Canada’s pilot shortage made worse by surge of ‘discount airlines’, aviation experts say – National | 24CA News

With their promise of cheaper fares and no pointless frills, a flurry of so-called “discount airlines” have burst onto the Canadian scene in the previous couple of years.

But specialists say the low-cost airline mannequin is exacerbating an already current pilot scarcity that would turn into an excellent greater drawback for this nation’s aviation trade within the years to come back.

Start-up low cost airways – resembling Edmonton-based Flair Airlines, Calgary-based Lynx, and WestJet subsidiary Swoop – have been quickly increasing throughout Canada for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic, playing that there’s sufficient pent-up demand from budget-conscious travellers to help extra capability.

While every operates barely in another way, the fundamental premise of a low-cost airline is that travellers obtain stripped-down service in trade for low fundamental fares. Things like carry-on and checked luggage, snacks and drinks, and cancellation safety are all thought-about extras and have to be paid for individually.

The jury continues to be out on which, if any, of those upstart airways will survive in a crowded area. However, specialists say the fast proliferation of recent flights and routes is placing strain on the aviation labour market _ together with for pilots.

“If I have a new airline that starts up with 10 airplanes, I theoretically need about 200 pilots,” stated Mike Doiron, president of Moncton, N.B.-based Doiron Aviation Consulting.

“And getting new pilots trained doesn’t happen overnight, even though the demand for pilots has skyrocketed.”

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A pilot scarcity has been brewing in Canada for years, based mostly on a wide range of elements together with an growing older workforce, pandemic-related layoffs and early retirements, and spiraling coaching prices. (Becoming a industrial pilot can now value upwards of $100,000, discouraging some younger individuals from getting into the occupation, specialists say).

Last week, trip airline Sunwing blamed its spate of vacation season flight disruptions and cancellations partly on a pilot scarcity, telling the federal transport committee that the federal government’s choice to disclaim the airline’s latest utility to rent 63 momentary overseas staff (TFW) for pilot roles impacted its means to ship service.

Tim Perry – president of the Canadian division of the Air Line Pilots Association, the union that represents pilots at numerous Canadian airways, together with WestJet and Transat (however not Sunwing) – stated that argument is “absurd.” He stated he doesn’t imagine any Canadian airline that compensates its pilots appropriately ought to want to rent TFWs.

However, Perry stated there are actual labour challenges within the aviation trade. He stated flight colleges, northern and regional airways particularly are struggling to recruit licensed pilots, partly as a result of new carriers are hiring pilots who in any other case would have gone to work at a few of these smaller operators. And as a result of low cost carriers don’t pay in addition to Air Canada or WestJet, lower-cost airways additionally battle with retention.

“They are introducing a ton of capacity onto the market, at low cost, and it’s added to the draw on pilots,” Perry stated.

“But those entry level jobs (at discount carriers) historically have not been career destinations. So those airlines end up with a higher training burden per unit of productive flying.”

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None of the airways contacted by The Canadian Press had been keen to talk about the present state of the pilot labour market, nor was the National Airlines Council of Canada trade group.

But a 2018 report by the Canadian Council for Aviation and Aerospace stated {that a} third of flight operators on this nation at the moment cited pilots as their largest expertise scarcity. The report stated the necessity for skilled pilots is starting to outpace the obtainable nationwide provide, and projected the trade will want an extra 7,300 pilots by 2025.

“There’s only maybe 15,000 to 20,000 pilots in the entire system right now, so that’s a pretty significant number,” Doiron stated.

He added that some small airways are already decreasing their hiring requirements _ lowering the quantity of flying hours they might usually require a pilot to have, or contemplating candidates who don’t have college levels _ with a purpose to be aggressive within the labour market.

While pilots will at all times have to fulfill the minimal coaching necessities set by Transport Canada, Doiron stated, a worsening pilot scarcity in future will imply much less expertise within the cockpit. In addition, he stated, it might result in a long-term improve within the variety of flight disruptions and cancellations travellers expertise as airways battle with scheduling and labour.

“The shortage of qualified, experienced personnel is really going to put the whole industry upside down for the next little while,” Doiron stated.

“I’m glad I’m not running an airline right now, because it’s going to be a tough five to 10 years, I would suggest.”

Among the startup airways which have added capability for the reason that COVID-19 pandemic are Flair Airlines, which has expanded aggressively to serve greater than 30 locations in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico; Lynx, which says will probably be providing 5,292 seats per week to and from the United States from its Toronto and Calgary hubs as of February; and Canada Jetlines, which launched in September with twice weekly flights between Toronto and Calgary.

Toronto-based Porter Airlines can be launching new routes, and says it has as much as 100 new plane on order which is able to give it the power to function throughout Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and the Caribbean.