WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

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Yycjetdriver
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by Yycjetdriver »

mbav8r wrote: Sun Apr 12, 2020 3:34 pm
Blue42 wrote: Sun Apr 12, 2020 12:06 pm
JoeyBarton wrote: Sat Apr 11, 2020 1:07 pm Hard to say, is westjet alpa facing layoffs?
530-1700
That’s a pretty big split, what is the deciding factor for the lower versus upper range?
How many pilots total at WJ, including Encore and Swoop?
The information is limited, the company has been vague on this so far. But the reason for this big difference is the 530 is what they actually need for pilots going forward in the short term. The 1700 is what they see is the largest possible number they could keep at this point and would give them more than sufficient numbers for a full spool up. They don’t want to pay anymore so it would only be major concessions that would allow the higher number to stay.
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B757FO
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by B757FO »

I think that might be backwards from what I heard. 1700 was the largest layoffs number and 530 was the lowest lay-off number. Either way it’s the same amount roughly given the 2300 total. Maybe I’ve got it backwards. Like you say though no information given until this later this week. We need to see basing sizes as I have a feeling they are going to change. Commuting is going to be a disaster I think if it comes to that decision.
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JoeyBarton
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by JoeyBarton »

How does the recall work? If you are laidoff as a year 6 wsj mainline yyc fo, when they call you back for a q4 fo yyz spot, do you have to take it?
Big spread of pay and lifestyle if you ask me...Guessing wj mainline guys would love to see that PTA gone now..
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George Taylor
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by George Taylor »

My understand re: the PTA, is we can bid to Encore, but you won't be recalled to Encore or Swoop. Pretty sure mainline guys are happy with the PTA, and Encore, not so much.
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Yycjetdriver
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by Yycjetdriver »

George Taylor wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 7:31 am My understand re: the PTA, is we can bid to Encore, but you won't be recalled to Encore or Swoop. Pretty sure mainline guys are happy with the PTA, and Encore, not so much.
+1
Free to bid into encore or swoop but it is voluntary, can’t be forced into either company. Don’t want to go, don’t bid it and you will be on layed off.
The only group that should be remotely happy with the PTA at this moment is the Mainline guys, if the company adheres to it and proceeds with the predicted layoffs 99% of the pilots who will remain will be the higher tenured mainline pilots.
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B757FO
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by B757FO »

JoeyBarton wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 7:24 am How does the recall work? If you are laidoff as a year 6 wsj mainline yyc fo, when they call you back for a q4 fo yyz spot, do you have to take it?
Big spread of pay and lifestyle if you ask me...Guessing wj mainline guys would love to see that PTA gone now..
You are only called back to a position as Westjet mainline not encore or swoop. It’s up to you. So no you don’t have to take encore at all and stay on lay-off. Should you tint take encore initial through reduction bid and you then subsequently bid encore per say after your ei ran out then I believe you would fall under the encore cba and need to wait for a spot to open at mainline as per the contract.

The PTA is what is going to save some jobs in my opinion for the whole group not just encore.
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Blue42
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by Blue42 »

B757FO wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 5:33 am I think that might be backwards from what I heard. 1700 was the largest layoffs number and 530 was the lowest lay-off number. Either way it’s the same amount roughly given the 2300 total. Maybe I’ve got it backwards. Like you say though no information given until this later this week. We need to see basing sizes as I have a feeling they are going to change. Commuting is going to be a disaster I think if it comes to that decision.
You are correct, it was 530-1700 layoffs.
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seriousflyer
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by seriousflyer »

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Last edited by seriousflyer on Tue Apr 14, 2020 1:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Blue42
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by Blue42 »

seriousflyer wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 8:28 pm Be careful dudes.
Rumour has it that company is fighting/arguing interpretations of the CBA and PTA. CEO is trying to force pilots into furlough without using layoff pay or the PTA.

No layoff pay because of force majeure clause and no bump down protection is interpreted by the compnay because there is no vacancies at encore to bump into.

Dont hold your breath for Westjet ELTs to conduct themselves in any different manner than they have in the past.
Good rumour. There is no “force majeure” in the CBA. The only limitations to conditions out of the companies control are to the notice period and lay off pay. No limitations to using the PTA! And as for the “no vacancies at Encore to bump into”??? Really, they’re not laying off any of the 500+ Encore pilots? :rolleyes:
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mbav8r
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by mbav8r »

Blue42 wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 10:33 pm
seriousflyer wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 8:28 pm Be careful dudes.
Rumour has it that company is fighting/arguing interpretations of the CBA and PTA. CEO is trying to force pilots into furlough without using layoff pay or the PTA.

No layoff pay because of force majeure clause and no bump down protection is interpreted by the compnay because there is no vacancies at encore to bump into.

Dont hold your breath for Westjet ELTs to conduct themselves in any different manner than they have in the past.
Good rumour. There is no “force majeure” in the CBA. The only limitations to conditions out of the companies control are to the notice period and lay off pay. No limitations to using the PTA! And as for the “no vacancies at Encore to bump into”??? Really, they’re not laying off any of the 500+ Encore pilots? :rolleyes:
Blue 42, if they are laying off, there are no vacancies, it’s a surplus.
A lot of noise was made and I thought this whole one list was about having a bump and flush based on seniority? What happened to that?
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Yycjetdriver
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by Yycjetdriver »

seriousflyer wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 8:28 pm Be careful dudes.
Rumour has it that company is fighting/arguing interpretations of the CBA and PTA. CEO is trying to force pilots into furlough without using layoff pay or the PTA.

No layoff pay because of force majeure clause and no bump down protection is interpreted by the compnay because there is no vacancies at encore to bump into.

Dont hold your breath for Westjet ELTs to conduct themselves in any different manner than they have in the past.
Unfortunately you’re probably right and it won’t surprise anyone.
I believe that PSB they posted was a major fishing expedition and that’s why they gave zero information for it. They got the information they wanted and they were probably not expecting such a willingness to take a reduction to encore or even swoop if necessary.
This is likely the reason they decided to turn around “do the right thing” and delay the PSB.
The results of the PSB proved following the PTA properly could be very expensive. I believe there’s a reason they’ve decided to delay the PSB and still have been very vague or secretive with layoff numbers/positions and bases, it’s not the willingness of the ELT to do the right thing. The ELT is figuring out the cheapest possible way to cut numbers and they are probably figuring ways around the CBA and PTA to do so.
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Dry Guy
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by Dry Guy »

FING A. I SET OFF THE ELT AND IT WAS A PITA.
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seriousflyer
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by seriousflyer »

Yycjetdriver wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:10 am
seriousflyer wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 8:28 pm Be careful dudes.
Rumour has it that company is fighting/arguing interpretations of the CBA and PTA. CEO is trying to force pilots into furlough without using layoff pay or the PTA.

No layoff pay because of force majeure clause and no bump down protection is interpreted by the compnay because there is no vacancies at encore to bump into.

Dont hold your breath for Westjet ELTs to conduct themselves in any different manner than they have in the past.
Unfortunately you’re probably right and it won’t surprise anyone.
I believe that PSB they posted was a major fishing expedition and that’s why they gave zero information for it. They got the information they wanted and they were probably not expecting such a willingness to take a reduction to encore or even swoop if necessary.
This is likely the reason they decided to turn around “do the right thing” and delay the PSB.
The results of the PSB proved following the PTA properly could be very expensive. I believe there’s a reason they’ve decided to delay the PSB and still have been very vague or secretive with layoff numbers/positions and bases, it’s not the willingness of the ELT to do the right thing. The ELT is figuring out the cheapest possible way to cut numbers and they are probably figuring ways around the CBA and PTA to do so.
I believe the ELT selects the cheapest option over anything at all times, and then figures how staff can slot into that plan.
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Yycjetdriver
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by Yycjetdriver »

seriousflyer wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2020 6:32 am
Yycjetdriver wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2020 5:10 am
seriousflyer wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 8:28 pm Be careful dudes.
Rumour has it that company is fighting/arguing interpretations of the CBA and PTA. CEO is trying to force pilots into furlough without using layoff pay or the PTA.

No layoff pay because of force majeure clause and no bump down protection is interpreted by the compnay because there is no vacancies at encore to bump into.

Dont hold your breath for Westjet ELTs to conduct themselves in any different manner than they have in the past.
Unfortunately you’re probably right and it won’t surprise anyone.
I believe that PSB they posted was a major fishing expedition and that’s why they gave zero information for it. They got the information they wanted and they were probably not expecting such a willingness to take a reduction to encore or even swoop if necessary.
This is likely the reason they decided to turn around “do the right thing” and delay the PSB.
The results of the PSB proved following the PTA properly could be very expensive. I believe there’s a reason they’ve decided to delay the PSB and still have been very vague or secretive with layoff numbers/positions and bases, it’s not the willingness of the ELT to do the right thing. The ELT is figuring out the cheapest possible way to cut numbers and they are probably figuring ways around the CBA and PTA to do so.
I believe the ELT selects the cheapest option over anything at all times, and then figures how staff can slot into that plan.
I have no doubt they believed the highest earning longer tenured Mainline pilots would not want to bump down t encore/swoop and would prefer a leave or layoff instead.
However due to years of terribly low paycheques results in low cash flow for the majority of the group that is simply not an option for most. The fishing expedition brought this to their attention and now they’re most likely devising another plan of attack.
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by altiplano »

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Blue42
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by Blue42 »

mbav8r wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2020 3:57 am
Blue42 wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 10:33 pm
seriousflyer wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 8:28 pm Be careful dudes.
Rumour has it that company is fighting/arguing interpretations of the CBA and PTA. CEO is trying to force pilots into furlough without using layoff pay or the PTA.

No layoff pay because of force majeure clause and no bump down protection is interpreted by the compnay because there is no vacancies at encore to bump into.

Dont hold your breath for Westjet ELTs to conduct themselves in any different manner than they have in the past.
Good rumour. There is no “force majeure” in the CBA. The only limitations to conditions out of the companies control are to the notice period and lay off pay. No limitations to using the PTA! And as for the “no vacancies at Encore to bump into”??? Really, they’re not laying off any of the 500+ Encore pilots? :rolleyes:
Blue 42, if they are laying off, there are no vacancies, it’s a surplus.
A lot of noise was made and I thought this whole one list was about having a bump and flush based on seniority? What happened to that?

It’s still there, nothing has changed and as usual this is all based on a “rumor”....if they’re laying off there will be vacancies at Encore to go to.
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mbav8r
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by mbav8r »

Blue42 wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2020 8:49 am
mbav8r wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2020 3:57 am
Blue42 wrote: Mon Apr 13, 2020 10:33 pm

Good rumour. There is no “force majeure” in the CBA. The only limitations to conditions out of the companies control are to the notice period and lay off pay. No limitations to using the PTA! And as for the “no vacancies at Encore to bump into”??? Really, they’re not laying off any of the 500+ Encore pilots? :rolleyes:
Blue 42, if they are laying off, there are no vacancies, it’s a surplus.
A lot of noise was made and I thought this whole one list was about having a bump and flush based on seniority? What happened to that?

It’s still there, nothing has changed and as usual this is all based on a “rumor”....if they’re laying off there will be vacancies at Encore to go to.
Ok, obviously it’s a terminology issue, to me a vacancy is an opening, if they need to lay-off 300 pilots from Encore, to me that means they have 300 too many pilots not 300 vacancies. 300 layoffs at Encore could have no current Encore pilots left, if all the Mainline pilots who are laid off bump in to the remaining 200 spots, With exception that some Encore pilots would still be senior to some of the laid off WJ pilots, again not vacancies.
Now, if you expect Encore to grow, then yes, there would be some vacancies to fill, obviously not likely
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hurtin'albertan
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by hurtin'albertan »

Guys a lot of this rumour and speculation could be resolved by just reading the contract and PTA agreement.

There is no force majeure clause in the contract. There is something that sounds like a force majeure clause in the layoff section, but it only applies to notice of layoff timelines and layoff pay. That's it. If it applied to the whole contract it wouldn't specify the exact clauses it applies to! And it would live up in Scope or General or something, not buried in section 20 Layoffs. Even when that card is pulled (20.1.05) you still get layoff pay, but less.

As far as bumping to Encore, the PTA spells it out. If a mainline guy is gonna be on the street, he can bump into an Encore position. Period. "BUMP". Not "fill vacancy". When I bump you, you fall off your chair. That's the price the Encore guys (and company for recruitment carrots, remember when that was a thing? :rolleyes: ) were willing to pay for getting a number on the WJ main list.

Please go read the contract and PTA. Then read it again for good measure. Then think about how bad it would look on WJ if they fu*&ed around with things and decide if they are willing to look like DBs to save a buck or 3, when every other airline is following the rules they agreed on.
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Blue42
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by Blue42 »

mbav8r wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2020 9:01 am
Blue42 wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2020 8:49 am
mbav8r wrote: Tue Apr 14, 2020 3:57 am
Blue 42, if they are laying off, there are no vacancies, it’s a surplus.
A lot of noise was made and I thought this whole one list was about having a bump and flush based on seniority? What happened to that?

It’s still there, nothing has changed and as usual this is all based on a “rumor”....if they’re laying off there will be vacancies at Encore to go to.
Ok, obviously it’s a terminology issue, to me a vacancy is an opening, if they need to lay-off 300 pilots from Encore, to me that means they have 300 too many pilots not 300 vacancies. 300 layoffs at Encore could have no current Encore pilots left, if all the Mainline pilots who are laid off bump in to the remaining 200 spots, With exception that some Encore pilots would still be senior to some of the laid off WJ pilots, again not vacancies.
Now, if you expect Encore to grow, then yes, there would be some vacancies to fill, obviously not likely
Read the PTA, nothing to do with vacancies, you bump to the position by seniority.
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Re: WestJet Group Hiring Freeze

Post by tbaylx »

I doubt that the Westjet group is going to create 300+ initial training courses on a Q400 as part of their layoff plan regardless of what is in the one list agreement. Defeats the purpose of managing cash flow.
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