Re: Westjet pay.
 

C150.
You're an amature. But don't give up.

Re: Westjet pay.
 

Ya Bruce you is right,
but one day I is gonna be a professional like you :}

Re: Westjet pay.
 

And Air Transat is hiring and will have 20 airplanes within 4 years. And AC will never go bancrupt. And you can make a real salary at Westjet. And there is going to be a pilot shortage this year. And Michel Leblanc is starting another airline.

Sorry. I must have been asleep for 4 years. Has anything new happened?

Re: Westjet pay.
 

Well that made me laugh.:D
Good one:ok:

Re: Westjet pay.
 

So whens the union coming to Westjet? Since it is a major and all. This thread has kinda gone off to somewhere else land. What I want to know is the 750.00$ /paycheck true or not? Is that first year or constant? Last time I checked AC left seat on widebody was over $200k salary. What is a left seat guy making at westjet?

Curious.

Re: Westjet pay.
 

If you max out you contribution and don't take into account the perdium and any over time I would say that is close to being accurate from what my friends who work there told me.

Re: Westjet pay.
 

I would say not anytime soon. We have a good rapour with Management, we have ongoing negotiations for our next Pilot contract which should culminate in an agreement in the next month.
We have just come off one of the worst years in our history with JetsGo bringing down yeilds and profits. However, there have been no layoff's, no down-grades, no one has been asked to take a pay cut. In that respect the system works. Everybody has kept their job and salary.
Check my post on the first page of this thread regarding salary... "If you'll get past the first year, a second year F/O at WestJet has a paycheque of $1923 and some odd cents every two weeks. $3864 a month before taxes. How you arrange your finances regarding taxes is up to the individual, I won't guess at take-home. We are all different, but that is the starting point."
I can't comment on the salary at Air Canada because I do not work there. I think you need to compare apples to apples however... What does a guy in the left seat of the Airbus narrow body make? Is that "over $200k salary on a widebody" for a senior position? An end of career top of scale?
WestJet has been around for 10 years. What does a 10 year Airbus narrowbody Captain at Air Canada make? A 10 year Captain at WestJet T-4's very well.

Re: Westjet pay.
 

With all due respect Slapshot giving a salary quote before taxes is very misleading. Don't get me wrong your info is appreciated but in my experience people really want to know what the direct deposit slip will say.;)

Re: Westjet pay.
 

I can understand and appreciate that, however, there are many variables...

I've a Wife and two kids. The wife doesn't work and the kids are great little deductions on their own. That will make the taxes deducted different than the single guy with no dependants. There again, where do you live? The same two people living in Quebec will have different tax implications than the two living in Alberta... We have new hires who commute from as far away as Deer Lake Nfld., and have had guys who commute from Hawaii...

In order to compare Apples to Apples I just posted the salary.

Cheers.

Re: Westjet pay.
 

I do understand what you mean 100%.
I guess when you look at the before taxes amount it looks like a not so bad salary.
My last job I was based in YYZ and lived in YHZ and come tax time I got hit even more.:uhoh: :eek:
cheers:ok:

Re: Westjet pay.
 

Yes I understand what you mean with the pay before tax. No one plans on the career at FO pay anyways I guess. I didnt even know you had an association at westjet or so negiotiating unit on behalf of the pilots. I will agree jetsgo hurt everyone with the rediculous 1$ fares. I am curious though. Do they still mention wait time till captain upgrade at the initial ground schools? If so what is it now time wise to goto left seat?

One last question about basing. Do you ever plan to discuss with management about the possibility to have different bases other than YYC? I mean if you are going internationally and planning to operate oversees one would think it would be advantagous to have an eastern base somewhere. But I could be wrong. Appreciate you input btw.

B737FO

Re: Westjet pay.
 

A ten year A320 capt at AC makes approx. $160,000(gross) + approx $10,000 (non taxable) in per diems. Bear in mind this salary has been reduced 20% due to CCAA and will be up for renegotiation in the near future. Although I personally don't think we will get back what we lost, it is widely expected that a good portion will be returned. Every pilot takes care of their own investments, ie RRSP etc. plus the pension is over $100k/yr at retirement. I agree, we can't compare the A340 skipper salary because WJ don't have such equipment. But it is part of the overall comparison when we are talking lifestyle, finance, job satisfaction, professional progression, personal satisfaction etc etc. Sorry boys but my daddy IS bigger than yours. It's not arrogance or kool-aid. It's reality.:ok:

Re: Westjet pay.
 

Keep in mind Bruce that although WJ pay is lower this is going to change. It will go up in the near future to come be comparable to AC 320 pilots. Market forces. The pension at AC is good but does it have a huge hole? Most think it will be gone for newbies soon enough. Also remember that by global stanards AC pays on the low side for major carriers. This is reality. You guys make a good living but there are better. I am not talking about the middle east either.
If I was working at AC I would be not looking down to WJ but up at carriers that are in the same market. Then maybe you will get paid what you should be.
My two cents....

Re: Westjet pay.
 

What's the churn rate like at WJ? (i.e. pilots leaving to greener pastures)

Re: Westjet pay.
 

CanAv8R.
Good to hear your pay is going up. I'm just wondering who I should compare AC to? I know there's better money to be made overseas and maybe even some majors in N. America. But moving out of my country kinda illiminates the advantage of the bigger salary. So why compare it? You see it all comes back to reality. If you whant to stay in Canada, fly big planes and enjoy a good carreer at the top pay, there ain't many choices. In fact there's only one. As far as our pension is concerned, the company is back on track filling in the hole and so far our group is not worried. I would say as long as people continue to fly and fuel prices can be controlled, there isn't a problem for either WJ or AC:ok:

Re: Westjet pay.
 

The current 10 year salary at WestJet is $115,000. If you participate in the employee share ownership plan, you can add another 20% to that. There is also the option grant. There is the Profit Sharing which has done very well in 8 of the last 9 years. Plus about $7,200 in non-taxable per diem.
The guy that has been here 10 years, has probably participated in the ESOP, and has the options granted over the last 10 years to do with as he pleases. Some have diversified and spread the risk, some have let it ride. All to one's own risk tolerance.
It is an innovative way of compensating the Pilot group. When times are tough, the company is protected by the salary structure. We have had no layoff's, wage roll-back's or down-grades due to "economic forces". When times are good, the profit share, the lift in share price make us some considerable coin.
It's not for everybody, but for those who can think outside the box, it can be very lucrative.
Cheers. :ok:
As for "churn rate" we have had some guys leave for greener pastures as you say. Of late I have not heard of too many. We have a ground-school going later this month and I believe one a month for the remainder of the year.

Re: Westjet pay.
 

The churn rate is a non factor. Apparantly approx 75 WJ resumes on file at AC but only one or two have been hired. I don't get the whole ownership thing but it appears that it all has to do with stock price and profits, both which seem to have come to a sort of resting place of late. Market forces are a big risk. Clive has counted on them knowing full well it would all work out as long as the plan comes together. If the recent turn of events are any indication of what the future holds, all the innovation won't do it anymore. Competition, high fuel prices and the need to expand will all drag those goodies down. The salary structure will hopefully make up for it. At AC as long as there is seniority and bigger airplanes to fly, the money comes part and parcel. Sorry, didn't mean to compare apples to oranges.:ok:

Re: Westjet pay.
 

There were two pilots that leaft for Air Canada in the summer :rolleyes: but the five hired from Air Canada (laid off) have turned down the offer to go back. So far the turn-over has been extremely low and everyone is waiting to see what happens with the new contract. You may see a few leaving after that but I think that the turn-over will continue to be negligible.

Re: Westjet pay.
 

Once ACPA has finished with eating their own over seniority between the CP and original AC pilots, things will get much better morale wise. It must still suck now