The Air Canada OTS thread

[skypirate88]

Me thinks there will be a lot of poaching from Encore for this round..

Why wouldn't they? Instead of gutting the Express carriers, may as well hit the competitor. Add some cost to Encore for retraining, and perhaps slow the growth to protect the Express route network.

[pigboat]

I doubt there will be any deliberate poaching. Some WJ and Encore pilots will most likely be hired. This opening will allow Corporate, Military and others to get a chance to come to AC. There may be as many as a few hundred hired off the street over the next dozen years.

The one given is that the hiring criteria has changed many times in the last 40 years and could change again at the drop of a pin, once the move up numbers are met.

Regards

[flymore]

2400 TT / 300 MPIC / 900 TURBOPROP (multi-crew) / Aviation Degree
No call yet...applied Mar 20, 2016

[blueoreas]

4500 TT, 1500 PIC, 2500 Heavy, a few hundred on TP and tiny jets, University degree in Aviation, Expat FO. No calls

[floats4fun]

I agree with one of the posters, above. I would guess they are still gathering resumes. I applied early March. At the time, the closing date was March 27th. Unless that has changed...

[altiplano]

"Applied last week, no call yet"

One thing that is often overlooked but is important at AC is a track record of wanting to be there. They know how long you've been applying, and how your career has progressed as a result... It counts. Of course there are guys that throw in an application and find themselves interviewed the next month but it's not the norm.

[aV1aTOr]

"Applied last week, no call yet"

One thing that is often overlooked but is important at AC is a track record of wanting to be there. They know how long you've been applying, and how your career has progressed as a result... It counts. Of course there are guys that throw in an application and find themselves interviewed the next month but it's not the norm.

Of course I want to agree with you altiplano, but I must admit, I fell for the whole "AC knows how long you have been applying" line. I maintained the same application file for 5 years, constantly updating it after every hour milestone or position change. Nothing but crickets. Then guys/gals at my employer started to notice something: if you ditched the old app and made a new one with a new email address, ta-daa! Interview invitation. Like I mentioned earlier, 5 years of crickets, but after a new identity (email address anyways, all other info the same of course) and new application, it took all of 1 month. Hired 2 months later.
I'm not trying to give away the 'secret' to getting noticed OTS. Maybe it was the key years ago for a short period of time. All I'm saying is there is alot less conspiracy going on behind the scenes than we'd like to think, and there's a lot of randomness and right place/right time to getting hired. Anyone who tells you "This is what they want to see" or "This is how you get an interview" has no idea what they're talking about. It is as unpredictable as AC's stock price fluctuations.

[altiplano]

You're probably right...

I had been told that and I guess I always just believed it.

Took me years to get hired too - I started applying before it was an online process - or at least before I had a computer and internet access - I actually dropped the first resume off... It took me years more of applying after it went online, and I couldn't figure out why I wasn't getting called while I watched others go...

Who frackin knows...

[awitzke]

+1 for post secondary. Canada usually follows the US. If you look at airlines like Delta and Alaskan. A University Degree is required, not just preferred...

Now I'm nowhere near working for AC, but it's funny you and others say this. I know a few pilots who have been hired at AC relatively recently without a degree or diploma.

[sportingrifle]

Yes.there have been candidates hired recently OTS without degrees. It is also worth noting that all the military candidates have degrees.
FWIW, this is rumored to be a new direction that AC is moving in and at this point, they seem pretty hard core about it. The two most likely things that would change it are a change of personnel high up in Flight Ops., or having difficulty finding well qualified candidates with degrees.
I personally think that a degree is very desirable, as are many other things, but i would be loathe to formally exclude applicants on the basis of this. It is a way to miss some very good candidates. Hope this helps those out there managing their career planning.

Cheers sportingrifle

[Chinaflyer]

Total time 7000 +
Airbus 5000+
Airbus PIC 2000 +
Post Secondary Diploma but no University Degree.
30 years old.

I applied early in March and nothing yet. The application window just closed so I'm assuming they will start sorting through the applications now. Seems there will be plenty of interview spots to go around. Good luck everyone!

[JoeyBarton]

Plenty of interview spots for OTS? No I dont think so.
E-mails have started going out for phone interviews for OTS pilots last week. Everybody I know who got the email has post secondary and 705 time.

[Elessar_44]

6100 TT
~700 PIC on a Citation
~1000 PIC on DH8
Bachelors
internal reference from a good friend who has been at AC a few years

Hoping for a call! However I did interview back in 2012 and didn't get accepted then, so not sure if that will be a negative on my application.

[THLC]

I met all the requirements AC has listed except for my ATPL... That arrived in the mail the day after the posting closed.
I have since updated my profile and resume on their website, but the preliminary questions of what licence and experience I have weren't available in that process. So my submission has a current resume, but I'm listed in their questions as still only having a CPL.

I would guess that I'm out of luck this time since there seems to be no way to change the status of my licence?

[gtanorth]

I met all the requirements AC has listed except for my ATPL... That arrived in the mail the day after the posting closed.
I have since updated my profile and resume on their website, but the preliminary questions of what licence and experience I have weren't available in that process. So my submission has a current resume, but I'm listed in their questions as still only having a CPL.

I would guess that I'm out of luck this time since there seems to be no way to change the status of my licence?

Have you applied to an express partner? That sounds like an option for a person with a new atpl.

[IdRatherBeFishing]

Well I got a sort of PFO today... talked to lots of guys who got the same email this AM. I've got 5500 TT plus lots of MPIC and medium jet time, a couple guys I know who received the same email are 737 skippers with lots more time than me, I wonder who these astronauts are who didn't get the email?

Congrats to all those with upcoming interviews, to the rest of us good luck! After all, they're gonna keep us on file

[jetav8r]

I got one today as well. 8000k including jet PIC, no degree but a couple of diplomas

[dtpilot]

Did everybody get an email no matter what? Did some who apply get nothing? Just wondering if the pfo email is something like still being on their radar since it says "may" be contacted in the future. Thoughts?

[AOW]

The poll time divisions don't seem to offer a very good breakdown between the realistic applicants.

According to the current numbers, there are 5 applicants with 500 hours of single pilot jet time, and there are no breakdowns for more than 500 PIC, or less than 1000 SIC. The TT breakdowns realistically should start at 3000; I don't think anybody is getting called with less than 3k, more likely 4-5k+ TT.

So sorry to the 1500 TT/500 MPIC guys, just because they posts their minimums that low, doesn't mean that they're going to hire anybody without considerably more time.

[TomC]

I got the phone interview email yesterday. Good luck to everyone!

2800 TT
1000+ >12500 MPIC
Bilingual
Bachelors degree
Internal Reference