JetA Burner wrote: ↑Thu Mar 03, 2022 3:05 pm
What is PTA? I understand that the WS/WO list is not DOH, that being said I don't know how it was/is compiled. Just trying to figure out how encore play into the mix as well. I thought that the "one list" was exactly that. One seniority list.
The history of the PTA (Pilot Transfer Agreement) lies in the formation of Encore back in circa 2014. In that time, neither WJ nor Encore were unionized. The Encore working conditions were apparently considered unattractive by some pilots looking to apply to WJ/Encore and they held off applying. In order to sweeten the offer, WJ management and the WJPA came up with a scheme (the One List) where Encore pilots would carry their Encore DOH over to WJ for purposes of placement on the WJ (pre-union) seniority lists used for upgrades and base assignments. A cynic might say that instead of offering more pay, WJ management and the WJPA sacrificed the seniority of mainline pilots in order to attract Encore pilots. Prior to unionization, not many of us realized how close we were to certifying and the subsequent legal force of Collective Bargaining Agreements.
When ALPA certfied WJ and then Encore pilots, all previously existing procedures were frozen until negotiation of the first CBAs.
The first WJ CBA contained a seniority list that was DOH (at WestJet mainline) for all WJ Off The Street (OTS) pilots but the pilots already at WJ who had flowed from Encore were credited their DOH at Encore. This was in keeping with the One List in place since 2014ish. The CBA had no provision for pilots who flowed from Encore after the date of the CBA.
Sometime after that CBA was in place, ALPA and the Company approached the pilots with an LOU proposal that replicated the One List. Pilots who flowed to WJ from Encore would be credited with their DOH at Encore for purposes of placement on the seniority list, some 4 to 5 years before they flowed. Pilots who "flow" must quit their job at Encore and be hired at WestJet mainline.
As a result, we have a company wide seniority list which contains a DOH for all pilots at WJ/Swoop/Encore which is based on their first DOH at a WJ group company. We also have an ordered seniority list at WJ and Swoop. From those lists, one cannot tell who flowed from Encore and who was an OTS pilot as there is only one Date of Hire, the one on the combined company list.
The PTA, as mentioned previously is in place as an LOU. It may be placed in the next CBA. The wording of the CBA says it may be cancelled at the request of either party, but the existing Encore pilots are grandfathered, meaning they will carry their WJ DOH when they flow in five years. I am not sure how that works in light of the current situation.