Air Canada Pool

[Lemon]

What's the ballpark experience level looking like for the last round of interviewees?

[noalternative]

What's the ballpark experience level looking like for the last round of interviewees?

Seating capacity of Tropicana Field in TB is 40k. They sold out the other day. Capacity of Rogers Centre in 54+. Ballpark is anyone's guess. Buds of mine have been put in the pool or hired within a 2800-5000 hour range. Ballpark indeed.

[Fanblade]

Air Canada is now offering leaves of absences of up to 3 years duration, for pilots interested.


That doesn't sound like a company thinking they will be hiring any time soon.

[planeless]

where did you hear that fanblade?

[DBC]

It's in the latest crew bulletin.

[scopiton]

[arcadia]

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[BverLuver]

Arcadia,

I'm sorry, but what exactly does a potential future employer owe you? If you put all your eggs in one basket then I guess you counted them before they hatched? The only guarantee in aviation is that things change and there are always bigger eggs, errr fish, to fry. Better learn to roll with it, especially if you end up at Big Red.

Respectfully,
BL

[arcadia]

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[termerair]

Bverluver,

Your post annoys me.

I am just looking for some insight on the current hiring situation or lack there of. I unlike you am in the pool for hiring at the best airline in the world, you obviously are not, nor working there. Sorry about that. But if you were then you would understand how important and frustrating it is right now for someone so close, yet so far away from having the best flying career in the world, unlike yours. I feel bad for your family. POS

You must be trolling... Please tell me you are!



T.

[arcadia]

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[BverLuver]

arcadia,

Your post lacks professionalism and maturity. I don't much care if I annoy you with my posting. Just remember the grass is not always greener. Once again, they owe you nothing, yet.

Relax and enjoy life for what you have, not what you don't have.
BL

Ps. "Greatest Airline/Greatest Career" is highly subjective. I will be curious if you continue to believe this after a year or so of being Rouged or on EMB reserve.

[scopiton]

Arcadia,
I ain't rocket scientist, neither in the pool and glad I'm not, but one can guess that if LAO are offered then there's a kind of too much "pilots units" that they're trying to reduce by this, um..., soft way. If they're offering a 3 years duration, then they might not need to hire within those 3 years.
Time to swim in an other direction is my guess...

....then you would understand how important and frustrating it is right now for someone so close, yet so far away from having the best flying career in the world, unlike yours.

I suggest you to copy/paste this sentence and incorporate it in your email to your contact at HR when requesting an update on the hiring status. You should be set for a clearer answer than anyone else's here...

To finish, I'll add that when applying somewhere you must do your homework. 2/3 years ago when they announced the creation of rouge and the outsourcing of the EMB's flying to SR, and knowing that the new recruits would be incorporated directly to rouge in order to not send mainline pilots to rouge, it wasn't really hard to forecast this surplus of pilots they're having today. That's what I was thinking and saying at that time and was doubtful of the soundness of the prospects.
It's even surprising that the big shots around the table didn.t saw that coming, or they knew but that's expensive. Anyway....
Fast forward today, they have a surplus of 200 pilots or so at mainline -someone correct me- and are offering 3 years LOA.
If not dark yet, the picture is clear.

[AirMail]

psych eval sure doesn't catch them all does it.

[altiplano]

psych eval sure doesn't catch them all does it.

That's the truth. And potential hires would probably be wise to censor outburst on social media lest it is linked to you, I don't know, but I'd guess that sites are sometimes monitored/checked.

As for Rouge, you guys say it like it's a bad job... High credit single day turns on the Airbus getting you home nightly with 8 or 10 hours pay or European vacation layovers on the Boeing are both decent gigs. Plus you get a block on day one... No reserve. Sure it's a hit compared to mainline pay and no augmentation but it's comparable to the WS/TS deals, so it sure ain't the worst job in the country.

[Old fella]

".........they have a surplus of 200 pilots or so at mainline -someone correct me.........."

Maybe some incentives for 60+ yr old drivers to consider retirement, ya think!!

[rudder]

".........they have a surplus of 200 pilots or so at mainline -someone correct me.........."

Maybe some incentives for 60+ yr old drivers to consider retirement, ya think!!

The agreement that AC asked for and was awarded by the arbitrator penalizes pilots for leaving prior to age 65 and penalizes pilots for not booking their retirement date one year in advance.........chock that one up to the "be careful what you wish for" category.

Take away the penalties and pilots will retire sooner.

[Fanblade]

Crap guys. Don't you think your responding a little harshly?

It's a disappointment. He verbalized it. So what?

Arcadia,

The transfer of 15 175's to Sky and 5 triples in caused about 1/3 of the surplus.

The rest was caused when AC continue to hire at Rouge and not force reduce from mainline. Their expectation that retirements at mainline would absorb the surplus was wrong. The LOA's announced target this captain surplus. Now force reductions are happening on bids.

3 year LOU's do not mean no hiring for 3 years. Individuals will have trouble picking up contracts with less than that.

Starting summer of 2015 AC will start parking 20 190's and replace them with 10 321/320's by 2016. More reductions however retirements by the end of 2016 will absorb these.

I have said this repeatedly. Unless retirements all of a sudden happen or a large aircraft order is made there will be very little hiring. This is NOT to say there will be no hiring. It is cheaper for the company to offer leaves and hire at the bottom. It really depends on how many apply.

As far as retirements go? They are delayed not gone.

At the moment about 20% of the 130-150 scheduled each year are retiring. Assuming that continues the new normal average age of retirement will be 64. We are currently 1.8 years post age 60. 2.2 years to go. The company plans 1 year to 8 months in advance for hiring.

My guess would be fall 2015 to winter 2016 for sustained hiring.

What is happening at AC is up gauging. The company is actually growing ASM's while reducing pilot positions. Some of the senior guys say it reminds them of when the second officer positions were removed. Anyway this isn't a bad thing. It is a necessary thing to become competitive. Something you need as someone aspiring to AC.

Keep your head up. It will get moving again. Being at the front of a hiring wave has its own rewards.

[scopiton]

Thx for bringing some precision in the loop fanblade, you definitely have access to information that we don't.
As you very well explained, the hiring window is going further in the future.

Responding harshly, yes: judging by his post arcadia might be below 27/5 and speaking like he's loosing a million per day pending air canada's decision to get him out of the pool. At that age, 1 or 2 years is nothing over a 35/40 years career span, whereas this is a real setback for those above 4o waiting in the pool, or waiting for the hiring machine to crank up again, and considering the first 5years wage + the whole seniority "shenanigans".

Shall we all vent and yel and complain on here over and over? No.
Plan accordingly is all, and adapt to unforeseen circumstances, as usual...

Thanks for your posts though, always very informative.

[complexintentions]

Crap guys. Don't you think your responding a little harshly?

It's a disappointment. He verbalized it. So what?

As he has removed his posts, I don't have the benefit of being able to read his comments other than the quoted ones that live on. I guess he got scared by the remarks about social media being tracked and deleted them. Kind of chickenshit really. If you can't say in person what you post on the internet, maybe you shouldn't write it. But I will say in general terms, that if throwing a tantrum when you're "disappointed" is one's usual reaction to what this industry can throw at you, well...good luck to him. What is he...12? I did get a good chuckle out of the "best career/best company" line. He needs to open that narrow little mind a bit.

Personally I'm hoping for him to never get the job. Might be the best thing that ever happened to him and actually teach him something useful about setbacks.

The LOA news is pretty interesting, thanks for the info Fanblade.

[RVR6000]

Here is why the 60+ group isn't retiring. BTW most of them won't take any pension penalty because they've been here for more than 25 years.

Majority off them are 777 captains, on average they fly a full block in 9-12 days/month, they get 5 weeks of vaca due to their years of service plus 9 stat days. A lot of them have over 100 sick days banked. If you average this out over a year, they're working 8 days a month. It's a part-time job making 270k a year, who would retire from that.

[DBC]

Here is why the 60+ group isn't retiring. BTW most of them won't take any pension penalty because they've have been here for more then 25 years.

Majority off them are 777 captains, on average they fly a full block in 9-12 days/month, they get 5 weeks of vaca due to their years of service plus 9 stat days. A lot of them have over 100 sick days banked. If you average this out over a year, they're working 8 days a month. It's a part-time job making 270k a year, who would retire from that.

Lots of ways to look at things, others would say they are working 9-12 days a month to make the ~100k difference above the pension they would be earning while shaving years off their lives.

Everyone has different priorities and looks at life with a unique perspective.

[Old fella]

What.......... AC pilots are required by contractual agreement to give a years notice of their intent to retire. First of all you don't "book" your retirement as you are entitled to retire as long as you meet requirements by age/length of service. You cannot be denied your right to retire, I don't know of any work place where a years notice is required subject to penalties, however please correct me. It isn't at the regulator nor service provider, also at other places where a DB plan is in place

If I was an AC pilot and I decided that after 60 yrs + that I had enough and didn't want to fly anymore and give my years notice to retire, I would get very creative with my sick leave especially if there was a high accumulation and I wouldn't give a sweet fiddlers f--k, believe me.. I mean - and please correct me again, what interest would one have is working that year just punching in time, knowing you are going. When you give official notice to retire that means you had enough and want out.........

RVR6000.

Yes no doubt that is a gig, but there comes a time in us older people that regardless, we had enough and " I am done" sets in. Air Canada, fine airline that it is, isn't the only "gig" when it comes to income. I know a good many older chaps who did indeed have gigs as they saw it but nevertheless said"eff this". It's time.........

[RVR6000]

RVR6000.

Yes no doubt that is a gig, but there comes a time in us older people that regardless, we had enough and " I am done" sets in. Air Canada, fine airline that it is, isn't the only "gig" when it comes to income. I know a good many older chaps who did indeed have gigs as they saw it but nevertheless said"eff this". It's time.........

True Old Fella, those are the 20% of gents/gals that are retiring. Our last retiree was a test pilot dual trained on 787 and 777.

[arcadia]

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