From the Flight Deck

well i got 70 hours on a C-152...who should i direct my application to :P

Doug do you know of any height restrictions for pilots? I'm 6'6, and every time I mention working towards becoming a pilot, they ask about me being too tall?

Thanks,
-Andrew

Andrew. We have taller guys than you at Air Canada. Some are 6' 8" plus.

Although it must be a bit of a work out getting into a C-152. :)

Well...70 hours is a start!

Keep it going.

Doug

Captain Doug,

Is the extra A320 flying coming strictly from increased aircraft utilization, or is there an actual increase in the number of fins?

Re: B777 decrease, I guess the rumour about AC receiving some extra fins at reduced rates as compensation for the continued B787 delays haven't really panned out. I figured there would be a pretty significant increase in Asia flying too, definitely seems to be a growing market.

You've been doing a lot of writing tonight, watch out for the 'evil eye'! We don't want to lose you like we lost Ian!

Brgds,
YYC Dispatcher

YYC Dispatcher. The "evil eye" is upstairs so I can sneak out a few more posts. :)

I believe the increase in the A320 is strictly utilization. We did announce today lots more flights will be heading south this winter.
Although, Air Canada did have a few A320s at Mexicana and I'm not sure where they will end up.

Yes, all summer there was a juicy rumour about B777s coming from Air India, or other places, but that's all it ended up being...a bag of wind.

As you know we have YYC-NRT-YYC flights which is a sign in the right direction. But it sure would be nice to see some more heavies come our way.

That way everyone moves up.

I think I hear the "evil eye" stirring.

Better go. Thanks for the comments..as always.

Doug

You should try to get on the 787. That would be awesome ! :D Danm that plane is going to be nice in the ice blue colors!

If there was a position open on any of the aircraft that you listed would to take them?

Daniel. I would look damn hot in the B787!!! :) :) :) lol

The only glitch is, everyone senior to me will want to fly it as well. Except the B777 guys, it would be a down bid for them.

I would take anything bigger as of now, even at bottom wrung. It's time for me to get off the bus. I'm approaching 10,000 hours of Airbus very fast.

But the 787 carrot keeps moving further away in time.

They say it could be worst. :)

Doug

Hehe, I told my dad, no retiring until I get to fly on the 787 !

re: "reduction on the B767 First Officers"

so if you're a 767 F/O and at the bottom of the list, what happens to you?

whywhyzed. In theory you would be "punted." But because of training in the entire system it may take awhile to be moved. So luckily if the next equipment
bid shows more growth the bottom guy will keep his/her position. The silver lining is the junior 767 F/O would be a relatively senior A320 F/O so their
life style improves. The drawback- a pay cut.

So you would rather take the 767 over the 777 or A330? Or is it that you're not just seniour enough to get on those big toys? =)

By the way, how is Canada on immigration? I'd love to fly for Air Canada at some point, they are my favorite airline right behind Emirates and BA.

Regards,
Edwin.

Oh, and a few more questions if you don't mind, Captain Doug.

The pilots that you will be hiring, what ammount of hours will they have?

Do they have to posses a TR or will you sponsor one for them?

Will you place them as cruise pilots and upgrade current cruise pilots to the A320 positions?

Will you be a part of the picking team? If you're gonna teach them?

And, if this isn't too much, would you mind sharing your seniority number? Or is that a well kept secret?

Thanks a lot.
Very kind regards,
Edwin

Well I have two hours right now. And as a bonus it's in two different aircraft!(C172 C152) lol. So I should be pretty well qualified if you want to just......slip my name to some big whigs......:P

Hmm... looks like I missed out on this round (by far), but that does bring some optimism for the future. Good to hear.

I just applied.

Now we wait. Aggrrrr

I've got 2800TT, Dash8, TwinOtter and JS32 time but less than 500 Multi PIC :(

I'll keep my fingers crossed!

Edwin. You pegged it. Not senior enough for the really big toys.

Air Canada's requirement is... "you must have legal rights to work in Canada."

Air Canada is behind U.A.E and B.A? Blasphemous! (kidding)

Doug

Good luck Dominic! Let us know how it goes.

Edwin.

Amount of hours? They would have a minimum of 2500 hours. But keep in mind we have not hired for quite some time
so there are pilots out there with thick resumes and tons of hours. Having said that, I have seen some low time time pilots (2500 hours)
get hired in the last batch. That's why qualified pilots or (nearly qualified) should have their resumes (curriculum vitae) on file.

A TR? I assume an ATPL? I don't think you need one, but if you go captain you do.

As far as positions, they are placed according to what is needed at the time. Some may be lucky to jump in the right seat of the A320 and fly with
Captain Doug. (kidding about the Captain Doug part).

No, I am not part of the hiring team. It was purely coincidental I was asked to teach the weather. In fact, the fellow that asked me, I taught him
meteorology at the University of Toronto and he thought I did a pretty good job.

Any candidate must apply on line. The HR (Human Resources) department now looks after things. Don't get me going on that. :)

Seniority number? Not a problem...it's 1276 out of about 2900 pilots. It would have been in the A330 range if I didn't lose 601 numbers
during the merger, but I'm not going there. As they say, "it's water under the bridge."

You certainly are inquisitive. :)

Captain Doug

Lavi, you pegged it...optimism. It's what this industry needs.

What it does...is pull pilots from companies from all over Canada and the military.
These openings in the bottom feeders allow you guys to get in and build time.

It's like the NHL is looking for hockey players. Everyone wins.

Doug

Scote1992. That resume has great diversity! lol

I wish I had pull, but everything is done by HR now. You put your resume on the website and hope for the best.

They say it's fairer. Hmmmm

Captain Doug

Dominic. Lavi and everyone else have our fingers crossed for you. I wish I could help out, but my hands are tied.

In the mean time, happy flying!

Captain Doug

I sure am!

With TR I meant Type Rating, sorry about that :P.

And you gotta love those Emirates stewardess =), didn't you almost moved to UAE for a job with Emirates?
You probably would have flown those "big toys" by now then :P

Regards, Edwin.

P.S Good luck Dominic, hope you get it.

^ Another reason to love Emirates, you get rich, real fast. With them there is no such thing as low wages, all there pilots get paid top notch. A few that I know live on the Palm tree. What a dream :) !

GL Dominic !

Thanks Guys ! You're a great bunch :)

I hear that they want to get as many as 250 new hires online by Christmas, so if not now, maybe I'll catch the next wave :P

Optimistic rumor maybe, but eh, no smoke without a fire !

Cheers !

Dom

Best of luck, Dominic. :) :)

YA good luck Dominic!

Thanks Doug, that clears things up :D

Can you list what the order of equipment is, Embraer on the bottom, 777 on the top? But whats in the middle? As well how do the F/O, Captain positions fit in there?

Thanks,
-Andrew

I don't get it......if some get hired directly into the right seat of the 320, doesn't that penalize the guys who are currently F/O on the 175 who are waiting to move up to the 320???

Also, as pilots retire, does your seniority number reduce month by month?

Edwin. I agree Emirates does okay in the flight attendant department.

But you should have seen the one I had in the jumpseat tonight while landing in New York.
Young and six feet tall.

Of course it was strictly business for Captain Doug. :)

Doug

Daniel. Funny, I was talking to a pilot tonight who spent four years flying for Air Arabia. He said the money was good but not huge.

There are many who absolutely love it over there and many who detest it.

I hear there are many who have left or are leaving.

In fact, I was talking to an Air Canada guy who flew for Emirates. His wife hated it and she met him one day with her bags packed. He talked her out of it. They decided to leave Emirates anyway. She left him back in Canada. Go figure.

Doug in New York

Hey Dominic, that's a great rumour. I like it! That would push me into the B767. :)

Doug

Hi Doug!

I'm assuming there's going to be a lot of people applying (good luck to you all!) so how does one separate themselves from the pack?

Heather

Whywhyzed. One would think so, as far as penalization. But the glitch is everyone goes into a position group pay for the first two years or possibly up to five years (depending on position). Believe me, this position group is a bone of contention with all the new pilots. It was implemented to save money when AC was encountering moderate turbulence.

My seniority number does in theory reduce every month, but it is only updated once a year in January.
It's a "cheap thrill" watching your seniority number improve. The glitch is... one is getting older. :)

Good questions...as always.

Captain Doug

Hi Heather. If one has either military, university or an aviation college diploma then these are considered "brownie points."

Of course total time, jet time, turbine time, etc is looked at as well.

As well, there is an agreement with JAZZ to include some of their pilots. Although lately, many washed out during the selection stage.
I'm not 100 percent sure why so many did not make it.

Captain Doug

Andrew. I don't have the contract with me. For some reason I thought I posted the pecking order many months ago.

I'll have to do some digging. I was thinking I could do it in my head, but I'm not sure if a B767 relief pilot trumps a Embraer F/O, etc.

Good question.

Captain Doug in New York for the night.

Giulia. You should get your pilot license. There's some great clubs in YOW. :)

Andrew. I went to the equipment bid package and this is how the pecking order works.

B-777C
A340 C
B-767 C
A320 C
EMJ C
B-777 F
A340 F
B-767 F
A320 F
EMJ F
B-777 R
A340 R
B-767 R

Thanks Doug! That's some interesting information! Hope NY treats you well!

Heather

Hi, Captain Doug!

I have a question about Air Canada's fleet. I don't know if others have noticed, but sometimes Air Canada's planes look greenish in photos, and othertimes they look whitish. Does your airline paint its fleet two different colors? (I've been wondering that for a while, esp. since I bought a die-cast model Air Canada plane whose body is green)

Best regards,

Rishi

Captain Doug,

I take it by A340 on the equipment bid it is actually only the A330 but it just hasn't been updated to reflect that change, or can we start another nasty rumour of the return of the hairdryers into the fleet? How long until the B787 is expected to appear in the bid? How long is the equipment bid effective for?

Rishi,

As an amateur aviation photographer, light really effects the colour AC has chosen and how it turns out in digital photographs. In addition, some of the early jets were painted in a slightly different tint (including a metallic flake) that later turned out to be a problem during maintenance inspections. I believe the paint was also a lot more expensive then the current tint used. Please correct me if I'm incorrect Captain Doug!

Whatever happened to avoiding NYC at all costs?

Brgds,
YYC Dispatcher

Hi Heather. Unfortunately, I have a short layover. Otherwise I would have "let my hair down."
Physically I can't do that, but I have not had a LGA layover since pre 9/11. lol
Crew sked had us deadheading home early so it put the kibosh on partaking in New York. :(

Captain Dou

YYC Dispatcher. There are "no flies on you!"
We don't have A340s anymore, but as far as pay purposes the A330 was/is paid the same as the A340. The "hairdryers" are long gone. :)

As far as the B787, we are still being told the last half of 2013. So I suspect sometime late next year the equipment bid will reflect it.
I see a few airlines are dropping their orders so hopefully we may get ours a little earlier. Here's hoping!

We must have at least two equipment bids per year. But recently a "let" was granted where as many bids as required are allowed. So this equipment bid might be valid to the new year or valid until next week. Times are a changing!

Re: Bidding NYC at all costs. I will be posting a response to that question later today. In a nut shell, I flew 1.5 hours last night and I will be credited
for 8.5 hours. Sweet!

Thanks for answering Rishi's question. Yes, we went through a transition period with different shades.

Good questions.

Time to get ready and deadhead back to YYZ. Looks like weather is heading our way.

Captain Doug in New York, New York!

Decided to take the bait to NYC?

:P

Captain Doug,

Credit of 8.5 hrs for 1.5 hrs of flying with a night in NYC and a deadhead back sounds like a pretty darn good deal to me!

Just avoid flying the 'Hudson River SID' on the way out!

Brgds,
YYC Dispatcher

YYC Dispatcher. Now back home. I felt a little guilty so I went and got fitted for a new uniform. I figure I should do something extra for all this allotted time.

Hudson River Sid...ha ha.

I guess the official verdict came out yesterday on Capt. Sully and his excursion?

Doug

Daniel. Pay wise I could over look it. Actually, it made me realize I should bid some downtown layovers.

The city has "party" written all over it. :)

Doug

Credit of 8.5 hrs for 1.5 hrs of flying .....


so?


Were all dying to find out how this happens!

Captain Doug,

Looks like Jeppesen gave the crew a little gift, though it's called the 'Hudson Miracle Apch'

http://www.jeppesen.com/company/newsroom/articles.jsp?newsURL=news/newsroom/2010/Flight_1549_chart_binders_newsrelease.jsp

Brgds,
YYC Dispatcher

Whywhyzed. Patience is a virtue!!! lol I'm just working on my blog now. I knew you would have more questions on this. In fact, I was going to make a side remark just for you. :)

YYC Dispatcher. Thanks for the link! I already saw the approach chart. It looks disturbingly real. I may include it below Sully's book on my blog. :)

Doug

What was the final verdict for 1549? As for the pecking order thanks for working it out.

-Andrew