A VERY sad day in Canadian Aviation

[ZBBYLW]

How much do you want to bet these guys will earn pennies on the dollar for what we make? I can see it now - an Air Canada Express going off the end of the runway pilots who are unable to afford to buy themselves food due to the poor pay. Or perhaps fatigued. I hope the ACPA can quickly put it's feet on the ground and stand up against this.

Agency Rulings

Decision No. 245-A-2011
July 6, 2011

APPLICATION by Air Canada carrying on business as Air Canada Express, on behalf of itself and ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. carrying on business as Continental Express, ExpressJet Corporate Aviation and United Express, for an approval pursuant to section 60 of the Canada Transportation Act, S.C., 1996, c. 10, as amended, and section 8.2 of the Air Transportation Regulations, SOR/88-58, as amended.

File No. M4835-2-65

Air Canada carrying on business as Air Canada Express (Air Canada), on behalf of itself and ExpressJet Airlines, Inc. carrying on business as Continental Express, ExpressJet Corporate Aviation and United Express (ExpressJet), has applied to the Canadian Transportation Agency (Agency) for an approval to permit Air Canada to provide its scheduled international service between Canada and the United States of America by selling transportation in its own name on flights operated by ExpressJet, for an indefinite period.

As the application was filed less than 45 days before the first planned flight, as required by subsection 8.2(2) of the Air Transportation Regulations (ATR), an exemption from the application of this provision is necessary. The Agency finds that compliance with subsection 8.2(2) of the ATR is impractical in this case. Accordingly, the Agency, pursuant to paragraph 80(l)(c) of the Canada Transportation Act (CTA), exempts Air Canada from the application of subsection 8.2(2) of the ATR.

Air Canada is licensed to operate a scheduled international service in accordance with the Air Transport Agreement between the Government of Canada and the Government of the United States of America signed on March 12, 2007 (Agreement).

The Agency has considered the application and the material in support and is satisfied that it meets the remaining requirements of section 8.2 of the ATR.

Accordingly, the Agency, pursuant to paragraph 60(1)(b) of the CTA and section 8.2 of the ATR, approves the use by Air Canada of aircraft and flight crew provided by ExpressJet, and the provision by ExpressJet of such aircraft and flight crew to Air Canada, to permit Air Canada to provide its scheduled international service on licensed routes between Canada and the United States of America by selling transportation in its own name on flights operated by ExpressJet, for an indefinite period from the date of this Decision.

This approval is subject to the following conditions:



Air Canada shall continue to hold the valid licence authority.
Air Canada shall apply its published tariffs, in effect, to the carriage of its traffic. Nothing in any commercial agreement between the air carriers relating to limits of liability shall diminish the rights of passengers as stated in such tariffs.
The air service approved shall only be provided as long as a code-sharing agreement providing for such service remains in effect.
Air Canada and ExpressJet shall continue to comply with the insurance requirements set out in subsections 8.2(4), 8.2(5) and 8.2(6) of the ATR.
Air Canada shall continue to comply with the public disclosure requirements set out in section 8.5 of the ATR.
Air Canada and ExpressJet shall provide the Agency with a copy of any new agreement or amendments to their code-sharing agreement, including any new or amended annex, without delay.
This approval does not apply to the carriage of cargo.

[er340790]

Any bets as to their next application???

APPLICATION TO UTILISE CRJs ON TRANS-ATLANTIC SERVICES...

:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

[Flatface]

Is there a law that says the Air Canada Express Pilots cannot unionize?

Is there a law that says it cannot be the Air Canada Pilot's Association?

Doesn't the law say, if 50% + 1 of the pilots sign union cards, they effectively become unionized?

[altiplano]

Flatface-

I think you are misunderstanding the central issue to this. An American company paying a third of their Canadian counterparts is setting up to take flying away from Canadian pilots.

An American company that offers meager benefits, typically hires relative low experience pilots, who often pay for their own training, and then work to the bone for next to frack all - will be taking the jobs from pilots who worked and developed experience for years to get a fair paying job with good benefits.

Is it just business? I don't know... seems like a betrayal of Canadian pilots; Canadian workers; Canadian families - Air Canada affiliated or otherwise by Canada's "flag carrier"...

[Flatface]

No I did not understand that, thanks for the info.

My questions remain, if the workers are Canadian in Canada, they still enjoy their rights under the labour code and still have to follow the CARS regarding duty day?

[Panama Jack]

How much do you want to bet these guys will earn pennies on the dollar for what we make? I can see it now - an Air Canada Express going off the end of the runway pilots who are unable to afford to buy themselves food due to the poor pay. Or perhaps fatigued. I hope the ACPA can quickly put it's feet on the ground and stand up against this.


An American company that offers meager benefits, typically hires relative low experience pilots, who often pay for their own training, and then work to the bone for next to frack all - will be taking the jobs from pilots who worked and developed experience for years to get a fair paying job with good benefits.


ZBBYLW and altiplano, with all due respect and understanding the emotions and the consequences that this may have on employment opportunities for Canadian pilots, I remember hearing the same arguements made by Air Canada pilots over the decades regarding 1) the regional airlines which eventually became Jazz, 2) scope clauses, and again by both Air Canada and ACR pilots when it came to Tier 3 flying. It didn't convince many people outside of the industry then and I doubt that this hackneyed explanation will convince many non-pilots today.

Most passengers today are as likely to hop on Continental Express as they are Air Canada Express if the price is competitive. The "safety" arguement won't work anymore here. With Jazz having become an "outsider" of the Air Canada group of companies, Air Canada, as a shopper, has gone looking for best value (price for product) the same way as you and I do. They were able to pull this off and to be honest with you, I expect that as borders are erroded in the Air Transport industry (and they need to be to guarantee a more sustainable industry) that we will be seeing more of this in the future.

As pilots we may not be happy with this trend, but we better come to grips with the reality unless we want to find ourselves out cold, out of a job, at some point in the future. Just saying.

[20driver]

PJ had summed it up.

Bottom line is pilots are a cost item that operators will try to reduce, just like fuel, MX and everything else. The public shops prices ruthlessly, operators will do the same with costs. Canadian aviation is no longer an island that can isolate itself. Every working stiff in Canada is feeling it at some level, even lawyers are seeing work outsourced to India.

It is going to be very tough for an airline to survive in Canada unless it integrates itself with an American or an International carrier. I don't think a full service carrier doing short haul domestic and long haul international is a viable business anymore.

20driver