Pro's and Con's of Porter

[PRM1]

I agree that most E2 pilots are awesome colleagues. However, the few bad apples have a big effect on how the larger group is perceived by some.

I’m glad you all are here and helping this company grow so we can all hang our hats here as long as possible.

[cjp]

Very few do. But I seem to remember an attempt to split the seniority list in the early days of the E2 operation.

And “Dash Trash” has been openly used in a training environment which is even more despicable.

The funny thing - my first recollection of ever hearing that phraseology was from two former Dash to E2 trainers. I don't think it was ever meant to throw shade at the Dash 8 side, just an unfortunately catchy saying due to the rhyme. If you read anymore into it than that, you're likely looking for something. No one spits on the Dash, particularly in the training department. We work hard to maintain the one crew, same team concept.

The split seniority list isn't a thing anymore. As was mentioned, those peeps have tucked tail and moved on almost 2 years ago.

[BaldChewbacca]

Newsflash, ALPA isn’t the silver bullet y’all think it is. Time to grow up.

Newsflash, the FOAG works for the company and has no real bargaining power. Time to grow up.

porterpilotsforchange.ca

[MD11]

I think the important thing to note here is that the majority of the commenters have been on property at Porter for a max of 2 years.

For whatever reasons they moved to porter, it is a likely guarantee that they were chasing money.

One thing you will not find on this thread are Porter pilots that have been with the company since before covid. Most of us are quite happy to come to work.

Porter used to be a place where nobody came to work with a chip on their shoulder. But now as we add pilots like MD11, who likely have little to no 705 experience prior to Porter on their resume, everybody is bent out of shape and expecting ALPA to save the day.

Newsflash, ALPA isn’t the silver bullet y’all think it is. Time to grow up.

Every Canadian pilot is chasing money. Porter just happens to need 1200 pilots for the E2 order and had a better payscale (though recall the initial wages being weak). So yes, money is a factor but PD had a good reputation from Q pilots prior to E2 introduction hence my desire to join.

Prior to hire, I've heard stuff like "We can't expect to get paid too much. We're only flying Q400's". IMO the pilots aren't valuing themselves enough and use the excuse of work being fun and easy as a reason not to get compensated and treated accordingly. I get it, positivity creats a good work environment but don't pretend the bs is acceptable and start showing your concerns. All of my friends appear "happy" but deep down they aren't and give off a "there's nothing I can do about it" attitude. Btw, Dash Trash? Never heard anything of the sort except for Q pilots making a play at the words themselves. Any true professional will respect any pilots no matter the type flown.

Having worked elsewhere it's easy to see what I've gained as much as what I've lost since joining PD. I'm happy to be with the company but coming from an environment where all my training costs were covered to you're all on your own is a pretty disappointing reality when joining a legacy airline. It's the little things that pilots will remember and when everyone is watching what AC's contract will become it will take very little to stop them from resigning. Do I want to pay union fees? No, but I would rather be protected at set conditions than have to give up things without any say. Yes pilots are bent out of shape because there is a lot of issues with language in the contract. No one is expecting 400K salaries here but a fine balance of all that I've mentioned. Bottom line is Canadian aviation is way behind and I will call out conditions when I see and experience them. This thread is asking for pros and cons and I think it's fair to future applicants to know what they are getting into.

[digits_]

I think the important thing to note here is that the majority of the commenters have been on property at Porter for a max of 2 years.

For whatever reasons they moved to porter, it is a likely guarantee that they were chasing money.

One thing you will not find on this thread are Porter pilots that have been with the company since before covid. Most of us are quite happy to come to work.

It's important because it's likely that a new hires' experience will match that of a 2 year Porter pilot more closely than that of a pre-covid Porter pilot.

[fish4life]

It doesn’t matter what Air Canada’s contract has, you need a Union and a CBA for Scope protection. Everyone at westjet thought the company couldn’t do anything wrong for years but you have to remember a corporations duty is to its shareholders not the employees.
If that means they split the dash and E2 sides and move E2’s to the dash AOC at a lower wage they might do it in the future.
Get ahead of it and make sure you have a strong CBA with a wicked scope clause that doesn’t let flying get given away.