Air 2000 have been bringing in wet leased Canadian a/c for years. They have been doing so because the law allows it and they also had an interest in the companies they leased the a/c from. They were also allowed to send their a/c to Canada for the quiet winter season although only for one of these years was the a/c allowed to go as a 'wet' lease with flight crew.
It never ceases to suprise me how many gullible types suddenly become all hgh and mighty as soon as they hear about wet leases. For those of you who may not be au fait with the links between Air 2000 and Canada 3000, they used to have identical livery as Air 2000s owners, First Choice, used to have large share in Signature Vacations, the Canadian company that was linked with Canada 3000.
Due to the cyclical nature of the IT industry here in the UK it has always been necessary to find extra work for the a/c during the quieter winter season. The companies have to strike a balance between having just enough a/c to cover the busy summer schedules and not to have a/c sitting idly during the winter. Air 2000 have always wet leased a/c during the summer period, mainly from Canada 3000 until a few years ago and then from Royal and also from an Egyptian company that First Choice own. They also wet lease a/c from bmi althought he record with their A321's have been a bit disappointing with many delays due to the poor level of dispatch reliability this year.
Watch out for people like the Guvnor who suddenly have another opinion on another pilot matter such as unions. Although only a wannabe airline executive, he absolutely loathes the idea of any pilots he dreams about employing belonging to BALPA which is why is so ready to advise everyone to join the IPA. A classic 'divide and rule' tactic used by management these days.
Any pilot with a reasonable level of intelligence knows that the IPA are not a union and have absolutely nowhere near the level of influence that BALPA has, both as an association of airline pilots and behind the scenes with the many organisations and lobbying to government. Unfortunately for BALPA, they do not blow their own trumpet in the right places because the tremendous amount of work that goes on behind the scenes is what is the real power of this union.
The IPA are not a union and do not have the influence but they certainly know how to make themselves known. What they are reknown for though is an excellent newsletter and advice for those seeking employment, but a union? Nowhere near that yet. I would be very worried as an IPA member if someone like the Guvnor, who is not even an airline pilot, was recommending the IPA.
Back to the topic though, whilst we all want to see less wet leasing of foreign a/c there is no way that for Air 2000 and many of the other UK IT operators it is used to avoid employing more pilots. It comes down to trying to balance the work available for the a/c on the register and the cyclical, seasonal nature of the industry. Air 2000 have been employing 40-50 pilots a year without any advertising and are also actively recruiting cadet pilots on a partial sponsorship scheme.
For the last few years and this coming winter too, Air 2000 will have at least one a/c if not more BASED in the US operating on behalf of a US holiday company WITH UK pilots so there is another little nugget that the Guvnor has not got quite right! They will also have three a/c kitted out in all first class operating round the world air cruises as well as a/c based in Argentina and possibly Canada with crews for the winter.
During the summer when the reqirement is for more a/c they will continue to wet lease foreign a/c if they can't get UK or European ones. The pilots are not too happy about this either but they realise that the company has to operate and make an overall profit and this seasonal transfer of a/c and crews one way or another is a fact of life in this industry.
As quoted above in an earlier post, the UK law has some giant loopholes in it and the Campaign Against Aviation have not the faintest idea how to deal with it except to bend to the demands of their real paymasters, the airlines themselves. At least Air 2000 have reciprocal agreements in place unlike some other airlines that only bring in wet leased a/c from the likes of Air Atlanta purely as a way of avoiding the investment in training enough of their own crews and using older, second rate a/c.