Deployment pay

[slob driver]

Hi there,

Can a Sunwing pilot give a breakdown on how much one would typically make monthly on a foreign deployment as well as break it down ( salary, per diem, etc)? Pm if preferred.

Thanks in advance.

[safetyfirst123]

The salary stays the same, and the per diem is 100 GBP per day, plus you get accommodations and a rental car. It's not a bad deal, with this extra money, Sunwing pilots can almost make as much as their peers at Westjet, Air Transat, Air Canada, etc. There are mixed messages regarding deployments after this year. TUI says no. Sunwing says yes. They went quite senior this year too. Overall deployments are a big selling point for many at Sunwing!

[goingmissed]

The salary stays the same, and the per diem is 100 GBP per day, plus you get accommodations and a rental car. It's not a bad deal, with this extra money, Sunwing pilots can almost make as much as their peers at Westjet, Air Transat, Air Canada, etc. There are mixed messages regarding deployments after this year. TUI says no. Sunwing says yes. They went quite senior this year too. Overall deployments are a big selling point for many at Sunwing!

The company buying the capacity says no but the company selling it says yes?

Okay.

[daedalusx]

with this extra money, Sunwing pilots can almost make as much as their peers at Westjet, Air Transat, Air Canada, etc.

Yeah sure ... that used to be true a while ago, for a short amount of time, under very specific conditions that don't exist anymore. That's no longer a recruitment selling point.

TUI says no. Sunwing says yes

Imagine still believing anything coming out of Fasken drive's management nowadays

[safetyfirst123]

with this extra money, Sunwing pilots can almost make as much as their peers at Westjet, Air Transat, Air Canada, etc.

Yeah sure ... that used to be true a while ago, for a short amount of time, under very specific conditions that don't exist anymore. That's no longer a recruitment selling point.

Exactly my point ... Sunwing pilots have fallen well behind industry standards, and even with extra money on deployment it's not enough

[safetyfirst123]

The salary stays the same, and the per diem is 100 GBP per day, plus you get accommodations and a rental car. It's not a bad deal, with this extra money, Sunwing pilots can almost make as much as their peers at Westjet, Air Transat, Air Canada, etc. There are mixed messages regarding deployments after this year. TUI says no. Sunwing says yes. They went quite senior this year too. Overall deployments are a big selling point for many at Sunwing!

The company buying the capacity says no but the company selling it says yes?

Okay.

Just stating what's being said on both sides. Having said that, information from TUI is starting to suggest more deployments next year too. Nobody will know for sure until summer 2023 are formally finalized.

[fruz]

The attrition continues at Sunwing with the lack of proper pay.

Deployment pay is inconvenience pay for having to live abroad. Some relish this opportunity to deploy (for travel) while others avoid it like the plague. That said, those who deploy still fall short of earning similar pay to colleagues in Canada. Those who stay home for the summer...well figure it out.

[SteveWhite]

Sort of unrelated, what do pilots with family/kids do when deployed for these situations? I can’t imagine in every situation being able to bring your family along depending on the circumstances. Is it hard on family life?

[ant_321]

Sort of unrelated, what do pilots with family/kids do when deployed for these situations? I can’t imagine in every situation being able to bring your family along depending on the circumstances. Is it hard on family life?

A lot of people bring their whole family for the entire deployment, some have their family come for a couple weeks and some people try to commute back and forth as much as they can. The company will pay for one return trip for the family as well as one return trip for the employee for a half term deployment (3 months or less) and 2 for a full term. For my family it is very complicated but I am still excited to go. I could have stayed home this summer but my wife would have none of that! She is in the process of trying to get a 1 month leave from work to come with the kids, if that doesn’t get approved the family will come for a couple weeks and I’ll go home for a couple weeks for my vacation.

[fish4life]

With the merger approved the deployments will end, I can’t remember the exact date but the wet lease arrangement has a end date in the government conditions.

[DHC-1 Jockey]

When I was at Sunwing, there was one guy who spent more time in Canada "on deployment" than actually in Europe. He strung his vacation and GDO's at the end of one month and the beginning of the next month off together, so he had almost a consecutive month off. He spent it back in Canada refinishing his deck or something all the while still getting paid the daily per-deims ($100+ Euros per day).

I was only fortunate to deploy once before the pandemic, but I've since left Sunwing and I found many people brought their families over. My wife and kids came for a month, then headed back to Canada to start the fall school term while I finished up my deployment. If they couldn't have come, I would have come home to Canada for a couple weeks instead (at Sunwing's expense).

With the increase in remote work now after the pandemic, I'd think it would be even easier now for spouses to go to Europe on a "working vacation."

[BigQ]

With the merger approved the deployments will end, I can’t remember the exact date but the wet lease arrangement has a end date in the government conditions.

Within 3 years I believe.

Deployments for TUI: 100 GBP but you get apartment (2 or 3 bdrm) and car provided.
Deployments for TVS: $215 USD but you provide your own apt and car. If you are strategic and use public transport, maybe you don't need a car...

Quite a few deployed pilots for TVS are sharing accommodations this year. Assuming housing cost of $500/month each for these guys, which is very conservative, these guys and gals can pocket 30k USD as per-diems over 5 months.

Heck, even with my large family, a TUI deployment is quite profitable.

[fruz]

Some are spending as much as 5k a month on places in Prague for their accommodations with their family. Not nearly as lucrative as it once was. Prices have gone up and the allocation hasn't.

[co-joe]

Likely they're all going to be deploying to yyc to cover WestJet flying when team teal walks off the job. And then to thank them for their service....BOTL!

[fruz]

Likely they're all going to be deploying to yyc to cover WestJet flying when team teal walks off the job. And then to thank them for their service....BOTL!

You're assuming Sunwing pilots have a choice in this? I can assure you Sunwing pilots stand behind WestJet pilots all the way. Another thing worth pointing out is that half of our pilots will be overseas this year. Sunwing will have very little capacity to do much for WestJet this summer anyways.