Generally speaking, the people on the Canada Forum, seem to be quite pessimistic about the Canadian Airline Industry, what could be the reason for that?
The Canadian Aviation story runs a little like this… only a lot more complicated and I just don’t have it in me to go into detail. Besides, I am certain there will always be someone who sees it differently than me.
The world of Airline flying in Canada is a VERY small part of the aviation scene in Canada. There are many more pilots than jobs in Canada so for the last 20 years; the companies have had it pretty good. They have been able to lower wages and working conditions, pick and choose who they would hire, often based on some very questionable qualifiers. The most common reason for being hired being you were related to someone who was a pilot or best drinking buddies with a chief pilot. So, you had to be very persistent and you had to endure some very disreputable people and companies if you wanted to make it to the airlines… many of which had year’s long hiring freezes. Once you made it to the airlines, work conditions were better, but had still undergone a general gutting of wages and working conditions.
There are a myriad of political landmines in Air Canada that I won’t go into, but I am certain that as retirements continue, these issues will take care of themselves. WestJet, being a younger company does not have the same issues as Air Canada… they have different issues. WestJet’s issues are basically centered on growing pains and will also resolve themselves in the long term. Both AC and WJ will continue to hire to offset retirements, and in WJ’s case to handle the growth that the airline is planning.
If you are wondering where the negative attitude comes from, it is from a demoralized workforce that has undergone a long period of tough working conditions and no movement. Things turned the corner here a few years back, and the airlines started hiring, people began moving on and the charter companies have had to adjust their wages and working conditions in an upward direction. That said, the airlines have yet to move on their wages, so you can expect some labour unrest in the short term in the market as people begin to ask for what was taken from them over the “dark” years. I am optimistic that things will all work out in the end.
So, here’s the short answer’s to your questions:
Is is because entry level jobs are difficult to get?
- Yes.
Also what are the expansion plans for WJ and AC?
- AC, none that I am aware of. WJ, about 40 new airplanes that I have heard of… I am sure there will be more.
Is any major hiring likely at WJ and AC, in 2009/2010?
- I guess it depends on what you consider major. In a country of 33,000,000 I would say yes. Both airlines are going to continue to hire at around 10 a month on average.
Now, I don’t have any hard numbers to back up my guesses for growth and hiring… just rumours. As we all know, until you are sitting in it doing 80 kts down the runway, it doesn’t exist, so take the rumours for what you will. I am sure there are others here that may have more accurate numbers than me. I hope that fills in some of the blanks for you.
MH