Calrissian wrote: ↑Mon Dec 26, 2022 10:33 pm
Some questions for management:
1. With regards to scheduling.. is the 14/14 a guarantee of 14 days off in a row?
2. For the 16/12, it was mentioned earlier as 8 on/ 6 off... could you work 16 straight and have 12 off?
A rotational position on a jet sounds pretty great. I don't know of many companies doing that in Canada, and personally it's a major selling point. Without flight benefits though, a consistent schedule known well in advance would be important - otherwise it would be tough to afford to fly anywhere in your time off.
3. Can you be based out of one your sub-bases, Victoria, for example? Or must it be Toronto / Montreal / Vancouver?
4. How quick can an F/O upgrade to Captain? I am sure this is a case-by-case basis but maybe you can shed light on some F/O's that came to you with roughly 1500TT, ATPL and some two crew experience, that now sit in the left seat.
Much appreciated.
Hi Calrissian,
Sorry for the confusion on our schedule but I'll need to clarify how it works. The 14/14, 16/12, and 18/10 are part of our PBS (preferential bidding system) schedule. Each month you bid for the days you want to work or would like off and the system does it's best to work that out for you. There is no guarantee of having 14 consecutive days off, however it is technically possible. The bid rules are such that normally you would be assigned 6-8 consecutive working days followed by a minimum of 4 days off. Depending on how you bid that could result in any number of combinations of days on and days off during the 28 day bid period that results in 14 days of work and 14 days off (or 16 days of work, 12 days off, etc.). It is not possible to bid to work 16 days in a row, the maximum you could ask the bid to assign you would be 13 days, and this is only if you request it, the system is capped at 8 days otherwise.
We do have fixed rotational schedules as an option, so the 14/14 becomes a 7/7, 16/12 becomes 8/6 and the 18/10 a 9/5. These, along with the 14/14 and 18/10 PBS schedules are on an as available basis as we require a somewhat even amount of pilots on each schedule. Seniority and first come first served determine who is able to get what.
While we have no policy against pilots commuting or attempting to do a rotational schedule, we would strongly advise against it due to the costs involved with a lack of a reciprocal agreement with the airlines. Pilots may choose to be based at either our main bases (YYC, YYZ, YUL) or sub bases (YYJ, YVR, YLW, YWG, YXE, YWG, YOW, YQB) and we handle all costs associated with getting you to an aircraft and back home. Positioning occurs on your available to work days.
Captain upgrades require a minimum of 3000 hours internally (our external requirements are listed in our job ad -
viewtopic.php?t=175521). Our pilots typically fly 500-600 hours a year.
I hope that answers your questions but feel free to email me directly mrolleman @airsprint.com if you would like to discuss our scheduling options in further detail or have any other questions!
Matt
