Well after many sleeples nights the day has finally come . Hoping for the best.
can anyone confirm the true payscale for new hires. there are all kinds of numbers out there.
- is 37k then 42k then regular pay for the third year correct?
Also, I just bought a home in Atlanta (dual citizen).- is commuting a possibility. Does AC have jumpseat agreements with the U.S. carriers. I know guys in the U.S. can jumpseat on any airline (jumpseating meaning- riding with the pax (since 9/11) on stanby-but at least it's free).
Do AC guys have to pay to ride on an AC planes or a Jazz plane, for commuting purpose?
Good luck to you Jammer.I think the first 6 months at AC you do not get pass priveliges.After that you just have to pay the taxes...about $50 to the states.
As far as j/s access, only for the airline you work for.For example if Jazz does the route to ATL, then you would not be allowed in the cockpit.That is a security requirement to the U.S.If it were domestic flights than you could sit up front on Jazz or AC.
So wait, have you just gotten the call, or just done an interview, or been given a ground school date? Just wondering if things are moving again as per calls.
Thanks, and good luck!!
interviewed a while back
I was told at the interview that if the news was bad that I would hear within a month, it's been well past that so I think I'm in.
I'm suprized to hear that. I know in the U.S. there is a jumpseat agreement between all airlines (I've participated in it). All you do is show up at the gate and get the capt. to sign your jumpseat form. thats it.
Prior to 9/11 you could sit up front, now the FAA says only company employees up front. but you can still "jumpseat" on any airline (you just sit with the pax) domestic or international its all free. (mind you you can get bumped by paying pax if space is limited- so it's not 100 dependable, but it is free)
So how would an AC pilot living in say YWG get to YYZ, pay for a ticket?
I would think that the company would offer spare seats to it's pilots at no cost.
If you travel on an Air Canada flight, even in the flight deck, you will have to pay. We are a Canadian airline afterall and cannot give one particular group an advantage over another. As a result, you will have to pay while a pilot from Continental rides in the back on a "jumpseat" pass for free.
So my advice is jumpseat with Continental. Unfortunately, we do not have an agreement with Delta which would be helpful for Atlanta.
The cost of a pass is not very much but you will have to wait 6 months to qualify. I believe there may be a set number of passes ( like 4 ) that are given to you in the first 6 mths.
I would highly recommend that you do not attempt commuting until you have enough seniority to at least hold a block. The company is not very tolerant of having reserve pilots sitting at home a 1000 miles from base.
Welcome to flying in Canada. I commute and it costs me about 20.00 EACH way EVERY time I do it. We are almost flying for free in Canada as the 20.00 is ALL taxes (Federal, AIF, etc etc etc.) It is very different from the way things are done in the states. I see JS beat me to the punch about others flying for free while we are paying... Still beats trying to buy a full fare ticket though!!
Just priced the ticket out to ATL... return is $83.For some reaon I thought Milton waived the service fees for employees till 2009 as a result of CCAA.
Is this no longer correct?
That seems high. I went down to Annapolis for the boat show the other weekend and that was only 17 bucks.
Jammer
Yes, AC has a jumpseat policy which allows pilots to jumpseat with us and us with them. We have a list of carriers we can jumpseat with. In the U.S it includes just about everyone except American and Delta. I had a United guy jumpseat with me to New York the other day. He gets a coupon from me and then rides in an available seat in the back. This is totally free for him. In exchange, we can jumpseat on other carriers who are part of the program for free. As pilots, however, we cannot jumpseat for free on our own airline. That would be seen as unfair to other employee groups. ( doesn't seem to matter that an employee from another carrier can benefit ) So you could be sitting next to a guy from United, on your own airplane and you are paying to be there while he is not.
You will be on probation for a one year period and will spend a good portion of that time on reserve. Luckily with the forcasted hiring, you may not be on reserve for the entire probation time. You will soon find out however, that scheduling rules for a reserve pilot are very different from a block holder.
I would not recommend commuting to any new hire pilot period.
I will warn you right now, the company does not tolerate a commuter not being available for duty and with load factors the way they are, your chances of getting on a flight with 6 months of seniority will be difficult, to say the least. We are in the process of negotiating a commuter policy but this is taking time.
You will get some pos space passes while on training but once you are checked out, with a reserve block, they can call at 0500 and expect you to be at the airport ready to go within 3 hours. You will also have to wait 6 months to even qualify for the pass travel benefit.
When you have a block and are off probation, fill your boots. We have guys commuting from Belize, Frankfurt, Pheonix, the Bahamas, Turks and Caicos islands as well as from most cities in Canada.
It should be possible to commute right from the start. I did it four years ago when I started and they did provide passes from day one. I had no trouble with the company, although I might have been very lucky not to miss any duties. I basically lived on an airplane for over a year, and lost most my hair, waiting to see if I was getting on a flight. They're were several guys doing the same thing and it was not pretty. I still would have done it, in light of being layed off and saving myself another move, but with the hiring moving forward, I would advise against it. Having said that, commuting from YOW to YYZ is much more feasible than the YVR-YYZ route I did.....if I lived in YOW, I would give it a shot.
Well after many sleeples nights the day has finally come 
