rhythm101 wrote:The second question would be - how do you propose to realize $100 000 000.00 in savings? You can't go after the CSA's and ground handlers - well you could but the savings wouldn't be really significant. Speaking of that, I highly doubt that you will realize $30 000 000.00 in savings by going to a 1/50 fa ratio; it only affects one of the three types of aircraft you fly. The way I see it there are only a few other options: you could ask the AME's to take a paycut, but you're also asking them to train on a second aircraft type, not sure how well that will work; you could go after the ESP, the precedent has already been set by only offering Encore employee's 10% and it would be a blow not to any specific employee group; or you could go after the highest paid narrow body pilots in the country, pretty easy if you have Encore pulling you down and the threat of foreign pilots. Those are the obvious ones with the most significant savings, please correct or include any I may have missed.
I kind of get the feeling that I'm wasting my time, but I think you should really stop posting until you have a clue what you're talking about. First off, no one has belittled you for flying a turboprop. In fact it seems to me like you have some sort of inferiority complex. I have never met a single WJ pilot who feels that they are in any way superior to any other pilot. In fact I ran into a guy who had a great turboprop gig who wanted to come to WJ and I advised him to stay where he was because he had a really good job.
Second, WRT the FA ratio, it affects the 700's and 800's which make up 90% of the fleet (there are only ~10 600's). AME's are not training on a second type because WJE is a separate company with separate FA's and AME's. No one has suggested a pay cut or cut in ESP. The sticking point is flexible blocking months so we can pick up additional seasonal flying without doing layoffs in the slower seasons.
Thanks for answering the question bede, I will ignore the personal attacks and try to keep this geared towards a healthy discussion. I am, after all, just asking questions which I obviously don't have the answers too. Question #3 - How is flow thru going to work exactly? It has been a year and a half and still no official word on the process. I have heard a rumour that the company was willing to spend up to $5 000 000/yr on flow thru but that was a long time ago and nothing has ever been announced officially, has this got something to do with the 5 mil coming out of profit share and effecting every WJ employee? I am pretty sure the FA's and the stations who have been frozen at Encore wages and benefits wouldn't be that receptive of another pay cut just because that pilot wants to fly a 737 not a Q400.
The 4th question plays right into the previous. Speaking of flow thru, what are the routes WJ might be looking at to further expand the 737 operation? Encore is flying from YCD, YXJ, and YBR. These will directly compete with WJ routes out of YQQ, YQU, and YWG - definitely not Porter and minimally with AC/Jazz. Also, you recently announced receiving your 104th tail, but only a few days later (very quietly) announced selling ten aircraft to SouthWest (is it 104 or 94 - and as an aside - how many exactly, if any, are parked in the desert?). If Encore keeps pulling routes from mainline and the trend of selling and parking airplanes continues, and with all the lease renewals due within the next few years, what are my chances of flow thru really looking like? Because if this trend does continue I have no doubt there will be flow thru, it just might not be in the direction everyone expects. (Maybe that's why all the recent Encore interviewee's have been told they will have a "seat" at encore just not if it is a left or right seat.)
rhythm101 wrote: Also, you recently announced receiving your 104th tail, but only a few days later (very quietly) announced selling ten aircraft to SouthWest (is it 104 or 94 - and as an aside - how many exactly, if any, are parked in the desert?). )
So quiet that you missed the part of the announcement they are ordering 10 B738s to replace the 10 being sold to WN. No aircraft are sitting in the desert.
rhythm101 wrote:Thanks for answering the question bede, I will ignore the personal attacks and try to keep this geared towards a healthy discussion.
rhythm101 wrote: I have never chased the biggest paycheck or even wanted to fly the biggest metal - as they say "any a$$hole can fly a jet, most of them do" - it is just too bad that people like you continually have to prove it. I am sorry that you have such a small mind as to actually believe that you are better than anybody because of the check you cash every two weeks or the cockpit you climb into to earn that paycheck.
rhythm101 wrote: Also, you recently announced receiving your 104th tail, but only a few days later (very quietly) announced selling ten aircraft to SouthWest (is it 104 or 94 - and as an aside - how many exactly, if any, are parked in the desert?). If Encore keeps pulling routes from mainline and the trend of selling and parking airplanes continues, and with all the lease renewals due within the next few years, what are my chances of flow thru really looking like?
YYZSaabGuy wrote:
whiteguy wrote:
So quiet that you missed the part of the announcement they are ordering 10 B738s to replace the 10 being sold to WN. No aircraft are sitting in the desert.
Bede wrote:
I kind of get the feeling that I'm wasting my time, but I think you should really stop posting until you have a clue what you're talking about.
rhythm101 wrote: If Encore keeps pulling routes from mainline and the trend of selling and parking airplanes continues, and with all the lease renewals due within the next few years, what are my chances of flow thru really looking like?
Good point. Your chances look really bad. Probably never. In fact, I bet WJE will be bankrupt soon. It's best you don't apply and stay where you're happy.
"So quiet that you missed the part of the announcement they are ordering 10 B738s to replace the 10 being sold to WN. No aircraft are sitting in the desert."
Actually didn't miss that. It was for 2015 I believe. 1 to 2 years away, and was that on top of the other aircraft ordered in those years or as part of. If you haven't noticed WJ aircraft orders and leases have been very fluid the last couple of years. Question still stands. And good job answering my other questions.
By the way Bede, I already said I am not interested, mainly because I would ask these questions and I know how WJer's feel about someone like me asking these types of questions. Trust our management, they have always looked out for us before. As for the next question - as a manager, you seem like a great person to work for. But how would you describe the people YOU work for, the new CEO, and the Board of Directors? As a publicly traded company these people are legally required to lookout for the shareholders best interest. So all the decisions made on the 6th floor first have to meet the shareholder litmus test. The manager is then told how to enact these policies and decisions, not usually how they feel about these policies.
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Last edited by rhythm101 on Mon Jun 24, 2013 3:13 am, edited 1 time in total.
I would also like to ask about certain parts of their financial statements. Like every airline, they seem to have a different way of interpreting their financial data and, as with every airline, it is sometimes hard to read into. But when I have spent sometime trying to dissect them, I wonder why it appears there is - relatively speaking - not enough money budgeted for aircraft heavy maintenance.
Good job Bede rummaging through all those previous posts and picking out the quotes you would like to showcase, I would hope most people reading this forum would spend the time reading all the post so those quotes can be put in context. But remember I don't know anything, I just know enough to want to ask these questions and get honest answers, on behalf of people who may want to work there but want a little more info before making a decision which will affect the rest of their careers. Healthy debate and discussion is a good thing - if everybody is agreeing then nobody is thinking.
Sorry about the late reply darkhorse. As a matter of fact, yes, that is all I can come up with. I'm not very creative. However, I also noticed today that it's the second time you posted that zinger at me. Ouch that hurts, good one. Yes, I did get a PFO from AC. I've never kept it secret from anyone but through your investigative action you've discovered that incredible fact. Well done. The fact that it's pretty easy to figure that out based on my 9ish posts on avcanada I'll ignore for now.
Anyway, back to my limited activities on avcanada. Yes, I disappear from the boards, then rear my ugly head to throw an insult at someone who is whining online and deserves it. Then I disappear again. Why? Well, because I have a life and I only find myself bored in a hotel room every so often, so I'll have a look at the avcanada world. Don't know if you've noticed but I normally target my sarcasm towards people who incessantly whine online about not getting paid enough or whatever else. Take yourself for example. Your posts are always about subway cops getting paid more than dash 8 FOs or something like that. So, maybe you should become a subway cop and you too will get 6 figures. But then what will be left to complain about.
Anyway, I'll probably disappear for a month again but feel free to post if you want. Or not. I'm gonna go cry myself to sleep now about my AC misfortune...
rhythm101 wrote:I would also like to ask about certain parts of their financial statements. Like every airline, they seem to have a different way of interpreting their financial data and, as with every airline, it is sometimes hard to read into. But when I have spent sometime trying to dissect them, I wonder why it appears there is - relatively speaking - not enough money budgeted for aircraft heavy maintenance.
I think it is simply because they have mostly new planes rather than old bangers. According to wikipedia "WestJet has an average fleet age of 6.7 years, as of December 2012". Generally you don't need too much heavy maintenance on a 6.7 year old plane, as far as I know.
rhythm101 wrote:I would also like to ask about certain parts of their financial statements. Like every airline, they seem to have a different way of interpreting their financial data and, as with every airline, it is sometimes hard to read into. But when I have spent sometime trying to dissect them, I wonder why it appears there is - relatively speaking - not enough money budgeted for aircraft heavy maintenance.
I think it is simply because they have mostly new planes rather than old bangers. According to wikipedia "WestJet has an average fleet age of 6.7 years, as of December 2012". Generally you don't need too much heavy maintenance on a 6.7 year old plane, as far as I know.
The NG aircraft doesn't get your typical C check. It's checks are done in "Phases" over a period of time. This allows the aircraft to fly more while still having the downtime (typically overnight) for maintenance. No need to save up for one big check; it's done and paid for over a period of time.
