Hiring Again?

[pilotdude1326]

Hi all,
Has there been any word as to when hiring will open up again? Does Westjet hire directly for YVR/YWG/YYC bases, or is it usually a draw in the class for the different bases?

Thanks

[safetyfirst123]

If you listen to management, there will be 400 new hires next year starting in January. If you listen to Westjet pilots, Westjet is overstaffed and will be stagnant forever. Hopefully management is right.

[mantogasrsrwy]

Someone in the low end of management told me 120 pilots in 2026. That seems inline with the new tails that are supposed to be coming. Management never said 400 pilots and I've never heard of a pilot saying Westjet was overstaffed.

[Canadaflyer46]

I think we will see hiring in 2026, at the very least due to attrition as junior FOs leave for AC where it isn’t a 10+ year wait for a left seat.
Once the new 787s start to show up (anyone’s guess, 2-4 years depending on how optimistic/pessimistic you are) I think we will see some upgrades again and more hiring to account for the movement.

[JBI]

Latest information is hiring starting at the end of Q1 in 2026.

For the immediate future, I think the hiring and growth depends far more upon 737 deliveries than the 787. They're always secretive with the numbers, but Boeing owes us like 26 Maxes that were supposed to have already been delivered. How many will show up by the end of 2026 is anyone's guess. Some of the first set of Max 10 orders were converted to Max 8s, so that's also another factor - do they convert more?

A conservative but slightly optimistic guess is net 10 new 737s by the end of 2026 than what we have now.

[cdnavater]

Latest information is hiring starting at the end of Q1 in 2026.

For the immediate future, I think the hiring and growth depends far more upon 737 deliveries than the 787. They're always secretive with the numbers, but Boeing owes us like 26 Maxes that were supposed to have already been delivered. How many will show up by the end of 2026 is anyone's guess. Some of the first set of Max 10 orders were converted to Max 8s, so that's also another factor - do they convert more?

A conservative but slightly optimistic guess is net 10 new 737s by the end of 2026 than what we have now.

So, one could infer that an average of 12 pilots per fin, hiring could be 120 plus some for attrition for 2026, some of those from Encore. But, if they retire any of the older fins, a much smaller number.

[JBI]

Latest information is hiring starting at the end of Q1 in 2026.

For the immediate future, I think the hiring and growth depends far more upon 737 deliveries than the 787. They're always secretive with the numbers, but Boeing owes us like 26 Maxes that were supposed to have already been delivered. How many will show up by the end of 2026 is anyone's guess. Some of the first set of Max 10 orders were converted to Max 8s, so that's also another factor - do they convert more?

A conservative but slightly optimistic guess is net 10 new 737s by the end of 2026 than what we have now.

So, one could infer that an average of 12 pilots per fin, hiring could be 120 plus some for attrition for 2026, some of those from Encore. But, if they retire any of the older fins, a much smaller number.

My guess (and it's way closer to a guess than a hard estimate) does include some lease returns/retirements of some of the older tails. i.e. we'll get 12-16 tails, but retire 2-6. But there are so many unknowns: will Boeing be able to up their production? How many Max 10s will be delivered? Will WJ convert more Max 8s? How are the flight loads? What will the economy do? Will we see more European flying on the 737 next year?

While it's like trying to nail jello to the wall, I do think 100-120 new hires is a reasonable guess at this point.