Thanks for this. Definitely changes my perspective of the feasibility of commuting now No worries. I commuted for 4 years and I'm really glad I no longer have to. I'm not saying I'd never do it again, but it would take some pretty strong circumstances to get me to do it (i.e. an upgrade, big raise,...

Hi all, Apologies in advance for reviving an old thread. Just following up with an update - after 4 years of back and forth with TC they have finally sent a letter stating they do not see a path forward with providing a medical based on the past medical history and have deem my file unfit. This is ...

I’m also interested in this. Is there free jumpseat options or do you still have to pay to commute but at a discounted fare. The fare for standby travel is $0, but you still need to pay NavCanada Fees and Airport Improvement fees. It depends on the airport, but it usually is $40-$50 one way to comm...

The problem as I see it is that MAYDAY is misused, possibly leading to the apprehension of its use by others! It has been discussed that Encore uses MAYDAY for every RTO, even one where they knew the very real possibility that the airspeed indicator might not work, an expected event leading to a lo...

Another example of poor radio work. If you need the trucks, start with "Pan-Pan Pan-Pan Pan-Pan". It's really not hard, and it gets the message across clearly. Especially if there's any language barrier. From the TC AIM, emphasis mine: 4.1 Declaring an Emergency An emergency condition is classified...

It's always a pleasure reading your replies JBI, and I mean that sincerely. I still think something stinks :D Let's see what the pairings look like for the winter and next summer, and if a new bid will come out sooner than later with vacancies in YYZ. Westjet sure works in mysterious ways :rolleyes...

Mainline is not overstaffed. If they were, pilots would have much cushier schedules, double time wouldn't be offered for overtime, and reserves wouldn't be called all the time. You'll find that WJ has very different definitions of what it means to be overstaffed or understaffed and the degrees ther...

Holy crap dude. Use chatGPT much? Ask it how many girlfriends you’ll have in your life How is this chatGPT? Looks like some solid basic math with clear assumptions. WestJet will be the first to tell you that they don't determine staffing on crews per plane, but rather number of block hours. Nonethe...

It is possible to commute from YVR. When I was at Encore we had lots of pilots who commuted. I'm not 100% sure I'd recommend it though, the flights between YVR and YYC are notoriously delayed with flow times and NavCanada issues these days. I'm not sure of the most recent pairing distributions. When...

The company has played this perfectly, regrettably the Union has taken a short sighted view for half a dozen upgrades. No unity amongst the group doesn't bode well for CA3. I’ll bite. Even though I’m not a supporter of many current union officers (using their positions to push personal agendas over...

To elaborate a little bit, there's a very strong sense that this aptly named "Sunwing Reduction Bid" was really designed to downgrade junior Sunwing captains who as mentioned above were "out of place." I get why Westjet pilots are unhappy with aspects of the arbitration, but it feels as though effo...

Sunwing FO's were allowed to bid for upgrades, if their seniority allowed of course. They secretly changed the upgrade requirements after the fact, and a revised bid award had taken away the upgrade for the Sunwing FO's that held left seat. It's unbelievable how management and the Westjet union are...

Quick follow up to this conversation, in the Air Canada thread, this post suggests it's a year for YVR and 2-3 year until off reserve at the moment:

viewtopic.php?p=1342983#p1342983

Nobody shall ever say you aren't funny. Nice irony dude I can't tell if you are trying to make a statement or if you think that my responses have been funny. I have been serious with my replies thus-far. JBI is a funny person as you can tell by the joke that he made. The joke was obviously made at ...

Close. Grandfather clause applies to Encore pilots hired prior to December 5, 2022. It's worth a lot for the 186 pilots whom it applies to as it means being able to skip Reserve and be much closer to upgrade. While I think cancelling the PTA outright instead of amending it was short sighted (precis...

So AR's who have been at WJ longer than Encore has existed, have to apply, interview, and go BOTL at Encore to "respect their seniority", but Encore pilots don't have to do any of that and keep their seniority when they flow over? Sure but let's make it fair both ways, all current Encore pilots los...

Is that from a good source? I haven’t heard that Wja wants common employer. I'm sure the company would love common employer but only IF it doesn't cost them more money. They want to have their cake and eat it too. They want to fix their staffing at Encore but don't want to pay for it. If done prope...

From what I can tell on the AC seniority and position lists, the most junior NB Captain in YVR was hired right at the beginning of COVID, so give or take 5 years seniority. With AC, it's important to note that there are literally hundreds of pilots who don't take a quick upgrade to get a better sche...

I chuckled at the comparison between the AR program and letting women fly. Is there an ICAO restriction on women aviators? Weak comparison. This is why Canadian Human Rights Law is a bit challenging. It's a multi-step process: 1- was there discrimination? 2- is there an exception? 3- If the excepti...

From what I see Porter pay is very similar to WJ, and would be a much faster upgrade..? Don’t get me wrong I am still looking at westjet but seems like there might be other options. Who even knows when they will start hiring again. Their retirement plan looks a lot more attractive than Porter, but ...

To be honest I don't know much about socialized bidding, so someone can correct me, but logically it's just not possible for everyone to get what they want..someone has to end up with the shit pairings. I wouldn't want to have 20+ years of seniority and not be getting exactly what I want in my bloc...

I definitely expect that WJ will lose many YYZ/YUL and former SWG YQB based pilots to AC, Porter and others. Commuting is not fun. While I'm sure the company has factored in attrition to its planning numbers and budget, I'd wager that they have underestimated the numbers for attrition. On the now ca...

Has WJ ALPA expressed any commentary on the new company edict? The reality is that an AR exception can only exist with an ally. So it will require either the employer or the bargaining agent or the CHRT to advocate. One can presume that the employer would only do so if retention of AR pilots was cr...

It's just sad seeing pilots who have benefited from mandatory retirement in this industry now try to take advantage of what is essentially a loop hole. This is a seniority based industry. There is no fountain of youth. You get on the carousel and enjoy the ride knowing full well there will be an en...

It's just sad seeing pilots who have benefited from mandatory retirement in this industry now try to take advantage of what is essentially a loop hole. This is a seniority based industry. There is no fountain of youth. You get on the carousel and enjoy the ride knowing full well there will be an en...