Just getting bits and pieces of info. Between this and the problems at AC, seems to be a perfect storm over there.

Jazz had a contract to fly B757 for Thomas Cook which is in financial troubles. Cook decided to close almost all their agencies in France and to terminate early their contract with Jazz.

So, what will happen to the current Jazz 757 pilots? Back to the CRJ or new Q400s? Or more likely with their new Boeing time applications out to Emirates and Qatar.... Stepping back into a CRJ after flying the 757 to the Caribbean for a year or two would not be easy. :eek::confused::}

Niether is going to India in the middle of the night, sleeping all day, getting 8 days off a month and living a repressed lifestyle.

Anyone who chases an airplane for its size should have their head examined.

^^^^^ BINGO! Give the man a cigar.^^^^^

I don't necessarily think it is chasing an airplane. It is chasing a lifestyle. I've been flying long haul on the whale since 2005 and I would never go back to domestic short hop flying. Generally (not always) bigger airplanes = longer flights = more time off. Yes it is hard work but so is having to fly 4-6 legs a day. Just a different perspective.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the 57 flying was only for the winter season and the guys had to fly the RJs the rest of the year anyways. I guess it was nice for the less senior RJ capts to get some more time on the 705 while the senior guys played on the 57.
As for them looking to the middle east/china, I somehow doubt it. It would have been only the most senior guys flying the boeing, as in been at Jazz in its various names/companies for 20+ years. I don't see them suddenly picking up everything and moving across the earth, if they'd wanted to do that they could have long ago without the boeing time.
I'm also wondering if it will mean layoffs at Jazz, and more importantly, what all the crap at AC is doing to them, and what they will do if AC folds or drops them.

Looks like WJ has picked up all the Thomas Cook work.

First, I meant no offense. Just a basic question - more lifestyle than aircraft size. Personally, I would not be happy if I were getting bumped off the Caribbean flying on the 757. I agree that there is a big difference between flying 2 long 757 sectors (i.e., Toronto - Los Cabos and back) and flying 6 Q400 sectors or 5 CRJ sectors in one day. Regional flying can be just as exhausting in my opinion (and quite boring if you fly the same routes every day) as longhaul flying. Six sectors in harsh winter conditions with all of the delays does not seem so appealing. :yuk: But that is just my opinion - yours might differ.

By the way, in my recent travels to the Middle East, I met many Canadians. I just met an Air Transat A310 pilot who was on his way to an interview with Emirates - so, my suggestion about flying in the Middle East is not too far off. Plus, with 757 time, at least the Jazz guys would get noticed by EK - although CRJ-900 time might get them an interview at Qatar but an interview with EK is almost a guarantee with decent 757 experience. Not sure if just Q400 time would get you an interview at QR - probably not likely at EK for those who might be interested in other options.

Double post....

No offense was taken!

There is a very ill conceived perception that the flying and lifestyle, taxes, schooling etc. etc. is better in the middle east versus "home". Almost everyone who has come to the middle east will tell you that it takes about 3 years to begin to see the problems that eventually present themselves most notably, that one will be made to feel as though their life passes them by.

You can do many things here but all come with endless amounts of bureaucracy, over complication and frustration so for instance, if sailing is your passion then yes, you can do it here but places to go are limited, you need permission to leave the dock, you need to pay a fee to get that permission, you need to pay over $ 9000 per year for a basic slip (if you are lucky enough to get one), no sailboats are allowed out if the winds are 20 knots or greater (unless you're a local)...etc etc etc...get the picture? Most everything you will do here has almost as much downside to the upside.

You realize over time that you are a third rate citizen and are treated like one by the hosts from time to time...expat women are treated with less regard and your kids become are not exempt from these same issues.

This place will eat at your soul in time and what is left gets sold to the devil as many feel they are stuck here...for now.

I have spent over 8 years here and look at other opportunities every morning with a coffee in one hand and the internet in the other. I would without hesitation go for a lesser paying job, smaller aircraft in return for a better lifestyle, change in seasons, living in a society of true mutual respect and a set of laws that treat everyone without the same. There are hundreds more such examples but you will find most people say the same unless they have no home to go back to.

There has been some advantages: You do get to see what happens on the other side of the globe and meet some interesting people along the way.

Perhaps my time has come, as happens to so many others. There is a shelf life here.

I couldn't agree more.
This is definately a job more suited to single guys than those with wives and/or kids.
As a single guy, its easy. Only yourself to make happy, which is quite easy given the amount of money, time off, and surplus of hot young single women in dubai.
As for a married guy (to a canadian wife?) with kids, you've got the deck stacked against you from the moment you arrive.
I've felt for a while that recruitment should offer the job to single guys ahead of married guys, because the married guys will face stresses and pressures that the single guys won't. The single guys will likely love it here.