Myths and Fantasies
Let's get rid of the myth that Senior Pilots supported Age 60 retirement till their turn came.
Many pilots supported the Ross Stevenson fight; suggesting that CALPA should stick to its policy of opposing mandatory retirement. Ray Hall and others spoke out on this issue long before their retirement, trying to have ACPA use the change in ICAO recommendations as an opportunity for more early retirements as well as eliminating mandatory retirement in line with Canadian law. Many others supported the change quietly, after speaking up attracted censure from short term thinkers.
Senior pilots supported junior pilots in numerous ways over the years. Senior pilots took short hours (at AC) at times to avoid layoffs of junior pilots.
Senior pilots got accomodations and allowances for those on initial training at AC, something those senior pilots did not have when they were hired.
Senior pilots supported the introduction of the Bank Plan at AC. Prior to that, certain blockholders would go on makeup well over a hundred hours, and reserve pilots would get very little flying. Senior pilots also supported the change to higher minimum guarantee for reserves.
There are numerous other examples of Senior Pilots supporting juniors.
Air Canada management has been working to destroy ACPA for years. The new agreement with ACPA to restrict Kelly and Vilven to the Embraer will aggravate the legal battle, as ACPA continues to pour money into a pointless fight, and further divides the membership. There are a lot of current pilots supporting the Fly Past 60 Coalition; those pilots are mostly keeping quiet in public.
AC has made ACPA jointly liable for damages. When ACPA has to impose a special assessment to pay those damages, the membership may finally realise they have been sold a bill of goods.
Air Canada has nothing to gain financially by perpetuating this fight. The financial benefit of even a few pilots staying past 60 is huge. Unless AC management is stupid, they have another reason for stirring the pot.
There are a lot of AC pilots quietly promoting the idea of ALPA instead of ACPA for the next contract. There is dissension within the MEC on several issues, including this one.
After CALPA went down at AC, Flight Ops management appointed former CALPA officers to management positions; watch for a replay when ACPA goes down.