hiring at Jazz!!!

[jazzbeat]

Preference will be given to applicants who posses 1500 hours total time with an ATPL, and two crew multi-engine turbine experience.

http://www.workopolis.com/EN/job/10565540

[Flyingbug]

Is this a good time to jazz ? I understand Jazz has a Capacity Purchase Agreement with Air Canada until Dec 2015 or mabye longer which tells me they would be relatively stable!

I fly an ERJ for a regional in the U.S for over 2 years now, things are still looking very bleak at least on this side of the fence, a captain upgrade is nowhere to be seen in the near future until things settle down, i don't mind being a regional pilot all my life and even retiring from it.

i am originally from canada, i have all the canadian licences and ratings as well. I am wondering if a lateral move to jazz would be a good decision so as to be back in canada and making the wife happy.

Do jazz pilots get a Air Canada mainline seniority number(i mean is there some sort of a flow up/flow through agreement with AC)?

also if the work rules are pretty much same as any regional? how is the overall morale in the company? How is the pension at jazz if there is one?, and do pilot's retire with flight benefits as well?

Thanks in advance, Flyingbug

[VicMackey]

2009 is going to be interesting.

[Embraer190]

Do jazz pilots get a Air Canada mainline seniority number(i mean is there some sort of a flow up/flow through agreement with AC)?

also if the work rules are pretty much same as any regional? how is the overall morale in the company? How is the pension at jazz if there is one?, and do pilot's retire with flight benefits as well?

Thanks in advance, Flyingbug

To answer you question about a mainline seniority number, the answer is no. They are pretty much two seperate companies, if you want a job at AC and your work for Jazz, you have to apply at AC. Before they used to give priority to Jazz guys, but I think that's stopped. Morale, from what I gather, is pretty good and they starting pay is much better than in the United States (but still not great). I don't know anything about pension/retirement benefits. Hope that helps.

Cheers,
EMJ190

[swervin]

Is this a good time to jazz ? I understand Jazz has a Capacity Purchase Agreement with Air Canada until Dec 2015 or mabye longer which tells me they would be relatively stable!

I fly an ERJ for a regional in the U.S for over 2 years now, things are still looking very bleak at least on this side of the fence, a captain upgrade is nowhere to be seen in the near future until things settle down, i don't mind being a regional pilot all my life and even retiring from it.

i am originally from canada, i have all the canadian licences and ratings as well. I am wondering if a lateral move to jazz would be a good decision so as to be back in canada and making the wife happy.

Do jazz pilots get a Air Canada mainline seniority number(i mean is there some sort of a flow up/flow through agreement with AC)?

Jazz pilots do not get seniority numbers at mainline. If anything working at Jazz may hinder your chances of getting on at Air Canada.

also if the work rules are pretty much same as any regional? how is the overall morale in the company? How is the pension at jazz if there is one?, and do pilot's retire with flight benefits as well?

Morale is poor. The company is making tonnes of cash and we are down about 40% in take home pay over what we made 10 years ago. The work rules are some of the best in North America. We have a Defined Benefit package. It's not bad but needs work (i.e. indexation, and getting the $1722 per year of service cap removed). Yes the pilots do retire with Flight Benefits as long as you put in 25 years service.

Thanks in advance, Flyingbug

[stickyfoot]

Is this a good time to jazz ? I understand Jazz has a Capacity Purchase Agreement with Air Canada until Dec 2015 or mabye longer which tells me they would be relatively stable!

Answer: Lets hope so! CPA is 99% of our business, we also do very limited charters. Having AC as our "parent" company is a good thing. We are, however, a total separate company; in a nut shell we fly our planes for AC. Jazz has a flat fee for the routes we fly for AC. If we have one person on the plane we get the same compensation than if we were full.

I fly an ERJ for a regional in the U.S for over 2 years now, things are still looking very bleak at least on this side of the fence, a captain upgrade is nowhere to be seen in the near future until things settle down, i don't mind being a regional pilot all my life and even retiring from it.

Answer: Tell me about it!

i am originally from canada, i have all the canadian licences and ratings as well. I am wondering if a lateral move to jazz would be a good decision so as to be back in canada and making the wife happy.

Answer: What ever floats your boat, just think if its her decision to move to Canada, she can't complain about the bad pay!

Do jazz pilots get a Air Canada mainline seniority number(i mean is there some sort of a flow up/flow through agreement with AC)?




Answer: No! There is a LOU (letter of understanding) between AC and ACJ that after two years with Jazz a pilot will be given an interview. After that it up to you.


also if the work rules are pretty much same as any regional? how is the overall morale in the company? How is the pension at jazz if there is one?, and do pilot's retire with flight benefits as well?

Answer: Work rules? we get about 80 hours a month, usually 16 to 18 days other than that I dont understand what your asking! Pension is OK, there is a formula to work out depending on years of service and bast three years of income, to a Maximum amount. Pilots retire with full flight benefits after 25 years of service.

As for Moral, it depends on who you talk to and who you are! I Like it here, there are some changes that need to come, but I can think of MANY places I would rather not work for.

SF

[365TAS]

[quote="Flyingbug"]Is this a good time to jazz ? I understand Jazz has a Capacity Purchase Agreement with Air Canada until Dec 2015 or mabye longer which tells me they would be relatively stable!

...until mainline files for bankruptcy again and gets to squeeze more out of Jazz...

Do jazz pilots get a Air Canada mainline seniority number(i mean is there some sort of a flow up/flow through agreement with AC)?

..no..but they get a lot of attitude and the occasional long finger on the ramp from AC types...

how is the overall morale in the company?

..as it says on the wall..the beatings will continue until morale improves.

I think the most recent Captain at Jazz was hired about 8 years ago.

...try Porter...most recent Captain was hired...actually starts Monday Jan 19th I believe. Morale great, pay competitive, profit sharing, growing interline agreements (DL, NW, Westjet, 7F, Virgin, Southwest and a few others so far), RRSP plan just started in 2009. 10 more aircraft on order..so far.

[. .]

Is this a good time to jazz ? I understand Jazz has a Capacity Purchase Agreement with Air Canada until Dec 2015 or mabye longer which tells me they would be relatively stable!

...until mainline files for bankruptcy again and gets to squeeze more out of Jazz...

Do jazz pilots get a Air Canada mainline seniority number(i mean is there some sort of a flow up/flow through agreement with AC)?

..no..but they get a lot of attitude and the occasional long finger on the ramp from AC types...

how is the overall morale in the company?

..as it says on the wall..the beatings will continue until morale improves.

I think the most recent Captain at Jazz was hired about 8 years ago.

...try Porter...most recent Captain was hired...actually starts Monday Jan 19th I believe. Morale great, pay competitive, profit sharing, growing interline agreements (DL, NW, Westjet, 7F, Virgin, Southwest and a few others so far), RRSP plan just started in 2009. 10 more aircraft on order..so far.

365: Get a grip man. The Jazz/AC animosity is so minimal. I've never seen any AC pilot be anything other than friendly to Jazz guys. As for the morale at Jazz, everyone I know there seems to think it's a great spot to work. I realize your the porter fan boy here, but you don't need to hijack a Jazz thread in the Jazz forum to gloat.

[Biggles]

nice work endless.

You beat me to the punch.

Overall, Jazz is a good place to be. Of course it has it's fair share of gripers, but show me one place that doesn't. Yes, even the Great Porter Airlines waaaaaaaaaaay up there on the little pedestal 365 is eluding to has it's share.

Jazz has good medical and travel benefits, a good schedule, decent planes (albeit some getting old and finicky), first-rate training and awesome crews.
The con, as most know is the pay.

If you want some real answers to questions from people who really know, PM me or others that will give straight up truth. There are many here; endless, doc, xsbank are some to name a few. Not sure which company they work for, but from what I've read of their posts they are straight shooters.

As for the pessimists, just ignore them and their whine holes.

At the end of the day, it is all about lifestyle. Jazz will be around through this recession no matter what happens with AC. Yes we do regional flying for them but keep in mind Jazz and AC are 2 completely separate entities. The good thing is Jazz is owned by Jazz, AC is mostly ACE. Jazz is stable, the upcoming negotiations and the Olympics will make it even more so.

To answer your second question, Jazz pilots are guaranteed an interview with AC once their 2nd year is up and their number is called. No seniority is transferred, but from what I understand once you've put in at least 4 years with Jazz, your pay is transferrable (on years of service basis). I can get some clarification on that if you want. Most AC groundschools' attendance is half Jazz guys and the rest from other companies. The Jazz guys get first swing at aircraft selection and bases.

The overall morale of the company is mediocre. The old timers are realizing how good they had it before the regional's merger. Most of the pilots are disgruntled that the execs forced a 20% paycut a couple of years ago to prevent going into bankruptsy and now that the company is making a whack load of cash (~45M last Q) the pilots are pissed that the execs have done nothing to pay them back yet give themselves $400K bonuses. The games are on with the upcoming labour negotiations. The unions trying to tell the pilots how crappy they have it and the management is trying to say how great it is. It's an interesting time to be in the group, as there will be lots of changes coming soon.

Anyway, hope this helps your decision. Just keep in mind that lifestyle comes first. Doesn't matter how much you make or what kind of plane you fly, if you don't have the time off to enjoy it or spend with things or people that matter ... then it's just not worth it.

Endeth sermon.

[flyincanuck]

Do jazz pilots get a Air Canada mainline seniority number(i mean is there some sort of a flow up/flow through agreement with AC)?

..no..but they get a lot of attitude and the occasional long finger on the ramp from AC types...

Woah, wait. Is this the same attitude experienced from Jazz to Georgian pilots?

[RFN]

god I hope not!

I've never seen anyone I've flown with do something that ignorant.

[teacher]

Absolutely not. I have never seen nor would I ever imagine that a Jazz pilot would have anything but good intentions towards the folks at Georgian.

[pc-12]

Preference will be given to applicants who posses 1500 hours total time with an ATPL, and two crew multi-engine turbine experience.

http://www.workopolis.com/EN/job/10565540

Hi, anyone knows what are the real numbers that Jazz will be looking for ? How many guys they are planning to hire ?

[TopperHarley]

PC-12,

It's hard to say how many will be hired. According to the bid, we had +40 vacancies listed, vast majority being RJ spots in YYZ and YUL, but there were a few spots in YYC too, and 1 spot in YVR. However, the company will first try to recall people who are currently on a leave of absence (these people are not required to return at the moment if they don't want to though, and I doubt those who left the country will want to return right away). Then, some pilots in our last bid were bumped out of their base and a/c, so these pilots will be able to exercise their reinstatement rights if they choose to- most of these pilots were bumped out of YYZ and YUL, into YYC and YVR, so if they bid back into their base, there will probably be several YVR and YYC spots opening up. So it's really difficult to say where all the hiring will be, but it will most likely be YYZ and YUL on the RJ.

[Canoehead]

A few thoughts...

Jazz is a good place to work. Generally the big sticking point with most of us is that it could be a GREAT place to work. However, as long as the most important thing in the eyes of senior management and the BOD is the bottom line, then it will never be any better than 'good', in my opinion. The folks that are 'running' the show are in it for absolutely nothing more than maximum dollars in the shareholders pockets (and thus bigger performance bonuses for themselves). In my opinion, they are in it for the short term. They don't give a rats a$$ about the thousands of employees who are in this for the long haul. Porter and Westjet are great places to work, because while their management wants to maximize profits, they tend not to do it at the expense of everyone/everything else. They actually 'get it'; that keeping the employee group interested, engaged, and heaven forbid, maybe even 'happy', will in the long run help the bottom line. That concept doesn't compute at the Ivory Tower in YHZ. I don't think it does for mainline management in YUL either.

As for a guaranteed interview at AC after 2 years... I'm not sure I've ever seen that in writing anywhere (unless it was one of the 2500 memos I was supposed to read when I got hired). It certainly isn't in the CBA, and while it generally has been the way of the past few years, I don't think anyone is getting interviewed at AC anytime soon. Translation: don't come to Jazz expecting it to be your free ticket to AC.

As far as I understand bringing seniority to AC from Jazz, you are credited with 1/2 of your time at Jazz for up to a maximum of 4 years for the purposes of pay and vacation (?). So if you worked at Jazz for three years, you get 18 months seniority at AC. If you worked 8 years at Jazz, you take 4 years to AC. I stand to be corrected on this one, but I'm pretty sure that's the deal.

Jazz vs. GGN... as a former GGN pilot, I know where this has come from. In the PAST, there was issues with AC giving flying to GGN that traditionally was done by the connectors/regionals. The east coast is a great example of a base that was decimated, and replaced with plenty of BE02's flying around instead of Dashes. On top of this was the replacement flying done by GGN during the CALPA/ALPA strikes of the past. Sure there were some hard feelings (say 5-10 years ago), but I don't think hardly anyone flying at GGN now was much past a PPL back then
Is there flying currently being done by GGN that should be done by Jazz? You bet... but GGN pilots have nothing to do with it, and anyone getting the finger from a Jazz driver... must have done something else to him. Our issues are with Jazz and AC management, NOT Air Georgian.

There will likely be an 'uneasiness' between ALPA and ACPA for years. If you don't know the history, look it up. Generally though, it's a thing of the past for most (especially those of us who weren't involved back then). There is still the ongoing AON lawsuit, and that is likely the biggest issue with some ACPA/ALPA guys. From what I've seen, the pilot unions generally have a mutual respect for each other now. That's not to say it couldn't be better, but as I understand it, the leadership has abandoned the pursuit of a closer relationship so we can concentrate on our 2009 negotiations independently.

Finally, are we safe at Jazz? Absolutely not. Anyone who thinks we have secure jobs there is smokin' dope. NEWSFLASH: there are no safe jobs in the airline business. If you want job security, go into the military. Sure, as long as the CPA is in effect, we have some guarantees, but I need to fly well past 2015 to keep food on the table. To be honest, the CPA provides little comfort to me for the long run.

Am I alone here?

[flyincanuck]

Canoehead hit the nail on the head. I've experienced some pretty appalling behavior on two or three circumstances from some Jazz drivers, specifically in YHZ - though never the bird. But these guys are far and few between...just a few sour grapes. You get them in every company inside and out of aviation. I don't think anyone takes them seriously anymore (see my green smiley face). At the end of the day, we're all soldiers following our marching orders. As if we acutally have a say in operating YYG or YQY.

Seems like some honest information above and I'm sure many ppl appreciate it.

[RFN]

Good post Canoehead!


You are totally not alone.

One of the most frustrating and confusing things about working for Jazz is that uncertainty over exactly what Jazz is.

For a bit there we seemed to be a money laundering scheme for ACE (in my opinion. can't afford a lawyer you see). Jack up the CPA, then sell us off. Nice, but I feel like a whore with new boobs.
Are we an airline? Not really
Are we a charter airline? Barely

2015 sounds like a long time to some, but I need to fly until 2041 before I can retire (thanks to the "I have 10 illegitimate children and therefore need to fly until I'm 96 to pay off child support crowd).

I worry that my career depends on too many factors beyond my control, besides the usual ones.
I know that all pilots don't know if their company will survive. That's not new to any of us here.

I'm a worrier, so I get some extra stuff to mull over. At Jazz we don't know whether we will be left with an all prop fleet. We don't know if AC will ditch the CPA, or leave us with half the flying. We don't know if Air Canada (pretty much our only customer) will go out of business. My career, such as it is, is under the control of AC management, Jazz management, ACPA, ALPA, my girlfriend etc etc, and only one of those actually has my well being as it's priority.
P.S. I'm not sure which.

Having done all that whining, I am still really happy at Jazz, just uneasy.

[qwert]

Alpa is useless... Need I say more?

[GTFA]

Alpa is useless... Need I say more?

Why? Why is ALPA useless? Who IS ALPA? What are YOUR expectations?

[Canoehead]

Alpa is useless... Need I say more?

Yes. If you want to be taken seriously you need to say more. Otherwise, I smell a troll.

[mattedfred]

Alpa is useless... Need I say more?

ok your gonna have to qualify that statement as i totally disagree with you. you do realize that your saying that a group of pilot volunteers and members are useless because that is what ALPA is?

[GTFA]

Hmm. Well I guess it was just another troll. Good ridance.

[Just another canuck]

Can anyone tell me how long before those who applied might be contacted?

Thanks.

[navajo_jay]

Anyboddy got called?

[teacher]

I just had a running application for over a year but kept updating it. Update your application every month is what I was told to do. Keep an eye on the amount of "views" to your resume as well. I heard when I got hired that 2 or more views was a good sign. I had 2 or 3 when I got called, good luck!