WTHeck is going on at WestJet?

[mmm...bacon]

Seeing multiple posts on Linkedin from head office folks leaving (most of them after multiple years with the co.) What's going on? Just normal turnover, or something more sinister..

[averageatbest]

Seeing multiple posts on Linkedin from head office folks leaving (most of them after multiple years with the co.) What's going on? Just normal turnover, or something more sinister..

What's going on? Onex is going on.

[rookiepilot]

Fed will bail them out. They will bail everyone out.

[fish4life]

Probably a cutting of the middle management fat

[co-joe]

Heard the last groundschool, only 2 of 15 invitees even showed up so they just cancelled it and told them to go home.

[Lurch]

Heard the last groundschool, only 2 of 15 invitees even showed up so they just cancelled it and told them to go home.

Nope, You heard wrong, last ground school had 18 people show up, 9 Encore. 9 OTS.

[Canadaflyer46]

The photo on the Westjet internal site shows only 5 new hires. That class had 5 return to work pilots making 10 total. The following class was apparently ‘postponed’ to combine with the next one. While AC is running multiple classes back to back it is clear WJ is struggling hard to find anyone to hire.

[bobcaygeon]

People are going to AC for the quicker upgrades which is exactly why pilots went to WJ 15 years ago. WJ 737 upgrades are currently 10 years vs under 4 years for the 737/320/220 and even 767 at AC. That's a big carrot that management can't really control.

WJ is a mature airline now and can't grow like it has in the past.

[Canadaflyer46]

People are going to AC for the quicker upgrades which is exactly why pilots went to WJ 15 years ago. WJ 737 upgrades are currently 10 years vs under 4 years for the 737/320/220 and even 767 at AC. That's a big carrot that management can't really control.

WJ is a mature airline now and can't grow like it has in the past.

Management does, indeed, have some control. The plan for 2023 was for 400 new hires and 200 upgrades. As of the June award I believe the upgrades are less than 30. They aren't able to upgrade FOs because the FOs can't be hired to replace them. No one seems to be willing to come to WJ anymore under the current terms. The blame for that lies squarly with management.

[bobcaygeon]

People are going to AC for the quicker upgrades which is exactly why pilots went to WJ 15 years ago. WJ 737 upgrades are currently 10 years vs under 4 years for the 737/320/220 and even 767 at AC. That's a big carrot that management can't really control.

WJ is a mature airline now and can't grow like it has in the past.

Management does, indeed, have some control. The plan for 2023 was for 400 new hires and 200 upgrades. As of the June award I believe the upgrades are less than 30. They aren't able to upgrade FOs because the FOs can't be hired to replace them. No one seems to be willing to come to WJ anymore under the current terms. The blame for that lies squarly with management.

FO's aren't coming because they are going to places with quicker upgrades. AC doesn't pay any better and when you're junior your schedule and vacation are a lot shittier. Seniority rules......

Would more money help get more people in the door? Probably, would it be enough to make a serious difference? With some of the pay cuts the WJ FO's are taking to get a quicker upgrade elsewhere I'm not so sure. Quicker upgrades, more equipment types, and variety of flying is why pilots are going to AC. No one buys more planes or different types if they can't make it work financially just to keep attracting more pilots

WJ has openly stated they didn't expect to get 400 new hires because they just aren't out there. That forecast for 2023 was made many months ago and the 2023 . If YYZ & YVR are reducing capacity this summer it's pretty tough for the airlines to add flights. The flight cancellations and upguaging of equipment has already started for the summer season at these places due to this.

[Bug_Stomper_01]

Seeing multiple posts on Linkedin from head office folks leaving (most of them after multiple years with the co.) What's going on? Just normal turnover, or something more sinister..

What's going on? Onex is going on.

Correct, I have a large group of friends that currently and have worked there. Since the Onex takeover it sounds like lots of the benefits, stipends and workload have shifted towards the operators favour. It doesn’t sound like the Westjet of the early 2000’s anymore.

[newlygrounded]

Fed will bail them out. They will bail everyone out.

What do you mean by bailout? Maybe a low interest loan.
If they were from Quebec a no strings attached bailout might be in the cards but the feds don't care about companies outside la belle province

[bobcaygeon]

Seeing multiple posts on Linkedin from head office folks leaving (most of them after multiple years with the co.) What's going on? Just normal turnover, or something more sinister..

What's going on? Onex is going on.

Correct, I have a large group of friends that currently and have worked there. Since the Onex takeover it sounds like lots of the benefits, stipends and workload have shifted towards the operators favour. It doesn’t sound like the Westjet of the early 2000’s anymore.

It's MegaCorp now but it turned that way long before Onex bought WJ in late 2019. The unions were already showing on the property well before that. WJ in the early 2000's was a small airline. WJA in 2023 is a big airline with +2000 pilots, not <500.

The change happened about 10 years ago when certain leaders showed up.

[‘Bob’]

Fed will bail them out. They will bail everyone out.

What do you mean by bailout? Maybe a low interest loan.
If they were from Quebec a no strings attached bailout might be in the cards but the feds don't care about companies outside la belle province

Fed will bail them out. They will bail everyone out.

What do you mean by bailout? Maybe a low interest loan.
If they were from Quebec a no strings attached bailout might be in the cards but the feds don't care about companies outside la belle province

That’s what a bailout is. A low interest loan that no private lender would touch with a ten foot pole if it wasn’t underwritten by the government.

Where’s mine? I lost a lot on crypto and margin calls are coming.

I’m totally good for the cash.. I swear.

[Bug_Stomper_01]

What's going on? Onex is going on.

Correct, I have a large group of friends that currently and have worked there. Since the Onex takeover it sounds like lots of the benefits, stipends and workload have shifted towards the operators favour. It doesn’t sound like the Westjet of the early 2000’s anymore.

It's MegaCorp now but it turned that way long before Onex bought WJ in late 2019. The unions were already showing on the property well before that. WJ in the early 2000's was a small airline. WJA in 2023 is a big airline with +2000 pilots, not <500.

The change happened about 10 years ago when certain leaders showed up.

I’m not there but I hear from the guys regularly that things really changes when onex took over.

[bobcaygeon]

We'll never really know why. ONEX closed the deal on Dec 11, 2019. 3 months later the world was rocked by COVID and teh airline industry was unrecognizable

[Bug_Stomper_01]

We'll never really know why. ONEX closed the deal on Dec 11, 2019. 3 months later the world was rocked by COVID and teh airline industry was unrecognizable

This is a very true fact

[newlygrounded]

Fed will bail them out. They will bail everyone out.

What do you mean by bailout? Maybe a low interest loan.
If they were from Quebec a no strings attached bailout might be in the cards but the feds don't care about companies outside la belle province

Fed will bail them out. They will bail everyone out.

What do you mean by bailout? Maybe a low interest loan.
If they were from Quebec a no strings attached bailout might be in the cards but the feds don't care about companies outside la belle province

That’s what a bailout is. A low interest loan that no private lender would touch with a ten foot pole if it wasn’t underwritten by the government.

Where’s mine? I lost a lot on crypto and margin calls are coming.

I’m totally good for the cash.. I swear.

The auto industry is why people hate bailouts in Canada. Billions in free money!

https://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/chrysl ... -1.4871648

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/windsor/ ... -1.5214423