Future hiring

[pacman007]

Well AC bid is out with 800+ vacancies, whats Westjets future vacancies? Any incite on how many pilots Westjet needs? Just an observation that if AC needs 800 pilots how is any other airline, not just Westjet, get even 1 applicant?

[WestJet Puke]

Well AC bid is out with 800+ vacancies, whats Westjets future vacancies? Any incite on how many pilots Westjet needs? Just an observation that if AC needs 800 pilots how is any other airline, not just Westjet, get even 1 applicant?

Double post

[WestJet Puke]

Well AC bid is out with 800+ vacancies, whats Westjets future vacancies? Any incite on how many pilots Westjet needs? Just an observation that if AC needs 800 pilots how is any other airline, not just Westjet, get even 1 applicant?

We have exactly 2 openings on our latest bid. 1 B787 CA and 1 B787 FO. Whomever gets the B787 Captain spot is on page 2 of a 50+ page seniority list. B787 FO slots are going to people who have 12-17 years seniority and often have been B737 Captains for years. There hasn't been a B737 Captain slot to be bid on since the spring. Nobody seems to want to go to Swoop as the pay / working conditions are terrible. Numerous WJ pilots have either left for AC in the past two years or are thinking of leaving.

Draw your own conclusions about which airline offers you the best future.

[KAG]

Wait till onex takes over and the max comes back online then we'll see how far behind the hiring curve we are

[goingnowherefast]

Isn't that very short sighted? The max is likely coming back in early 2020, that's quite a number of planes that will quickly need crews. Initial courses take longer than 2 weeks, and they'll need a lot of pilots.

[Mrbobmarly111]

It's simple. Get on at AC or Jazz now. Or go and get 1600$ bi weekly at westjet for 12 years. Jazz needs 400+ ppl in a year and upgrades are less than 2 years. With a pension plan. Once westjet goes private what happens to your share purchase plan. Go to AC now. Apply apply apply. Dont be dumb. To put things in perspective AC will hire the equivalent of every encore, swoop and westjet pilot combined in the next 2 years. 1400 pilots in 2 years.

[seriousflyer]

Westjet keeps claiming they are gearing up for a mass hiring, but I've heard that for 2 years. I've heard multiple managers tell me 500 pilots. October is suppose to be a big bid. We will se if big bid means 12 spots or 60 spots.

[cloak]

Well AC bid is out with 800+ vacancies, whats Westjets future vacancies? Any incite on how many pilots Westjet needs? Just an observation that if AC needs 800 pilots how is any other airline, not just Westjet, get even 1 applicant?

pacman007, not to "incite" outrage at your writing skills, but a software spellcheck is no substitute for real "insight"!

[cloak]

Westjet keeps claiming they are gearing up for a mass hiring, but I've heard that for 2 years. I've heard multiple managers tell me 500 pilots. October is suppose to be a big bid. We will se if big bid means 12 spots or 60 spots.

It should not be a surprise or secret that a meaningful bid can only be published by WestJet when the Onex deal is complete and the Max is back flying. These two together (and Swoop) could result in open positions close to the number you mentioned.

[MrTurbine]

You folks need to stop using the max getting back to service as a plan for future growth. It is not. We were staffed for the max before they went out of service. October 73 initial class is not going to be huge. The rest of the year and foreseeable future is all OTS hiring for mainline. Until the onex deal goes through later this fall, we probs won’t see any more growth in any way. Two of our 76s are leaving us. We don’t even own our own 78s because of deplorable decision making. All in all, yes growth is coming but not anytime soon. So no to widebody growth and definitely no to Max’s as your excuse.

[moe]

300 hires in the next year according to SW.

[lostaviator]

You folks need to stop using the max getting back to service as a plan for future growth. It is not. We were staffed for the max before they went out of service. October 73 initial class is not going to be huge. The rest of the year and foreseeable future is all OTS hiring for mainline. Until the onex deal goes through later this fall, we probs won’t see any more growth in any way. Two of our 76s are leaving us. We don’t even own our own 78s because of deplorable decision making. All in all, yes growth is coming but not anytime soon. So no to widebody growth and definitely no to Max’s as your excuse.

When was it announced two 76’s are leaving?

[pacman007]

So 300 new hires at mainline? Or did he mean 300 at Swoop, Encore and Link?

[seriousflyer]

He means Scott Wilson (SW), VP Ops at WJA.
300 is alot for Westjet, I think the most they have hired in one year 170ish.
If they plan to hire 300, that's massive for our size of operation. Wait to hear the official numbers in the coming weeks.

I'll add - we dont control hiring for link.
Also - when people talk about hiring at westjet, its usually exclusive to mainline, not encore, and sometimes swoop is included...

[pacman007]

Well let’s hope swoop is not in those numbers! Currently 8 tails and can go to 30. Usually 13/14 crew per tail. Do the math that’s darn close to 300!

[seriousflyer]

Yup...that marh works.
My thesis from the beginning is Onex is interested in rapid expansion of swoop to 30 tails. Why wouldn't an investment firm want to expand an operation.at those cost metrics.

[Yycjetdriver]

We don’t even own our own 78s because of deplorable decision making.

Or maybe it was because of a little foresight. When the Onex deal closes why will it be an issue Westjet doesn’t own the 787’s? Are you aware of who does own the 87’s?

[seriousflyer]

Ya I agree with yycjetdriver, selling a depreciating assest at a profit, then leasing back at favorable terms, is good business sense, especially when your trying to spread capital across multiple divisions of the company. It's quite common. It also reduces risks on the company books, allowing more credit from financiers.

[Yycjetdriver]

Ya I agree with yycjetdriver, selling a depreciating assest at a profit, then leasing back at favorable terms, is good business sense, especially when your trying to spread capital across multiple divisions of the company. It's quite common. It also reduces risks on the company books, allowing more credit from financiers.

I was just alluding to the fact BBAM owns the 87’s and BBAM is also in the Onex portfolio.

[seriousflyer]

Oh ok, sorry for misinterpretation,. Thanks for the info. Very interesting and good to know.

[Squid]

You folks need to stop using the max getting back to service as a plan for future growth. It is not. We were staffed for the max before they went out of service. October 73 initial class is not going to be huge. The rest of the year and foreseeable future is all OTS hiring for mainline. Until the onex deal goes through later this fall, we probs won’t see any more growth in any way. Two of our 76s are leaving us. We don’t even own our own 78s because of deplorable decision making. All in all, yes growth is coming but not anytime soon. So no to widebody growth and definitely no to Max’s as your excuse.

AC and other airlines do this all the time. I’m not going to bother explaining it but I’ll bet if you dig into it you will find out that they likely bought the aircraft and sold it to the leasing company at a profit and as someone else mentioned leased it back on favorable terms and increasing a better cash position. I chuckle when I read your posts turbine. Spoken like a true millennial coming off, I’m guessing, a king air a couple years ago and no I don’t even work there.

[lostaviator]

Yup...that marh works.
My thesis from the beginning is Onex is interested in rapid expansion of swoop to 30 tails. Why wouldn't an investment firm want to expand an operation.at those cost metrics.

I hope the fact that Onex approached Wj long before Swoop was born and was interested in “WestJet” says something about what they are after. That and the fact they are delaying deliveries to Swoop. If Swoop has such an advantage over WJ, why not just give them the tails?

There’s only a handful of people who know what the plan is, and I’m guessing not a single one of them is currently employed or on the board at WJ. Time will tell - hold on!