No bona fide proof of this except for the fact that it is being done and I assume the management at the various companies involved aren't intentionally choosing a more expensive option simply to screw over their pilots. As far as anecdotal proof goes, I think one just has to look at the annual cycle that the charter business goes through.... The busy season in the Canadian charter business begins around December 15th and runs until about April 1st.... which means that for 2/3rds of the year, charter airlines in Canada do not require anywhere close to the same number of crews as they do in their peak season. In the case of Sunwing, last winter they operated 19 aircraft during the peak season and 7 in the off-peak season. In order to cope, they brought over around 100 foreign pilots who were already qualified on the 737. These pilots required 5 days of groundschool, 16 hours of sim time and 6 sectors of line-indoc before they were able to operate as a normal crew member. The company had to pay their salary plus a small premium to cover their living expenses while in the country. When their contract was over, they left and there wasn't any more cost to the company. This process also allowed the company to create partnerships with foreign airlines that permited them to shrink their operations even further during the off-peak season and gain additional revenue by contracting around 60 Canadian pilots out to other airlines this summer.

Compare that to the cost of training 100 new hires for the same period.... 3 weeks of groundschool, 50 hours of sim time and 100 hours of line-indoc. Essentially it is a 3 month process with the additional catch 22 being that the company needs to have the line indoc complete in time for the peak season but there's not enough flying to do all of the required line-indoc until the peak season begins. In the end, the training costs are much greater with a lot less scheduling flexability. The company must pay these new hire pilots the same salary that they would be paying a foreign pilot. The only difference is that the company will not have to pay the small cost of living premium. Finally, when the peak season ends in April, the company now has 100 excess pilots on its hands. What to do with them? It is uneconomical to keep them employed for work that doesn't exist. Likewise there are additional costs associated with laying off 100 freshly type-rated pilots for 8 months of the year... with the biggest one being that they may not come back in the fall when you need them again.

I think foreign contract pilots have a place in Canadian aviation... but only if there are 100% reciprocal agreements in place. While this means that there will be a few less jobs for Canadian pilots, the jobs that are available will be stable ones. The alternative is a mass boom/bust cycle in the charter business where nobody wins... not the pilots... not the employers and not the travelling public.

So you're assuming that the foreign pilots are paid the same as a Canadian pilot? You seriously think they'd come over here to make the crap wages that the pilots in this country make? It's my understanding that it isn't a small premium while they are here...it's a very nice apartment and a rental car for their entire duration. Someone please correct me if I'm wrong though.

would you be happier if they didn't get an apartment? or is it the car?

Confuzed is right,

they do get a premium, also a car and a appartment.

it s not a bad deal at all for them, and many want to keep coming back.

Still cheaper for the company to pay seasonal incentives for type rated pilots with time on type than shell out for initial courses.

Not just that it's cheaper, there simply are not enough flights during the off season to properly line indoc (initial) the required increase of pilots prior to Dec.

Back to the original point. If you are interested in flying for a company that is busy for six months then not so much for the following six (which just happen to be in the summer), with the choice of spending your summer season in europe (there will be more positions available for sure next year) or staying at home on full salary with mostly reserve on your schedule (just like approx half of the group), fly once or twice a month for six months....then apply...Canjet is still hiring non-type rated permanent positions.

It's a nice lifestyle here. I personally am not in a position to live overseas so not having to go suits my lifestyle just perfectly.

Have a great summer

One has to commute only if one is not living in his/her base.
Some Halifax pilots commute because they accepted a captain seat in Toronto or Montréal since upgrades were not available in Halifax.

If the company needs you to fly out of Toronto (for instance) and your base in Vancouver they will take care of your dead head.

The only way these companies should be allowed to bring in European pilots is if there is a reciprocal agreement which allows Canadian pilots to serve the same number of "man days" in Europe each year. That is the way they did things at Skyservice (RIP) - their union made sure of it and worked with the unions in the UK to make it happen. It resulted in more Canadian pilots working, not less, so Gino et al, get your facts straight.

Now why ALPA (CJ) and Sunwing's groups haven't demanded reciprocal equality is something I will never understand.

If I may ask. Confuzed and Gonnabeapilot. What do you do for a living??

Team Orange for me.

richardhead wrote:If I may ask. Confuzed and Gonnabeapilot. What do you do for a living??

What do I do for a living? Does it really matter?

If you must know, I guide a fast moving self guided missile with rather large fins through the air to points abroad hoping the entire time that aforementioned self guided missile behaves itself and doesn't cause too many problems for me to deal with....Along the way I pray to god that mother nature doesn't mess with those plans too badly, because at the end of the day I really don't want a mob of people mad at me because they couldn't get up to go pee.

Hopefully that answers your question to some degree, but feel free to ask for further clarification


Sorry if I sound a little sarcastic, but it's been one of those days, I'm tired and in a particularly odd mood.

Actually that answer is pretty much what I expected. Thanks
Have a great day!

Gonnabeapilot

Say hey to M.C

I got a call from Canjet HR this morning regarding a seasonal position. A few questions:
What is the right/left seat starting pay.
Is a direct left seat possible? I can easily say that I likely have more applicable jet time etc than most Canjet pilots, although not an NG rating.
Does a pilot need to pay for their own training?
Anything to be aware of with?this company?
Are you called back next year for seasonal work?
What kind of interview doe.s Canjet have?

Remember Gents, you don't pay the prostitute for sex, you pay her to leave after your done.