The backlash against foreign pilots explained to foreign pilots

[Gilles Hudicourt]

Note : This post is NOT about foreign pilots who immigrate to Canada.

It's probably in the winter of 98-99 that Canadian and European airlines began reciprocal agreements to swap aircraft and pilots.

The peak season for narrow body airliners is the summer in Europe, but in the winter in Canada. It thus made perfect sense for European pilots and aircraft to come to Canada in the winter to help fly those extra passengers, and for Canadians aircraft and pilots to go to Europe in the summer, to reciprocate.

Several Canadian and European airlines engaged in these reciprocal exchanges from 1998 to 2010, for a period of about 12 years, without raising the ire of any group, for in fact it was beneficial to all concerned, the airlines and the pilots, in Canada as in Europe.

Sharing aircraft and crews allowed airlines in Europe and Canada to maximize the use of the shared aircraft, and instead of having part time seasonal pilots, that would be laid off during the low season, it allowed pilots of participating airlines to increase year round full time employment for the pilots involved in reciprocal agreements. This was a win-win situation for all and no one complained.

Who is spoiling it now ?

In 2010, the European travel giant TUI purchased 49% of Canada's Sunwing Airlines. That winter, before the purchase, Sunwing's peak winter fleet had gone up to 12 aircraft. Sunwing's permanent Canadian fleet was around 5 aircraft, 4 of which would be sent to Europe in the summer.

The winter the TUI acquisition, in 2010-2011, Sunwing's fleet went up to 18 aircraft and about 78 European pilots came to Canada, while and Sunwing sent just just 3 aircraft to Europe the following summer (2011) for a total of about 45 pilots.

In the winter of 2011-2012, Sunwing's winter fleet went up to 23 aircraft and about 180 European pilots came to Canada to work for Sunwing. At the time, Sunwing employed only about 140 Canadian pilots. We had a situation where Sunwing had more European pilots than Canadians. Sunwing's own fleet that year was about 8 aircraft, the other 15 were short term leases from Europe. The next summer, Sunwing sent just 4 aircraft to Europe (about 60 pilots) plus another 12 pilots that went to fly European registered aircraft, the last year that Europe allowed that practice.

In the winter of 2012-2013, Sunwing's fleet went up to 29 aircraft, with close to 200 Foreign pilots, some flying Canadian registered aircraft, others imported with wet-leased aircraft. The next summer, Sunwing sent 7 aircraft to Europe, about 100 pilots. It was the record year for Canadian pilots in Europe.

During the 2013-2014 winter, Sunwing's was at 32 aircraft and it again had about 180 foreign pilots, 120 to fly Canadian Registered aircraft and 4 aircraft on wet-lease with about 60 pilots. The next summer, Sunwing sent 4 aircraft to Europe with about 60 pilots.

This winter, Sunwing's winter fleet went up to 37 aircraft, and it again imported about 195 foreign pilots, 120 to fly Canadian registered aircraft and 5 foreign wet-leases with about another 75 foreign pilots. I heard they may be again sending 4 aircraft to Europe this coming summer.

Such reciprocal agreements of swapping pilots are supposed to be beneficial for the pilot groups on both sides of the Atlantic. But from the moment there is abuse and the exchanges are no longer fair and equal, there will be a backlash and the sauce will be spoiled for all.

I have received messages from Thomson pilots sincerely thinking that the pilot exchanges were fair and balanced as far as they are concerned, because the pilot exchanges between Sunwing and Thomson, as seen in bubble, were balanced. But Sunwing is a TUI-owned company and in addition to sending the Thomson pilots, TUI also sends TUIfly, Jetairfly and Arkefly pilots to Canada in the winter. Sunwing also leases more European aircraft and more European pilots from a non-TUI airline, Czech-based Travel Service.

If this imbalance in pilot exchanges is maintained, the exchanges will disappear altogether and those who now benefit from it will bear the consequences. If they are balanced, they will continue, to everyone's benefit.

In the past 5 years, about 3 times as many European pilots have been coming to Canada each winter for Sunwing than Canadian pilots flying for European airlines in the summer.

Please understand that we do not need European pilots in Canada. Canada has a thriving aviation industry where young low time Canadian pilots can find jobs and gain experience while waiting for the airline job (for those who want to go there), on bush aircraft, crop-dusters, on water bombers, on light piston aircraft, on light turboprops, on medium turbo-props, on corporate jets, and also lighter jets such as CRJs. Here in Canada, pilots do not pay for their own Type Ratings, there is no Cadet program and airlines that operate transport category jets normally require 3000 to 4000 hours for a new first officer position and easily fill those slots with those requirements.

All transport jet first-officers in Canada are normally ATPL rated and have several thousand hours at the time of hire.
We never have CPL rated low timers in the right seat of Transport category jets in Canada, nor do we have pilots with self funded Type Ratings.
We do not have Cadet programs in Canada, we don't need to.
We do not have pay to fly schemes because pilots who are rated on 737s and 320s were first employed by the airlines that operate these aircraft and were provided the type rating and the line training free of charge to the pilots because the airline needs them.

The B737NG jobs that are presently taken by the Europeans, some of which are CPL low timers, are those same jobs that young Canadians who have paid their dues with several thousand hours of light piston aircraft, turboprop time, or light jet time, look forward to in order to make their careers progress to the airlines.

We do not NEED foreign pilots in Canada. The only reason we do it is for the reasons of reciprocity, to avoid lay offs and provide year round employment to those Canadian pilots engaged in reciprocity.

From the moment those reciprocity reasons no longer exist, we will pull the plug on this fake reciprocity business and you Europeans pilots who normally come to Canada in the winter will get to stay at home in the winter and twist your thumbs.

I hope that those European pilots who have common sense will realize that it is in their best interest to make sure that the relationship between the Sunwing group and the European partners with which Sunwing enters into "reciprocal" agreements with will not get greedy and keep it fair and balanced, in the best interests all concerned.

We once did a 2 week petition that we sent to the immigration minister to protest the foreign pilots and gathered 2500 signatures, and there are barely 10,000 of us.