Surge of discount airlines making Canada’s pilot shortage worse, experts say
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 few years.
But consultants say the low-cost airline mannequin is exacerbating an already present pilot scarcity that would change into an excellent greater drawback for this nation’s aviation business within the years to return.
Start-up low cost airways — corresponding to Edmonton-based Flair Airlines, Calgary-based Lynx, and WestJet subsidiary Swoop — have been quickly increasing throughout Canada because the COVID-19 pandemic, playing that there is sufficient pent-up demand from budget-conscious travellers to assist 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 alternate for low fundamental fares. Things like carry-on and checked baggage, snacks and drinks, and cancellation safety are all thought of extras and have to be paid for individually.
The jury remains to be out on which, if any, of those upstart airways will survive in a crowded area. However, consultants say the speedy 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,” mentioned 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.”
A pilot scarcity has been brewing in Canada for years, primarily based on a wide range of elements together with an ageing workforce, pandemic-related layoffs and early retirements, and spiraling coaching prices. (Becoming a industrial pilot can now price upwards of $100,000, discouraging some younger folks from coming into the occupation, consultants 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 resolution to disclaim the airline’s current software to rent 63 non permanent overseas staff (TFW) for pilot roles impacted its potential to ship service.
Tim Perry — president of the Canadian division of the Air Line Pilots Association, the union that represents pilots at quite a few Canadian airways, together with WestJet and Transat (however not Sunwing) — mentioned that argument is “absurd.” He mentioned he does not consider any Canadian airline that compensates its pilots appropriately ought to want to rent TFWs.
However, Perry mentioned there are actual labour challenges within the aviation business. He mentioned flight faculties, 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 do not 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 mentioned.
“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.”
None of the airways contacted by The Canadian Press had been prepared to talk about the present state of the pilot labour market, nor was the National Airlines Council of Canada business group.
But a 2018 report by the Canadian Council for Aviation and Aerospace mentioned {that a} third of flight operators on this nation at the moment cited pilots as their largest expertise scarcity. The report mentioned the necessity for skilled pilots is starting to outpace the accessible nationwide provide, and projected the business 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 mentioned.
He added that some small airways are already reducing their hiring requirements — lowering the quantity of flying hours they might usually require a pilot to have, or contemplating candidates who haven’t got college levels — so as to be aggressive within the labour market.
While pilots will all the time have to fulfill the minimal coaching necessities set by Transport Canada, Doiron mentioned, a worsening pilot scarcity in future will imply much less expertise within the cockpit. In addition, he mentioned, it may 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 mentioned.
“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 because the 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 also be launching new routes, and says it has as much as 100 new plane on order which can give it the power to function throughout Canada, the U.S., Mexico, and the Caribbean.
This report by The Canadian Press was first revealed Jan. 19, 2023
