AC looking for AME's

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bombardierfixer
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AC looking for AME's

Post by bombardierfixer »

AC is starting to pool AME's. Anyone know what is actually going on? Rumors are flying but the there doesn't seem to be any hard facts.
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plhought
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by plhought »

Immediate positions available YYZ/YUL. Pooling a bit for some Western Canada based as people are recalled/transferred back to thier homes (mostly YVR/YWG folk) from what I can tell. Some retirements on the horizon as well.
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lupin
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by lupin »

With all the new airplanes (32 new B787 so far, a few B777 in the last 3 years, some A321 and the B737 coming in) while an aging workforce retires, many employees are going to be needed. I think the last number I heard was 120 additional AMEs will be hired into the system for 2018.

AC has hired about 50 new AMEs or soon to be AMEs in YUL in the last 9 months. The employees seem to be coming from SkyRegional, Jazz and some of the other local shops (Air Inuit etc).

YYZ seems to be hiring as well. They have hired over a hundred in the last year.

YVR and YYC are mostly getting a transfer of the YYZ employees.
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MZUNGO
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by MZUNGO »

word around the campfire is that AC is going to need 40-60 people in YVR AFTER everyone transfers from YUL/YYZ. accuracy of said scuttlebutt is up for debate. however I know for a fact there is a massive shortage of experienced AME's in the lower mainland, AC hiring a bunch will not help the situation.
thoughts?
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lupin
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by lupin »

Ac hiring again,

https://aircanada.taleo.net/careersecti ... tl?lang=en

YYZ and YUL are the main bases but YYC and YEG also were hiring.


Link to collective agreement.
http://iamaw2323.ca/wp-content/uploads/ ... o-2026.pdf

Wages are at page 41

Any new hires are likely to be working night shift for 12-18 years prior to getting access to day shift or afternoons.
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lupin
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by lupin »

Hourly wages...
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Dongo
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by Dongo »

Do guys working at AC have the option of working any OT? or is what we see here basically what they can expect to make? Wouldn't be easy living somewhere like YVR on these wages with a family ect.
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Pat Richard
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by Pat Richard »

Wow, forever nightshift and 30 bucks an hour for a starting AME....that's awesome. To be fair, that's parity with Westjet, but most know they can't find licensed endorsed guys right now either.
I guess if your young living at home or need flight benefits to the Philippines this could be attractive, but otherwise that wage scale is shite.
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lupin
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by lupin »

Pat,

Most companies will not start you out at top wage. You might get top of the salary scale at small outfits, but it's normal for an airline to start you where your value to them lies.

At AC, if you arrive at the company with pertinent endorsements, ( for example A320 and B767)you might be able to start at AT3 level and as soon as you get ACA (3 months probably) you would be at LAT3 level so roughly 35$ per hour.

Also, endorsement premium is 450$/per month once you get a first endorsement. That's the equivalent of about 2.75$/hour more. You get no additional endorsement premium until you have a fifth active endorsement which would add another 150$/month. The way endorsement are allotted at AC, if you come in with no endorsement, you would be among the first in line to go attend a type course. See CA for details.

There is also a 2$/hours night shift premium paid out for hours worked in between 23:00 and 7am.

End result:
Non ACA with AME licence would get about 31$/hour
ACA with no prior AC endorsements would get about 36$/hour
ACA with prior AC operated endorsement would get close to 41$/hour.(36.16+2.75+2$/hr night shift premium)
In April, top of the scale would be: (Wage + 5 endorsement premium + Night shift premium)
41.23$+3.75$+2$=46.98/hour plus you get a profit sharing bonus if there is a profit.

If you've been fixing dash 8s and B737 classics for the last 30 years, you have tons of experience but limited value until the employer trains you on the operated fleet type. That would be the same regardless of where you work. I do not know of any employer that will pay you extra for a F27, B747-200, or Convair endorsement if they are not operating that fleet type.

Right now applicants appear to be coming from operators where the payscale is even lower. Air Inuit, Jazz, Sky Regionnal are losing AMEs to AC.

The decisive issue is more likely to be the lack of opportunity to see the sun (ie night shift).
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lupin
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by lupin »

Dongo wrote: Tue Feb 27, 2018 11:12 am Do guys working at AC have the option of working any OT? or is what we see here basically what they can expect to make? Wouldn't be easy living somewhere like YVR on these wages with a family ect.
Yes OT can be worked. It's not unlimited but it is available.

You're right about the cost of living in YVR. To my knowledge, AC has not had to hire from the street there. Employees are still transfering to YVR from other bases to cover staffing requests. Most hiring has been in YYZ followed by YUL.
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plhought
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by plhought »

Dongo wrote: Tue Feb 27, 2018 11:12 am Do guys working at AC have the option of working any OT? or is what we see here basically what they can expect to make? Wouldn't be easy living somewhere like YVR on these wages with a family ect.
If you're a decent pair of hands and answer your phone there's plenty of OT. Covering other shifts and coming in occasionally for AOGs during day. Did about 20 hours since beginning of this year. More than 150 last year.
Pat Richard wrote: Tue Feb 27, 2018 1:56 pm Wow, forever nightshift and 30 bucks an hour for a starting AME....that's awesome. To be fair, that's parity with Westjet, but most know they can't find licensed endorsed guys right now either.
I guess if your young living at home or need flight benefits to the Philippines this could be attractive, but otherwise that wage scale is shite.
Lupin basically covered all the highlights (I had my big reply all typed up ;) )

Wages are a little tough at the beginning, but if you can demonstrate some kind of transport category relevant experience at your interview they've been known offer you 'level 2' right off the bat.

Little more details on the profit share and such.

There is a Employee Share Ownership Plan with 33% match, along with yearly profit share (for last couple years). Defined Contribution retirement fund (for post-2016 new-hires) with 6% company matching. $2500 lump sum payment in years 5 and 8 of agreement. The ESOP and Profit Share isn't quite WestJet levels but better than nothing considering the company isn't dictated to in the collective agreement. Nothing prevents them from keeping it for themselves.

Union Dues cost your $95/month.

Personal observations:

Most people/planes fly during the day. Unfortunately that's the reality of maintenance at Air Canada. Smaller bases have much more flexibility with schedules and such. Bigger bases - yeah you can expect night shift for long time. When it comes down to schedule unfortunately you are only as good as your start date/seniority.

It certainly lacks the dynamics and "fun" of the some of the smaller airline/charter operations out there, and may be a challenging change if coming in as an experienced AME. There is a definitive "culture change" effort though - time will tell how successful it is.

There has been individual efforts by local managers to hire people at level 3-4 (even without AC operated aircraft endorsements) in order to attract experienced, motivated AME's without burdening them with paycuts. Some have been successful, some unfortunately have to lose against the big HR machine that argues "why bother?" - when they still see people accepting ~$30/Hr offers.

I do agree that some prospective new-hires may place a little too much credence on the flight-benefits. Ultimately it's a privledge and forms no part of the mechanic's collective agreement. Flight benefits don't pay the mortgage or put food on the table.

Simply put though, at one base alone 57% of the maintenance employees are older than 59 years. It's higher in YVR. Lot's of opportunities over next couple years. Will it be as 'cash-money' lucrative as a full-time contractor or some senior roles at smaller operators? Probably not - but there's pros and cons to both.

If you have a 737 NG experience you are quite desireable to the company now though. The recruiter (who works for a third party company) will tell you one thing on the phone but there is some give-and-take availible in the face-to-face interview when it comes to compensation if you can negotiate it.
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Pat Richard
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by Pat Richard »

Thanks for your insightful replies, particularly on the flight benefits. I know there are many who think otherwise with regards to what to expect if hired.

With regards to AC valuing NG endorsed guys they are putting themselves in a tough spot with regards to available talent.
The single largest pool of NG endorsed guys is your nemesis Westjet, and I just don't see any large defections from them to AC. From personal experience, they are having a tough time finding experienced/endorsed guys also($29 a/hr offered to experienced guys has been laughed at). There are not many operators out there who run the NG with staff who want to bail. I know for a fact anybody leaving Sunwing will take a significant pay cut if they go to either AC or WJ.
So with the shifts being the same(grave yards) what would entice people? Maybe health benefits, but at AC you're stuck paying the $95 a month union dues. Personally, as a longtime AME endorsed from the 737-200 to the -900 I see no temptation in either AC or WJ for very similar reasons.
I think you guys will mostly be getting greenhorns or maybe fresh licensed guys en masse who are already situated in the big centers(parents basements, lol). The money being talked about pretty much excludes moving a family to the likes of YVR, YYZ, even YYC or YEG.

Best of luck either way, and in the very least it will be very interesting to see how not just AC/WJ do in the near future, but the industry as a whole.

It's starting to reek of desperation and a lot of us are enjoying it because it's deserved.

:D
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lupin
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by lupin »

Air Canada isn't valuing B737NG technicians specifically, they will favour technicians with a pertinent ACA. The B737NG endorsement is a close second. The conversion from NG to MAX is two weeks of training. Boeing merely re-engined the Model T so differences are covered quickly.

The B737NG endorsed technicians seem to be coming from Sunwing or outfits that contract out line maintenance. I agree with Pat, they are not in great numbers.

Quality wise, it's surprising, the technicians hired (at least in YUL) are quite good. The real issue isn't the new hires... it's the size of the hiring. It appears to me that AC didn't prepare for the babyboomer's retirements. The result is that instead of having a gradual transfer of experience or knowledge, a large gap was created. The senior employee, (seniority based system) are on day shift and you have a high percentage of technicians on crews working night shift, that are new hires. One can imagine the issues a company will be faced with if they find themselves with more than half of the employees with less than 2 years of company experience. That's quite the asymmetry. Regardless of prior experience, it takes a while to learn company policies and procedures and to learn the larger aircraft...
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antitron
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by antitron »

I recently had an interview with AC for a position in YYC and they just called me back for a medical and reference check. I'm trying to get some information on AC's YYC base from people who currently work there or have worked there in the past. I've heard a lot about AC in YYZ, but not much information out there on YYC. It would be nice to hear some other opinions so I can decide if it would be a good career move. Thanks guys!
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YYCAME
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by YYCAME »

@antitron I'll send you a PM about the YYC base.
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FoxhoundAME
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by FoxhoundAME »

Hello everyone.

I have graduated from AME program on June 2017 and have successfully got an interview with AC YYZ base for AME Apprentice position. The interview went well and I was sent for medical the very next day.
However, it has been couple months passed and whenever I called their IBM HR partner for follow up they always told me my application is still pending. At first they told me they're having trouble finding enough people for the training class. Now they just tell me they have no time frame in sight and would send me an e-mail as soon as they hear anything.

Can anyone with experience with AC hiring shed some light as in what should I expect from them? I heard they've hired a lot of AMEs, but I expect those are licensed ones.
I passed my medical on the spot, but I guess having been sent to medical doesn't really mean anything when it comes to AC.
Any suggestions would be most appreciated.
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lupin
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by lupin »

Air Canada still hiring

Their web site has positions for cat 01 and cat 38 technicians (AME M and AME E) in the following cities:

Toronto, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton

https://aircanada.taleo.net/careersecti ... tl?lang=en
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BMLtech
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by BMLtech »

Rumor is that AC has been interviewing and hiring for a hangar night A check line in YWG, however these jobs do not seem to be posted on the AC careers site, which strikes me as odd. Anyone care to shed light on that?
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YYCAME
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Re: AC looking for AME's

Post by YYCAME »

They have filled the YWG A-check shift with recalls from other bases since they still had some commuters. I know someone who would like to transfer there but they havn't seen any internal positions posted yet.
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