and in the interest of consistency within the contexts of your body or argument, would you care to comment on the following? The fact that very seasoned and well trained pilots have recently and within both Canada and under the laws governing aviation in this country had a very unfortunate accident. By your arguments this should have never happened except under the control of either a low paid or p2f pilot.

In the context of your own post, I'd say pretty self-explanatory, no?

[Madman]

I agree with Gilles.
I've been watching this develope for a long time with respect to TFW....all of Gilles concerns and questions are fundamentally correct and at best, deserve an intelligent and unbiased response. I'm not a big supporter of the media for answers when it involves aviation, BUT, this might be the perfect topic for the media to dig into.

[altiplano]

Paddy says "anti-competition"

- the dumping of European labour on the Canadian market

- the effective subsidy this provides the Sunwing business model

- the effective corporate protectionism our own government has provided what is essentially a foreign controlled airline (TUI/Sunwing) due to it's refusal to regulate on licensing and labour standards

This is anticompetitive.
Why does our govt allow it?
I can only imagine they feel they are getting votes by keeping Canadians happy with cheap weeks in 2 1/2 star Cuban resorts.

[Oscar]

keep up the good fight Gilles! I support you 100%

[Flyboycanada80]

Thank you for your work Gilles.

[Geronimo]

Well said Paddy.
Right on spot.

[garfield]

thank you 1000 times Gilles for your work.

I can't believe you can have 2 pilots flying for the same airline, one can fly FO at 200 hours and the other need 3000 hours!

If we do nothing, maybe in 40 years there's gonna be no longer canadian airlines pilots.