Fanblade wrote: ↑Mon May 22, 2023 7:17 am
...How much is a lack of a commuting policy impacting your decision?...
That's a great question that many more people need to ask it. No matter how our politicians or executives try to spin this, the fact is (and will remain) that Toronto and Vancouver are out of (financial) reach even for those who make well over six figures. Major cities in our countries have become
unaffordable*** for the majority of Canadians.
People like myself and most of my airline colleagues can not simply afford to live there. Can we live there? YES, but we'd have no money for anything else and we'd have to live in shoebox apartments. That's just not possible, or worth it, for those of us with children. You can't raise two kids in a two bedroom condo. Add to that things like childcare, higher insurance rates and so on and you'll quickly realize that it's just impossible.
So what does that mean for the average pilot? It means that we have to live further and further away from our home base. Some commute by air, some by car, some by public transport, but this country's public transportation system is below that of a 2nd world commie country (I should know) and insanely expensive. One only needs to look at VIA Rail ticket prices and you'll notice that more often than not, it's more expensive to take a train than fly. A 3 hour trip by train should not be $100. That's mental. (And our politicians wonder why Canadians don't take public transport more often)
This leaves a lot of us, like myself, forced to drive back and forth to work. Most of the guys and gals I fly with have a commute that's longer than 1.5 hours by car, sometimes as far as 4. With that being said, commuters are forced to stay in their positions to be able to bid 3/4 day pairings. That results in us having to drive to work 4 - 5 times a month. If we did single days, we'd have to drive up to 16 to 18 days a month. You can quickly see how that is just impossible to do, both from a financial aspect and fatigue factor. I won't even mention the fact that we can't be on reserve... EVER.
So, we're stuck between a rock and hard place. Some have found "creative" ways like getting a crashpad, staying with family, side girlfriends
etc. That's not for everyone. I would personally rather quit flying than having to share a room with two other people. Yes, my choices have consequences and I accept them.
So what's this long rambling that I'm going on about? Airlines in Canada need to look not only at financial compensation, but also offering working conditions that reflect the fact that most of its pilots will have to commute at one point or another.
Just my two cents...
*** My definition of "affordable is this: Average family, with average income spending 33% of their take home pay on their mortgage & housing costs (property tax, etc.) and paying it off in 25 years.
