Anybody hear about Sunwest in yyc laying off? Heard they walked a bunch of ppl out the door.

Yes, tons of pilots. A lot of the senior pilots. Basically a few of the union organizers, or anyone who had a beef with the management.

I know a few people on the ramp there. Hopefully they don't get effected by losing their jobs after chasing the proverbial carrot. Who knows maybe they will get into a plane with seats open now.....

awitzke wrote:I know a few people on the ramp there. Hopefully they don't get effected by losing their jobs after chasing the proverbial carrot. Who knows maybe they will get into a plane with seats open now.....

I heard a few rampies got laid off as well.

My buddy says 13 1900 pilots, 2 metro in yeg, a couple of rampies, a handful of office staff and some maintenance. Seniority meant nothing to them. If manager didn't like you, you're gone, doesn't matter how long you've been there. Sounds like a nice company to work for. From what I've been told most of the good mechs are leaving or actively looking.

flying_yyc wrote:My buddy says 13 1900 pilots, 2 metro in yeg, a couple of rampies, a handful of office staff and some maintenance. Seniority meant nothing to them. If manager didn't like you, you're gone, doesn't matter how long you've been there. Sounds like a nice company to work for. From what I've been told most of the good mechs are leaving or actively looking.

That's like half their 1900 crew from what I understand. I heard few guys on the Lear too.

Too bad the management had to behave like that. Hopefully this bites them when things pick up again.

CALGARYFLYER1 wrote:oo bad the management had to behave like that. Hopefully this bites them when things pick up again.

More layoffs then the downturn of 2008 when oil dropped below $40 a barrel.

flying_yyc wrote: Seniority meant nothing to them. If manager didn't like you, you're gone, doesn't matter how long you've been there.

This is what I heard too. They are cleaning house. All good people with many years service, who happened to stand up for themselves and others.

calgaryguy wrote: This is what I heard too. They are cleaning house. All good people with many years service, who happened to stand up for themselves and others.

I guess there is a drawback to integrity. Pretty sad.

Aren't guys with more seniority more expensive to lay-off? Bigger severance packages due to time with the company.

Probably will work out better for these guys then. Nice severance, and if they weren't getting along with management, probably time to move on anyway. Find a company that fits them better.

That's assuming there IS a severance package.

On one hand I agree that it could be time to move on, but on the other hand, there may have been changes instituted that are (or were) unacceptable to many on the inside. If dissention is not allowed, or frowned upon, then many companies are essentially hypocritical with open door policies and shallow lip service to those on the front lines.

Have encountered many many employers that feel that they own the employees and need not promote a workplace beneficial to anyone but themselves.

All that said, I have no idea what is going on at Sunwest. Sad for those that have lost jobs.

I can only go by hearsay (but they're on staff there), but there was a severance pkg, but it didn't add up to much. They thought it was strictly a house cleaning event.

So if some of you get a job there - keep your mouth shut, always agree with management, don't rock the boat, don't say the word 'union', say please and thank you, and you'll do fine.

The management apparently needs cleaning out, too. Most of the managers have been there since the beginning and some have no clue about ppl skills, management skills, or even how an airline should be run. They've only been a 703/704 company and now they're 705. Maintenance sounds like the worst in the company.

I complain about my company, too, but not to the degree my friend does. I think I'll stay where I'm at for now and be happy I've got a job.

Sunwest is a sub-par company, with some above-average staff.

This downturn would be a great time for some of these duds to go bye-bye (ie, Sunwest, Air Partners, Aurora, Georgian) and let the better companies hire the great staff coming forward.

[quote="Johnny#5"]Sunwest is a sub-par company, with some above-average staff.

This downturn would be a great time for some of these duds to go bye-bye (ie, Sunwest, Air Partners, Aurora, Georgian) and let the better companies hire the great staff coming forward.[/quote]


Johnny,

I'm not sure why you would be lumping Aurora in with the other so called dud operators? It's a great company that has been only improving conditions for its workers. Best get your facts straight before slandering a company.

Flybabe wrote:That's assuming there IS a severance package.

Severance is required by the Canada Labour Code, so is applicable to us as "federally regulated employees". We get 2 days pay for every ear of service, with a minimum of 5 days. That's on top of the two weeks written notice or two weeks pay in lieu of notice.

http://www.labour.gc.ca/eng/standards_e ... tion.shtml

I learn something new every day!

Wonder if that goes back to 1998, when I was laid off at NTAir?

goingnowherefast wrote:

Flybabe wrote:That's assuming there IS a severance package.

Severance is required by the Canada Labour Code, so is applicable to us as "federally regulated employees". We get 2 days pay for every ear of service, with a minimum of 5 days. That's on top of the two weeks written notice or two weeks pay in lieu of notice.

http://www.labour.gc.ca/eng/standards_e ... tion.shtml

2 days!? That's got to be the worst severance law I've ever seen! The countries I'm familiar with are in the 2-4 WEEKS per year of service range.

The couple of provinces I looked at do have much higher requirements. Unfortunately we are federally regulated though. So yet again, pilots get the short stick.

goingnowherefast wrote:

Flybabe wrote:That's assuming there IS a severance package.

Severance is required by the Canada Labour Code, so is applicable to us as "federally regulated employees". We get 2 days pay for every ear of service, with a minimum of 5 days. That's on top of the two weeks written notice or two weeks pay in lieu of notice.

http://www.labour.gc.ca/eng/standards_e ... tion.shtml

I heard they were making them sign an agreement to get their severance. You don't have to sign anything.

Johnny#5 wrote:Sunwest is a sub-par company, with some above-average staff.

This downturn would be a great time for some of these duds to go bye-bye (ie, Sunwest, Air Partners, Aurora, Georgian) and let the better companies hire the great staff coming forward.

Can't speak of the other operators you mentioned but I don't know why Georgian is listed. Do/did you work there? Recently? I've been around a bit and have been treated very fairly and have been given every opportunity to better my lifestyle. I won't make a career out of it, but for the company it is, it's been very good. Someone mentioned at Sunwest, if you're hired, to keep your mouth shut, agree with management all the time and smile and nod. Does someone really want to work under that kind of culture? At Georgian, I don't the least bit fear management, nor do I even have a reason to. I've been able to vent to the CP and even the VP about things and have been given courteous responses and in most cases, a resolution. Isn't that how employers should be treated? That's priceless to me.

Everyone has different experiences. Keep this in mind. Mine has been positive, and I'm certainly not the only one at Georgian who thinks so.

flying4dollars wrote:

Johnny#5 wrote:Sunwest is a sub-par company, with some above-average staff.

This downturn would be a great time for some of these duds to go bye-bye (ie, Sunwest, Air Partners, Aurora, Georgian) and let the better companies hire the great staff coming forward.

Can't speak of the other operators you mentioned but I don't know why Georgian is listed. Do/did you work there? Recently? I've been around a bit and have been treated very fairly and have been given every opportunity to better my lifestyle. I won't make a career out of it, but for the company it is, it's been very good. Someone mentioned at Sunwest, if you're hired, to keep your mouth shut, agree with management all the time and smile and nod. Does someone really want to work under that kind of culture? At Georgian, I don't the least bit fear management, nor do I even have a reason to. I've been able to vent to the CP and even the VP about things and have been given courteous responses and in most cases, a resolution. Isn't that how employers should be treated? That's priceless to me.

Everyone has different experiences. Keep this in mind. Mine has been positive, and I'm certainly not the only one at Georgian who thinks so.

It is a private company so they can lay off whoever they chose, I'm sure staff could leave if they didn't want to be there.

So being able to bring up a concern to your CEO, CP or DCP which you can do at any of these companies yet get paid way less is what makes it better?

Oxi wrote:

flying4dollars wrote:

Johnny#5 wrote:Sunwest is a sub-par company, with some above-average staff.

This downturn would be a great time for some of these duds to go bye-bye (ie, Sunwest, Air Partners, Aurora, Georgian) and let the better companies hire the great staff coming forward.

Can't speak of the other operators you mentioned but I don't know why Georgian is listed. Do/did you work there? Recently? I've been around a bit and have been treated very fairly and have been given every opportunity to better my lifestyle. I won't make a career out of it, but for the company it is, it's been very good. Someone mentioned at Sunwest, if you're hired, to keep your mouth shut, agree with management all the time and smile and nod. Does someone really want to work under that kind of culture? At Georgian, I don't the least bit fear management, nor do I even have a reason to. I've been able to vent to the CP and even the VP about things and have been given courteous responses and in most cases, a resolution. Isn't that how employers should be treated? That's priceless to me.

Everyone has different experiences. Keep this in mind. Mine has been positive, and I'm certainly not the only one at Georgian who thinks so.

It is a private company so they can lay off whoever they chose, I'm sure staff could leave if they didn't want to be there.

So being able to bring up a concern to your CEO, CP or DCP which you can do at any of these companies yet get paid way less is what makes it better?

Ah "the if you don't like it you can leave" line, gotta love that one. Been spouted out now by inept managers all over the world for as long as there have been employees to bully. Only seen that one backfire once at Gulf Air in 2007 where enough of the employees did just that and left them rather short of crew.

Oxi wrote:

flying4dollars wrote:

Johnny#5 wrote:Sunwest is a sub-par company, with some above-average staff.

This downturn would be a great time for some of these duds to go bye-bye (ie, Sunwest, Air Partners, Aurora, Georgian) and let the better companies hire the great staff coming forward.

Can't speak of the other operators you mentioned but I don't know why Georgian is listed. Do/did you work there? Recently? I've been around a bit and have been treated very fairly and have been given every opportunity to better my lifestyle. I won't make a career out of it, but for the company it is, it's been very good. Someone mentioned at Sunwest, if you're hired, to keep your mouth shut, agree with management all the time and smile and nod. Does someone really want to work under that kind of culture? At Georgian, I don't the least bit fear management, nor do I even have a reason to. I've been able to vent to the CP and even the VP about things and have been given courteous responses and in most cases, a resolution. Isn't that how employers should be treated? That's priceless to me.

Everyone has different experiences. Keep this in mind. Mine has been positive, and I'm certainly not the only one at Georgian who thinks so.

It is a private company so they can lay off whoever they chose, I'm sure staff could leave if they didn't want to be there.

So being able to bring up a concern to your CEO, CP or DCP which you can do at any of these companies yet get paid way less is what makes it better?

At what point did I say it makes it better than anyone else? Is that really what you got out of my post?

My point was that Georgian isn't a dud that needs to go away. Someone mentioned keeping your mouth shut and agree with everything management says, and I said this is one company you don't need to do that. You can speak up without fear of being held back, laid off (house cleaning) or skipped for an upgrade. The schedulers here do a good job accommodating peoples bids. The upside? Peoples lifestyles improve when they get the time off they want, or a commuter schedule. Pay isn't everything you know. It may not be that great around here, but other aspects are pretty good. But that doesn't matter, pay is the only thing right? Easy for people to focus on the bad about certain companies and nobody knows the good. What a shame.

Carry on.

Pay isn't everything no, but at the end of the day its a job and that should be at least #1-3 on your priority list. GGN is far from acceptable in this regard and that should weigh on the positives. Great, the schedulers get you days off, I'm sure FO's making less than 30k appreciate this to accommodate 2nd/3rd jobs.