Westjet pilot bases - YUL?

[LTD]

Is westjet planning to have pilots based out of Montreal in the near future or do they already?

If not, does anyone know if commuting out of YUL is a viable option for pilots?

Thanks for any info you guys can give me, I like westjet a lot but know very little about working there.

Also is 5000TT still a good indicator of candidates getting hired?

[Flap_Operator]

Is westjet planning to have pilots based out of Montreal in the near future or do they already?

If not, does anyone know if commuting out of YUL is a viable option for pilots?

Thanks for any info you guys can give me, I like westjet a lot but know very little about working there.

Also is 5000TT still a good indicator of candidates getting hired?

Maybe a cyul base with the Q400 ... Perhaps quebec city... But for now, no official WJ base in cyul... Commuting could be possible though, I knew of one senior captain over at WJ that lived in Halifax.

[Flap_Operator]

And for the 5000TT i dont know cant really help you there, I guess it all depends on what type of experience you have. Just like any other airline they probably have people on their waiting list ranging anywhere from 1500 hours to 10,000. Probably have guys in there with 737 experience around the 4,000 hour range and some 7,500 hours guys with half instructing half king air operation. Maybe even a few AC applicants ouch just teasing haha

IMO Westjet is currently the #1 airline in Canada, especially when it comes to morale, and secure future within the company, if we compare to AC and AT. Again its all a question of taste and opinion.

Also if you are one of the unfortunate pilots from AT that have recently been layed off, you will definately be expected to bring a letter proving that you have quit AT.

My two cents

[LTD]

[/quote]Maybe a cyul base with the Q400 ... Perhaps quebec city... But for now, no official WJ base in cyul... Commuting could be possible though, I knew of one senior captain over at WJ that lived in Halifax.[/quote]

Thx flap_operator.
Halifax.. That's a hard core commute.
I was also asking cause I heard that their was some kind of "port base" out of Toronto!? Was hoping something similar was maybe in the works for Montreal. Guess not.
Still keeping my fingers crossed for eventual WJ job out of YUL. would be a perfect job for me...
Not willing to make the move to Calgary just yet. Sticking to initial plan of AC for now as they offer Montreal base.

[Flap_Operator]

Yeah AC does have the cyul base, but you might be expected to start in another base, usually cyyz... Which is really easy to commute.

I geuss the WJRegional bases should be announced fairly soon i'd think by end of 2012 beginning of 2013. I would not be surprised to see the Q400 in Toronto, Montreal, Quebec, Halifax maybe even Bagotville.

For montreal you also have AC's LCC that will be there and Skyregional with the Embraers. Unfortunately salaries will be nowhere near what AC WJ & AT were offering but if staying in cyul is your #1 priorety than it might be a very good gig.

And if you are willing to pay for your type rating go for Canjet ( lmfao im kidding by the way i really dont encourage that)

Cheers... Best of luck with WJ in cyul, i know of a lot of guys who would be syked about that

[Bede]

WJ only has ports, only YYC is the base. You are responsible to get yourself to YYC unless you have flying out of your port. YUL is only an FA port so far. I assume that once there are sufficient pilots (5 capt+5 FO's) there may be port opened up in YUL one day.

I don't think YUL is that big a deal of a commute. There are several non stop flights to YYC and many more through YYZ. I commute from YQT and find the commute reasonable. I think YYZ is the most difficult commute. The loads are always packed and there are a ton of other crews trying to commute as well.

I doubt that YUL will ever be a WJR base. Port maybe, and destination definitely.

[LTD]

That answered my question completely thanks guys!

Only thing missing is more hours in my case I think... 3200 with no 705 is unfortunately not gonna cut it for WJ interview I think:(

[Flap_Operator]

That answered my question completely thanks guys!

Only thing missing is more hours in my case I think... 3200 with no 705 is unfortunately not gonna cut it for WJ interview I think:(

meh, it all depends on what kind of hours you have. Then all you have to do is sell yourself at the interview .... its all in the attitude. I dont see why 3200 hours wouldnt get you that interview. Unless its all C-172 time doing circuits around the airport.

I geuss the only way to find out is by giving it a shot, now that you know its not that bad commuting out of CYUL... might want to PM Bede (he knows how it is on the inside) and ask him how their bidding works and how many days you can expect to spend in CYYC for an FO 737. How does seniority affect bidding?

Best of luck buddy

[pelmet]

Also if you are one of the unfortunate pilots from AT that have recently been layed off, you will definately be expected to bring a letter proving that you have quit AT.

Does WJ actually make you quit another company if on layoff.

[Bede]

Bidding works in a non-seniority system. The way I usually explain it is that you can get whatever you want, you just can't get everything you want. You can get overnights where you want, or any day off you want, you just can't have both.

You can bid days off, check in/out times, overnights, routes, days off between pairings. These are called attributes. You can't bid high credit flying. When you bid, you assign different points to different attributes. If you want a guaranteed day off you put that day as number one on your bid assigning 1000 point to it. Let's say you want YUL overnights, you put that at number 2- it assigns 800 points. Once the bids are in the computer processes the bids and applies a simplex algorithm (see wikipedia) to maximize the points for each pilot. I have found that my lifestyle as a bottom WJ pilot was about the same as a top 1/3 seniority at Jazz.

One thing worth mentioning is there is no minimum credit per day. So you may go to work for 1 hour of pay. This is actually a good thing. You end up with either a good credit day or a good layover. You still end up with 15 days off per month. I do wish we could bid for higher credit flying though.

One of the advantages to commuting is that you may end up at home more than a YYC based pilot. There are lots of YUL overnights available and I would bet that there are few people that bid it. So even though you have to commute to YYC, you may overnight 2 nights of a 4 day pairing at home.

[DaveP]

Also if you are one of the unfortunate pilots from AT that have recently been layed off, you will definately be expected to bring a letter proving that you have quit AT.

Does WJ actually make you quit another company if on layoff.

No.

Also, the WJR head office will be known this week (hopefully)
More meetings on comp and ben in the next weeks. The pilot posting should be up the end of November. Base(s) will be known by then too. First two planes show up In June and I believe we want to have the job offers out to the first 20 to 25 pilots by March 1st.

I wouldn't hold your breath about a Montreal PORT or Base for WJR.

Class averages are still running in the 4500 hr average I would say...
The last class in October has been filled bringing the 2012 hiring to an end. Interviewing will continue to build another pool for courses slated to start in January (16 pilots)

Cheers!
Dave.

[biatch]

Avoiding a base anywhere in Quebec would be a smart move. The population is quick to organize and form unions and then there's the whole language fiasco. @ QK you should hear the stories of pilots refusing English training/PPC's etc...it gets old fast. It is not a province open for business, especially since the last election. They have a segment of the population that just doesn't get it.

[Jer]

About 68% of voters didn't want the PQ to be there and I am one of them... but they ended up there anyways just because the way the system is made. By living in Quebec, that doesn't mean I love unions, I promote French and support the PQ. You will find the latest generation of pilots are more open minded since they are very limited in their career if they only speak French... Can't even fly to YGR since they have to talk to Moncton Center.

I wouldn't worry about opening a base in YUL or YQB if its in their plans.

[full_throttle]

Avoiding a base anywhere in Quebec would be a smart move. The population is quick to organize and form unions and then there's the whole language fiasco. @ QK you should hear the stories of pilots refusing English training/PPC's etc...it gets old fast. It is not a province open for business, especially since the last election. They have a segment of the population that just doesn't get it.

This reflect a deep misundersanding of what Quebec is really and that is what I've read in editorials of english speaking newspaper during the last election and don't reflect the reality, Also, I've been flying 12 years locally and internationaly and never met a french pilot refusing english training. I bet this comment is from someone who never spent much time in Quebec.

[biatch]

Born and raised in la belle province. Fait: les quebecois sont generalement une grosse gang de paresseux qui veulent que tout soit donner a eux. Une province de BS. And yes, there are many occasions where french pilots refuse training/ppc in English.

[full_throttle]

Born and raised in la belle province. Fait: les quebecois sont generalement une grosse gang de paresseux qui veulent que tout soit donner a eux. Une province de BS.

hahaha, so you are quebecois meaning you are lazy and live on welfare it's good you left la belle province we don't have to pay taxes for your laziness

[KAG]

That answered my question completely thanks guys!

Only thing missing is more hours in my case I think... 3200 with no 705 is unfortunately not gonna cut it for WJ interview I think:(

For the 737 you are correct, but we will be hiring for the regional.
If I were you aside from applying to The 737 operation I would be really gunning for
The regional. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

[LTD]

That answered my question completely thanks guys!

Only thing missing is more hours in my case I think... 3200 with no 705 is unfortunately not gonna cut it for WJ interview I think:(

For the 737 you are correct, but we will be hiring for the regional.
If I were you aside from applying to The 737 operation I would be really gunning for
The regional. Just my 2 cents. Good luck.

One thing I really don't understand these days is how I hear about more and more 2500 hour guys getting interviews at AC, yet it would be impossible to get an interview at Westjet with that amount of hours.

How can Westjet have that many more candidates to only interview those with 4000 or 5000++ hours compared to AC that seems to be lowering their minimum requirements down to only 2000ish???

Different hiring philosophy or lack of applications at AC?

Do experienced pilots not want to go to AC anymore?

[Bede]

I know a few guys at semi-lifestyle jobs (earning ~100k) who would be willing to jump to WJ, but aren't interested in AC and all the nonsense that goes with it. They enjoy their jobs and if WJ call, great, and if not, so be it.

[Old fella]

I know a few guys at semi-lifestyle jobs (earning ~100k) who would be willing to jump to WJ, but aren't interested in AC and all the nonsense that goes with it. They enjoy their jobs and if WJ call, great, and if not, so be it.

If I wore a younger man's clothes, it would be Air Canada for me.Why........ cause would get the chance on big airplanes(B767/777/787 and the A330) and fly routes to Europe/Pacific/South America/Asia........

Although I never worked there(AC), I am sure they don't have the inside line on nonsense. That is to be found in all walks/occupations in life - I have a few family members in the health/education fields. That is just as interesting for nonsense as aviation is, believe me.

Perhaps WJ is "inoculated" against all associated nonsense, if they are, good on them. Hope the booster shots continue to work.........

[TheStig]

I know a few guys at semi-lifestyle jobs (earning ~100k) who would be willing to jump to WJ, but aren't interested in AC and all the nonsense that goes with it. They enjoy their jobs and if WJ call, great, and if not, so be it.

Nonsense? Only if you spend too much time on the forums and believe all the misinformation. Believe it or not, lots of AC pilots simply show up to work, fly their monthly block in a professional and friendly manner and then go home to their families. Not all that different from their colleagues at WestJet I'd suspect. It is easy to get tied up in the negativity on the forums, but I'd hate to see anyone missing out on a good career opportunity because of it.

[Grif]

Does WJ port out of YHM or have any layovers there?

[moe]

no, yes

[Bede]

Nonsense? Only if you spend too much time on the forums and believe all the misinformation.

Like the BTW legislation, outsourcing of your flying/low cost carrier (wide body pay < WJ 737 pay), evisceration of scope, elimination of pension for new hires, a negative shareholders equity, Fly Past 60, stock that has evaporated in the last 6 years, etc?

Believe it or not, lots of AC pilots simply show up to work, fly their monthly block in a professional and friendly manner and then go home to their families. Not all that different from their colleagues at WestJet I'd suspect. It is easy to get tied up in the negativity on the forums, but I'd hate to see anyone missing out on a good career opportunity because of it.

Good for them (I'm not being sarcastic). Sadly, I suspect that the negativity on the forums is somewhat reflective of the work environment. It was at Jazz anyways. If you love your job, all the power to you. Don't let anyone ruin that.

[anonymity]

Hey Bede, hope you don't mind this being thrown back at you when Encore wages are released, not to mention who started the downward trend some 15 years ago. You need to remember your roots before you start throwing stones...

(wide body pay < WJ 737 pay),

Thomas Cook 57's, it's not temporary if it's 4 years, time to shit or get off the pot don't you think...

outsourcing of your flying