ETOPS?

[MaxAuto]

How does ETOPS work at WestJet? Are all pilots ETOPS trained or is it a bidding system for those who want to be trained and certified?

I was talking to a WestJet pilot several months ago walking through YYZ and he said he'd been trying to avoid it, but they finally got him. Is it seniority based?

[Blackdog0301]

It's mostly seniority based. If they don't have volunteers, then it works bottom-up on the list. But I believe the company wants all YYZ pilots to be ETOPS certified eventually... If they aren't already that is.

[Canadaflyer46]

WJ doesn’t have any extra pay for ETOPs/redeyes so a lot of pilots have no interest in it. The YVR base is all qualified due to the Hawaii flying. YYZ is mostly trained I believe due to the Europe flying. YYC seems to have enough volunteers that they don’t force anyone.

[Oleo 4]

WJ doesn’t have any extra pay for ETOPs/redeyes so a lot of pilots have no interest in it. The YVR base is all qualified due to the Hawaii flying. YYZ is mostly trained I believe due to the Europe flying. YYC seems to have enough volunteers that they don’t force anyone.

That's not correct, pay on that program has nothing to do with pilots entering the program - redeyes yes.

The program works by pilots interested volunteering to sign up on the Ipad forms for the ETOPS Ground Training Course. Until this is completed a flight check can not be completed. As of the last list published (now out of date) the following have requested training whom aren't already trained or have rolled out of the program due to absence, or not maintaining qualifications:

YVR CA: 2
YVR FO: 46

YYC CA: 37
YYC FO:102

YYZ CA: 1
YYZ FO: 14

YEG CA: 7
YEG FO: 33

YWG CA: 1
YWG FO: 17

With the flight and duty rules and number of time zones crossed, it is advantageous for certain bases to all have etops qualifications (YVR, YYZ, and YYC). The two newer bases don't have as much need but still require etops trained pilots. YEG has two Pacific crossings with the max direct. The challenge operationally is once the pilot is trained to keep them current with a scheduled trip or pilot initiated pick up every year. This is closely tracked behind the scenes with hard dates on both fleet types by the training coordinators. If a pilot rolls out of the program, they then have to submit their name to the list and wait until they get to the top of it pending base training requirements. Once ground training is complete they will do a flight with a ACP-B and get line trained/checked on PF/PM duties.

O