Super 80 Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 7 hours ago, Marshall said: Force? Seems to me that $$$$ talks and it woud be expensive for WestJet to have their most senior Captains go through a DHC 8 course. I can not see why the pilots would object with getting the training. I don't think Maui Joe who just pocketed a bunch of Onex's borrowed money is going to be too interested in rolling the clock back thirty years and pounding YEG-YWG in a DHC-8 just for the sake of saying "You wanted one list, you got one list! Get off my plane!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 WestJet suspending 4K domestic flights per week as travel demand drops 22 April 2020Canadian Aviation News News from CTV News – link to story and updates Dave Dormer, Digital Producer ~ Published Wednesday, April 22, 2020 WestJet is cutting about 600 domestic flights per day, roughly 4,000 per week, in response to a drop in travel demand due to COVID-19. (File photo) CALGARY — WestJet is removing about 4,000 flights per week from its domestic schedule from May 5 to June 4 in response to a collapse in travel demand due to the COVID-19 pandemic. “While some city pairings have been temporarily removed, we continue to serve the 38 Canadian airports to which we currently operate, ensuring that those with essential travel requirements can get where they need to be and that cargo goods like blood, medical products and food supplies can continue to flow,” the company said in a statement. “The overall demand for travel remains fluid during this ongoing pandemic and we continue to evaluate further reductions.” All trans-border and overseas flights have already been suspended until June 4. The following city pairs have been temporarily removed from May 5 to June 4, 2020: Vancouver-Nanaimo Vancouver-Comox Vancouver-Regina Vancouver-Saskatoon Vancouver-Winnipeg Vancouver-Fort St. John Vancouver-Cranbrook Vancouver–Ottawa Vancouver-Montreal Kelowna-Victoria Calgary-Prince George Calgary-Ottawa Calgary-Montreal Calgary-London Calgary-Halifax Edmonton-Comox Edmonton-Victoria Edmonton-Kelowna Edmonton-Grande Prairie Edmonton-Yellowknife Edmonton-Saskatoon Edmonton-Regina Edmonton-Winnipeg Edmonton-Ottawa Edmonton-Halifax Winnipeg-Ottawa Winnipeg-Regina Winnipeg-Halifax Toronto-Victoria Toronto-Edmonton Toronto-Regina Toronto-Saskatoon Share this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 22, 2020 Share Posted April 22, 2020 You got to love the wording "the airline will increase its current inactive workforce by a further 3,000" I guess the term "Lay Off" was not considered to be acceptable. https://canadianaviationnews.wordpress.com/2020/04/22/westjet-update-22-april-announcement-on-a-further-3000-workforce-reduction/ WestJet Update: 22 April ~ Announcement on a further 3,000 Workforce Reduction 22 April 2020Canadian Aviation News From WestJet WESTJET ANNOUNCEMENT ON WORKFORCE REDUCTIONS WestJet today announced that in light of its further reduced operations, the airline will increase its current inactive workforce by a further 3,000 people come early May. Said Ed Sims, WestJet President and CEO, “The reality of this crisis continues to require WestJet to make mission-critical decisions to ensure the sustainability of our airline. With less than five per cent of our pre-COVID-19 guest loads, work is simply not currently available. These decisions, while difficult, are being thoughtfully and methodically made so that we can weather this crisis and be ready for a future where we can provide inactive WestJetters with fulfilling employment once again.” Continued Sims, “WestJet is very appreciative of the Government of Canada’s programs to assist us and other organizations in navigating this pandemic. Therefore, while work is not available and where it is of benefit to our WestJetters, we will utilize the Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) program to retain our people on our payroll and to ensure they remain connected to the company. We continue to work with our employee and labour groups on ways to maintain employment through the crisis.” Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, to mitigate the impact on its workforce, WestJet implemented immediate cost-cutting measures including releasing more than 80 per cent of outside contractors, instituting a hiring freeze, stopping all non-essential travel and training, suspending any internal role movements and salary adjustments, cutting executive, vice-president and director salaries, pausing more than 75 per cent of its capital projects and asking suppliers for a reduction or delay in payments. WestJet is actively engaged with all levels of government in a shared commitment to minimizing impacts of this crisis and continues to press upon government the depth of the impact. WESTJET DOMESTIC FLIGHT SCHEDULE FROM MAY 5 THROUGH JUNE 4 WestJet is making changes to its domestic flight schedule, removing approximately 4,000 weekly flights or 600 daily flights from May 5 through June 4, 2020. These changes are required to address significantly reduced guest demand during the COVID-19 crisis. Full story on the blog here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnny dangerous Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 I think what you are seeing is the differentiation between an active employee (at work, earning normal pay), and an inactive employee receiving the CEWS. The news reported quite reasonably on airlines re-hiring laid off employees a couple of weeks ago when it was really just bringing back employees onto the payroll system to receive the CEWS payroll top up (75%) but they stayed at home. But yes, these employees will be laid off. And then will receive the CEWS as inactive employees on the payroll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boestar Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 If it was Air Canada the headline would be... Air Canada Slashes Work Force by 6000 due to Global Pandemic Crises. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AIP Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 6 hours ago, boestar said: If it was Air Canada the headline would be... Air Canada Slashes Work Force by 6000 due to Global Pandemic Crises. And lead breaking news on the CBC . . . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maverick Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 6 hours ago, boestar said: If it was Air Canada the headline would be... Air Canada Slashes Work Force by 6000 due to Global Pandemic Crises. 14 minutes ago, AIP said: And lead breaking news on the CBC . . . . . . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spreadsheet Posted April 23, 2020 Share Posted April 23, 2020 On 4/21/2020 at 6:49 AM, j.k. said: Why should labour take the hit for that? Pilot salaries are such a small part of the overall cost picture, you could work for free and it would amount to the company saving 1¢ on every dollar in their budget. Much higher than 1¢, more like 7¢ - absolutely not an insignificant number. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.k. Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 3 hours ago, spreadsheet said: Much higher than 1¢, more like 7¢ - absolutely not an insignificant number. I might have been a bit of hyperbole, but you have gone now the other direction. 3+/- at AC, I think Westjet is less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spreadsheet Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 2 hours ago, j.k. said: I might have been a bit of hyperbole, but you have gone now the other direction. 3+/- at AC, I think WestJet is less. Nope, the number I've seen is north of 7%, and the first piece of backup I found online was pretty much the same. https://www.iata.org/contentassets/3b5a413027704ce08976fe1890fb43e2/acmg_highlights.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
j.k. Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Yeah. But we're in Canada and we're like the worst of the world for pilot pay. Plus the rest of the costs in Canada are higher than the rest of the world so it even inflates our pay% more. ie other staff and fees and taxes. As I said AC is 3%ish and WJ is likely less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boestar Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 Get out of your Bubble. LABOUR is more than just stick jockeys you know. Labour included Pilots, Flight Attendance, CSAs, Sales people, Ground Staff, Maintenance personel and the list goes on. It actually makes up well over 25% of overall expenses if not higher. Fuel and people are the largest costs to an airline. Thing is. When the fuel isn't being used....Neither are the people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MD2 Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 What (some) people don't seem to understand is that whatever portion labour costs represents, it is the only one that airlines can control. Such mistrust of management seems to linger on at WestJet among some which will be to their own detriment. Clearly this is not something specific to WestJet and airlines around the world have slashed their capacity and work hours along with it to respond to the falling demands. In this environment it would be reasonable to assume that WestJet pilots too agree to reduce their hours in order to keep more of their colleagues at work and also reduce the cost to their airline so it has a stronger position on the other side of the recovery. Airlines with more of their cash reserved and more of their workforce retained will be able to grow quickly during the recovery. WestJet has done well while it was growing and making money, this is a real test for them as how they manage this crisis when they clearly be losing millions of dollars every day. For instance Canada 3000 was great in managing itself during growth but didn't have much experience as how to operate in an environment of losing money in 2001. That trophy seems to belong to Canadian and Air Canada! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boestar Posted April 24, 2020 Share Posted April 24, 2020 No one has ANY experience dealing with what we are going through now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted April 30, 2020 Share Posted April 30, 2020 WestJet Update: 29 April – Domestic Schedule Changes to June 4 29 April 2020Canadian Aviation News From WestJet WESTJET MAKES FREQUENCY UPDATES TO ITS DOMESTIC FLIGHT SCHEDULE FROM MAY 5 THROUGH JUNE 4 WestJet is making additional changes to its domestic flight schedule, from May 5 through June 4, 2020. These changes are required to address significantly reduced guest demand during the COVID-19 crisis. The following are frequency reductions from May 5-June 4, 2020: Market Previous frequency Updated frequency Calgary-Lethbridge 6x weekly 3x weekly Calgary-Medicine Hat 6x weekly 3x weekly Calgary-Cranbrook 6x weekly 3x weekly Winnipeg-Saskatoon 3x weekly 2x weekly Winnipeg-Thunder Bay 3x weekly 2x weekly The following city pairs have been temporarily removed from May 5-June 4, 2020: Market Previous frequency Halifax-Montreal 1x weekly These changes are in addition to the network updates announced on Monday, April 22, when the airline announced removing approximately 4,000 weekly flights or 600 daily flights. While some city pairings have been temporarily removed, we continue to serve the 38 Canadian airports to which we currently operate, ensuring that those with essential travel requirements can get where they need to be and that cargo goods like blood, medical products and food supplies can continue to flow. The overall demand for travel remains fluid during this ongoing pandemic and we continue to evaluate further reductions. Bookings and full schedule details are available at westjet.com. All transborder and international routes remain suspended at this time through June 4, 2020. REPATRIATION FLIGHTS In collaboration with Government of Canada, WestJet has added flights to repatriate Canadians from Costa Rica to Toronto today and on May 2, along with a flight from Belize to Toronto on May 6. Seats are available for booking on westjet.com. Next scheduled repatriation flights: Today, April 29, 2020 from San José, Costa Rica (SJO) to Toronto May 2, 2020 from San José, Costa Rica (SJO) to Toronto May 6, 2020 from Belize (BZE) to Toronto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 WestJet saves 1,000 pilot jobs through ALPA agreements 30 April 2020Canadian Aviation News From WestJet CALGARY, April 30, 2020 /CNW/ – Today, WestJet announced it has reached an agreement with the Airline Pilot Association (ALPA), to save more than 1,000 pilot jobs at WestJet, WestJet Encore and Swoop amidst the COVID-19 crisis. The airline had previously confirmed that 1,700 pilots across WestJet, WestJet Encore and Swoop had received layoff notifications, effective either May 1 or June 1, 2020. “I’m pleased that ALPA and WestJet, through robust negotiations and collaboration have come together to minimize the impact of the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic on our pilot groups,” said Jeff Martin, WestJet Executive Vice-President, and Chief Operating Officer. “We thank ALPA for the joint effort in working with us to assist our airline in remaining flexible and competitive. Our pilots will be a critical element of our recovery and retaining these important roles leaves us better positioned to recover strongly and return WestJet to a global airline.” Said ALPA MEC Chair, representing WestJet and Swoop, Captain Dave Colquhoun, “The agreement we have reached is due to the dedication of the WestJet executive and the WestJet pilots, in a time where everyone is making sacrifices to protect our airline. ALPA’s elected leadership appreciates the time and effort that was involved in working together to minimize the impact to our members and we look forward to the time when all of our pilots, and many of the other WestJetters who are casualties of this crisis, are back to work at WestJet.” Said ALPA MEC Chair, representing WestJet Encore, Captain Ryan Leier, “On behalf of WestJet Encore pilots, I am pleased we were able to successfully reach an agreement. We recognize that these are uncharted skies as we deal with the effects of COVID-19 and this agreement will help our pilots and the airline get through this together.” The agreement allows the WestJet Group of Companies to retain pilots across the three groups, through the amendment of terms to the current agreements. WestJet continues to work collaboratively with its employee and labour groups as well as all levels of government to minimize the impact of the COVID-19 crisis to the airline and its employees. WestJet is utilizing the Government of Canada’s Canada Emergency Wage Subsidy (CEWS) to assist in navigating this pandemic while work is not available due to the downturn in demand for air travel. Where it is of benefit to the employee, WestJet will use CEWS to keep the inactive employee on the payroll to ensure they remain connected to the company. ALPA will communicate specific details to WestJet, WestJet Encore and Swoop Pilots and WestJet will not be providing further information. Share this: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 1, 2020 Share Posted May 1, 2020 I see the OW fare starts at 981.71 EconoFlexfare WestJet Rewards earn 1 free checked bag Flight changes or cancellations for a fee Free Standard seat selection how does that compare with the "Normal" ow fares? Does not seem to be over the moon. WestJet Update: 1 May – Repatriation Flights 1 May 2020Canadian Aviation News From WestJet REPATRIATION FLIGHTS This weekend in collaboration with Government of Canada, WestJet will operate its second flight to repatriate Canadians from Costa Rica to Toronto on May 2. Seats remain available for booking on westjet.com. Current repatriation schedule: May 2, 2020 from San José, Costa Rica (SJO) to Toronto WS3933, depart 2:00 p.m. local, arrived 9:29 p.m. local May 6, 2020 from Belize to Toronto WESTJET SAVES 1,000 PILOT JOBS THROUGH ALPA AGREEMENTS Yesterday, WestJet announced it reached an agreement with the Airline Pilot Association (ALPA), to save more than 1,000 pilot jobs at WestJet, WestJet Encore and Swoop amidst the COVID-19 crisis. The airline had previously confirmed that 1,700 pilots across WestJet, WestJet Encore and Swoop had received layoff notifications, effective either May 1 or June 1, 2020. Read more here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Coronavirus: Passenger on Toronto-Moncton WestJet flight tests positive BY AYA AL-HAKIM GLOBAL NEWS Posted May 4, 2020 4:11 pm A pilot taxis a Westjet Boeing 737-700 plane to a gate after arriving at Vancouver International Airport in Richmond, B.C., on February 3, 2014. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Darryl Dyck The Greater Moncton Roméo LeBlanc International Airport announced on Monday that a person who tested positive for COVID-19 passed through the airport on April 27. The airport said in a statement that the individual was a passenger on Westjet 3456 from Toronto, which arrived in Moncton at 1:52 p.m. [ Sign up for our Health IQ newsletter for the latest coronavirus updates ] READ MORE: ‘We have flattened the curve’: N.B. reports no new cases of coronavirus for 16th consecutive day As a result, Public Health now is asking anyone on the flight to immediately self-isolate for 14 days and call 811 if you develop symptoms.These symptoms include a runny nose, headache, a new or worsening cough, fever and sore throat. As of Monday, the number of confirmed and recovered cases in New Brunswick remain at 118, as the province reported no new cases of the coronavirus for the 16th consecutive day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Foxtrot Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Isn't it funny that now Westjet and Poop are the same company, but when passengers were stranded, they had nothing to do with each other Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fido Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 20 hours ago, Tango Foxtrot said: Isn't it funny that now Westjet and Poop are the same company, but when passengers were stranded, they had nothing to do with each other Many years ago Air Canada and Air BC were the same. Even when Air BC had taken over a whole route like YEG_YVR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tango Foxtrot Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 Many years ago people did not get stranded. (Not as much anyway) Most aircraft flew half full. If Air Canada (including its connectors) canceled a flight, passengers were protected on C.P. air. And vise versa. The main concern was the passenger. And getting them where they needed to be. We flew all night if needed. Petty battles between companies came after customer service. As soon as a flight was canceled we helped each other out. Both ways. The behavior of Air Canada towards Air B.C. was infantile. A dark time in aviation history. Is it being repeated at Westjet and Poop ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 5, 2020 Share Posted May 5, 2020 1 hour ago, Tango Foxtrot said: Many years ago people did not get stranded. (Not as much anyway) Most aircraft flew half full. If Air Canada (including its connectors) canceled a flight, passengers were protected on C.P. air. And vise versa. The main concern was the passenger. And getting them where they needed to be. We flew all night if needed. Petty battles between companies came after customer service. As soon as a flight was canceled we helped each other out. Both ways. The behavior of Air Canada towards Air B.C. was infantile. A dark time in aviation history. Is it being repeated at Westjet and Poop ? and in the cargo world, at YVR sometimes we needed a 88x125 pallet net and sometimes AC needed to borrow one, despite being competitors we were "Airline" and helped each other out. Sometime we even met at the Bucket for a brew or at the occasional interline party. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
internet Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 In a former life the friendly kind folks at Canadian were always willing to help out. Always appreciated. I hope somehow they got it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kip Powick Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 18 minutes ago, internet said: In a former life the friendly kind folks at Canadian were always willing to help out. Always appreciated. I hope somehow they got it back. If you are referring to getting it back from AC I personally feel the acrimony during the AC/CP "merger" has pretty much become a distant, dark memory but we at CP, (pilots), got it back...in the back.....I lost 10 years seniority. In the merger but for me, it really matters not...I was punted through the goal posts 2 years later, as was the Truckasaurus Rex, and I have to admit...it was a great 15 years in the Industry... The age factor and time of the merger meant I never flew with one AC pilot, and all the ex WD and CP drivers were a pleasure to spend time with in the pointy end ...except one guy and everyone who flew the T-Rex knew who he was ....... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FA@AC Posted May 6, 2020 Share Posted May 6, 2020 16 minutes ago, Kip Powick said: If you are referring to getting it back from AC I personally feel the acrimony during the AC/CP "merger" has pretty much become a distant, dark memory but we at CP, (pilots), got it back...in the back.....I lost 10 years seniority. In the merger but for me, it really matters not... I'm really sorry to be blunt, but I'm not sure how having your job and perhaps your pension saved when AC purchased CAIL amounts to getting it in the back or a loss of anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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