What's Your Opinion on Flair?

[goingmissed]

Current and former pilots of Flair: What are your thoughts on Flair, good and bad.

I'm considering the switch and I've been hearing a lot of good, but I recognize that nothing in this world is perfect. What does the airline do well for it's pilots and what negatives might I watch out for?

Thanks in advance.

[Apestogetherstrong]

Is the pay 67k or 80k for first year FO? Ive heard there are rumours about increasing the salary to 80k.

[TC.Enforcement]

Is the pay 67k or 80k for first year FO? Ive heard there are rumours about increasing the salary to 80k.

First Officers start at 69,132 under the current contract.

I haven’t heard any rumours of a/the new pay scale for First Officers. I wouldn’t expect anything crazy. As far as 737 First Officers go, Flair already offers well above, if not the top of industry standard compensation. And if you’re willing to buyout a few of your GDO’s, you can do very well here.

[flying4dollars]

Been here 5 years. Many who have been here much much longer. That should tell you something. I love the people here and the mission. Many tried to take us down. Many failed lol. Pretty gratifying being part of that resilience. Lots of reasons to like it here. Depending on your personality, there could be reasons you won't.

I've been treated well and I enjoy going to work.

[co-joe]

It's like working for a small company at each base. I know all the pilots I fly with, I know most of their stories of home life and hobbies, I know lots of their kids stories. I know most of the FAs as well. If you like the people you work with, which I do, that's a plus, if you like flying with someone once and then never again like at Air Canada then this would take some adjustment. Each base has it's own social scene outside of work that you can get involved with or just go home, there's no pressure. The Lower mainland group meets up for softball and soccer, and trips to the beach pretty regularly, and tonnes of them are meeting up at the YXX airshow tomorrow.

The only people staying in hotels, air bnb's or crashpads are the commuters like me, and that's an out of pocket expense. I'm camping waiting for the base I want to open, the expense has ranged from $200-1000/ month. There's no way to sugar coat it. Commuting to any airline job has real challenges, I've flown to work jumpseating, and now I drive 2.5 hours each way. On the other side of that equation is that if you live where you are based, you can literally spend about 4 nights a year in hotel during recurrent training in yul, or yyz and that's it. Sleep in your own bed ever single night!

The recent changes to staff travel are very positive. Buddy passes with guaranteed seats (not standby), plus annual staff travel passes, guaranteed seats, no tax or AIF to pay. There will be things you don't like, or weird SOPs that make you scratch your head, but I feel like we are moving in a very positive direction and are surrounded by amazing people at work every day.

[Joeschumer]

Can anybody comment on the recent new hires signing for DEC but showing up for groundschool and being told they have to a wait a year or longer as FOs at FO pay?

[co-joe]

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[Soyer]

Can anybody comment on the recent new hires signing for DEC but showing up for groundschool and being told they have to a wait a year or longer as FOs at FO pay?

Hearsay methinks. Any FO on the property at the moment who has the tome to upgrade can apply and I know there are DEC's currently. So if he/she was hired with the experience they just have to pass the program.

[co-joe]

That sounds more like a base and position thing. Not all bases have openings for DEC's today, but all will by the end of next year or sooner, so likely someone came expecting a specific Captain position and is faced with commuting while waiting, or just staying an FO till a spot opens.

[Blueontop]

Are 2-4 day pairings possible at flair or is only day trip flying?

[Arnie Pye]

Are 2-4 day pairings possible at flair or is only day trip flying?

Short answer - NO. we do not plan ANY overnights at all. Saves the company from paying for 6 hotels plus $35 in per diems while you are sleeping.

Long answer - ONE BASE ONLY has planned some multi-day layovers paid for entirely by the destination city. It is a winter only destination. It has not launched yet and I suspect that these will be rather senior pairings.

Also, the staff travel referenced by co-jo is just the promise of one day switching over to myidtravel and issuing buddy passes. Nothing has been implemented yet and there are currently NO buddy passes to give out. This could change tomorrow like the announcement of a Calgary base or, like the Calgary base, it could be something that comes into force in Q2 of 2023 or later.

[Soyer]

MyIDTravel is being launched as fast as they are able to get it up an running since it needs to connect into teh reservation system. It is already used for jumpseat travel.

[oakmoss1889]

Are 2-4 day pairings possible at flair or is only day trip flying?

Possible? yes, but dont plan on it.
There are pilots rostered for 2-4 day pairings out of YVR (YEG, YYC, YXX)

[co-joe]

...

Also, the staff travel referenced by co-jo is just the promise of one day switching over to myidtravel and issuing buddy passes. Nothing has been implemented yet and there are currently NO buddy passes to give out. This could change tomorrow like the announcement of a Calgary base or, like the Calgary base, it could be something that comes into force in Q2 of 2023 or later.

Did you not get the emailed Employee Travel Voucher on 2022-06-10 from Staff Travel? 4 round trip flights, (for 1 passenger each) anywhere in the Flair network? Those are buddy passes, that anyone you know can use. The email the same day from Stephen Jones promises that once myidtravel is setup for buddy passes, we will each get 4 more every 3 months.