twa22 wrote: ↑Thu Dec 04, 2025 12:31 pm
altiplano wrote: ↑Thu Dec 04, 2025 12:09 pm
Just giving some context from what I can glean is all.
US major and young enough, no brainer.
Commuting from overseas, that sucks.
Not into airline life, it is what it is.
Go be a CA instead of an FO, sure.
Fair and valid, but again, it still goes to prove a point that, no one should be looking to leave a legacy airline, yet here we are still having this discussion, and the point is being proven
1. Us major? We all know that if we had easy access, probably half the Canadian pilot workforce would be gone
2. Commuting from overseas - The more I talk to fellow pilots, the more and more I hear of commuters from far flung places, and I have actually met a few myself... but the question is, why? Well the answer seems to be a lot more simple then you think
3. Not into the airline life - well this one I can't say much, to each their own
4. Go be a CA instead of FO - Now this one is interesting, because to do that, you need a fair amount of hours for DEC anywhere overseas, so unless these junior hires had 6000 plus hours, I doubt that one. I'm willing to bet the CAs who left actually took right seat somewhere in hopes of a fast upgrade (or if the US then for sure right seat if a major). Again, goes back to the whole point of this thread. AC clearly is not the end all be all, and neither is Canada, anymore, unfortunately...
1 - If you're 45 or under or not a CA/ junior here and can get US status, US majors are an easy choice. Not just for pay but for taxes.
2 - It's crazy how many we have commuting here from overseas, all over Europe and Asia and even a few other far flung corners... I don't know how/why they do it, but they have Canadians status and it's maybe a stepping stone or experience opportunity until they can get on with an airline closer to where they want to be. Or maybe they make the calculation that Canada isn't what they're looking for.
4 - We have guys coming here, CAs from overseas, CAs from less stable domestic airlines, and lots of them are used to running their own show and don't want to put up with the bullshit around this place. It's easier to not put up with bullshit when you're a CA here. And when you're starting up a list of 6000 as a junior FO and there's not a lot of rapid movement at present, you say, maybe I'm just getting to old for this. I get it, go somewhere with a smaller flight department, go be a CA again, maybe go corporate, maybe live where you want to live, whatever. Everyone has their own priorities to weight and that's OK... AC isn't the end all be all for everyone and every situation. Canada is certainly having major challenges at this point as the economy recedes, currency devalues, prices continue to rise, tax dollars are blown out the door... What will the future bring? What will the recovery on the getting look like? When will it come? You'll need a fortune teller on that unfortunately.
Back to the start of it though... if we ignore doom forecasts here and there and things we can't control... if you're a young man and the choice is go overseas only to come back in 10 years and start at the bottom at AC? If you want to live in this country? You would have been better positioned long term to do your time, get your seniority number and establish in this country. You would spend more time at the top of this list in the higher positions.
A pilot that was hired at AC 10 years ago would probably be about s/n 2200 today, an upper mid pack 320 CA, possibly 767 CA even, probably looking at 10-20 years in the big Boeings. Versus s/n 6000 for the returning overseas new hire. That's a major discrepancy in outlook for these guys. Granted record hiring, but the point remains.
Yeah, you're going to keep more money in overseas jurisdictions like UAE, if that's where you want to be, if that's where you want to stay, if the conditions of working there are OK with you, you should go. But if you want to live here, have family here, don't want to work for a totalitarian regime, or don't want to live in the desert? You're better to put your time in what historically has been the best career earning and most stable position in this country.