Part of the fleet of firefighting aircraft in the Canadian province of Ontario has been grounded by a pilot shortage brought on by low wages. JP Hornick, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, says the aerial firefighting force is short five pilots and that’s resulted in the grounding of three of the province’s 11 CL-415 water bombers. Hornick said the pilots left Ontario for jobs in other provinces where the money is better. “The level of skill that is required to undertake these missions to save northern Ontario, it is not something I think most people understand,” Hornick told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. “And they’re treated as if they’re just some fly-by-night pilot.”
Job postings for the CL-415 positions list the pay range as $1290 to $1567 CAD for a first officer and $1520 to $1850 a week for captains. In U.S. funds the upper limit for captains works out to about $1340 USD a week or about $6,000 USD a month. “We have a government that is touting the fact that they’re purchasing six new water bomber planes, but they can’t even actually address the staffing needs that they have on the existing planes,” Hornick said. “This isn’t somebody taking off of a regular tarmac, right? They’re flying planes into the worst possible conditions, active wildfires, dipping down into lakes, filling it with water.” The pilots are currently negotiating a new labor contract and have rejected the province’s latest offer. The province said it’s already offered the pilots a pay increase and to let an arbitrator decide how much they should make.
Maybe the union needs to step OUT OF THE WAY and open the opportunity up to other qualified pilots in the region and/or pilots from the USA?
Unions are the backbone of the middle class ,and stand as a bulwark against rampant capitalism. Let arbitration decide !
It doesn’t matter whether there is a union or not. If the pay sucks, pilots will go elsewhere for employment, simple as that. Same situation the regional airlines are complaining about in this country. $$$ If another employer is willing to pay for the skill required that just adds competition for others to match. That’s called capitalism in action. The alleged “qualified pilot shortage”will just make this situation worse.
In the current environment American pilots are simply a non starter. The public service union in Ontario is very likely the real problem - holding pilot wages back so they’re equivalent to “other” union “brothers”. The Ontario public service union is famous for their political voice - on issues well outside their purview!
Absolutely. Ontario has best wake up quickly or they won’t have the critical mass to operate at all. As you say, pilots will & should follow the money. It’s a precious & volatile skill. The next thing to happen will be an accident caused by inexperience - losing a valuable asset (NL lost one for 20yrs!) and possibly many lives (crew, fire fighters, civies).
I bet that there are lots of adventuresome pilots in Canada who want to build time and experience. Market and advertise it as “we pay for your training” which will be perfect since they will be training over mostly unpopulated area. Win-win. Hell, offer it for free with free room and board and pilots from everywhere in Canada will beat down your doors for the opportunity!
As said, get rid of the union and just promote this as FREE government provided flight hours and training. Thousands would apply.
Pony up, Canada. You want elite water bomber pilots flying into firestorms? Pay them like the professionals they are.
This is such a sad Canadian response and typical of government ministries where there is little understanding of the hazard and complexities involved in this work. Time to print some more Canadian pesos and rehire, train and expand the highly qualified pool of waterbomber pilots.
People… there is no Canadian or American or European response to anything. Its a response. Pilot underpaid, pilot go look for “Jerb”. Pilot find “Jerb”, pilot poof. Empty seat. Ground plane. Fire. No response. Why? No paaaahlot. Fire mean. People dead. Many people mad. Many more sad.
Fundamentals of Learning:
Learning takes place when there is a observable/ visible change in behavior based on knowledge or previous experience.
Politicians explain that to the relatives, who’s important person in life was killed in a uncontrolled wild/ forest-fire. Cause: Lack of aerial firefighting resources.
Problem is: Politicians are useless. What they say or think has absolutely 0 (Zip/ Nada/ No!) meaning.
Doesn’t pilot seniority rules limit their ability to ‘shop around’ for better pay? Won’t such restrictions limit the free market?
I’m not trying to be argumentative, but if a pilot is ‘locked in’ once employed then it seems the only time they really have an unfettered choice is when they first start looking for a job.
Do water-bomber outfits even have seniority rules?
In the US there is no such thing as locked in seniority between companies. If you get employed by another company it starts over again. With respect, why do you think so many American pilots want to fly for the major airlines? Because they pay the best in most cases! In the US there are plenty of highly qualified pilots that are not interested in flying for a living because pilot pay is not equal to the risk and responsibility involved. Problem for some segments of aviation is that the quantity of pilots willing to fly for nothing, because of the enjoyment of flying, is dropping, making it harder to find experienced pilots willing to fly for nothing.
You forgot lifestyle. Pay, risk, responsibility, lifestyle. Pick the order you like.
That’s my point - if leaving one company for another means you start at the bottom of the pay/seniority ladder, then it’s not really a “free market”.
In other industries people can quit one job and find another in the same industry that pays more and/or has other better benefits. This puts pressure on companies to provide better pay/benefits to attract and retain talent. But from what you say this is not true in the airline industry. If airlines had to truly compete for talent, would the pay/benefits be the same, better, or worse?
That seems to be my observation, too. Hence the old joke:
Q: What’s the difference between a CFI and a pizza?
A: A pizza can feed a family of four.
The mainline airlines have never had a problem finding pilots. Why? Because in most cases they have the best pay and benefits. Look how much the regionals are bellyaching about having to increase starting pay to attract candidates. Same with pt135 charter operators. Although hiring at the majors has cooled off for now, smaller operators are still looking for candidates. Very few companies in any industry will start out a new hire at the same rate that a 10 year employee may be paid. If a new hire pilot feels locked into the position that pilot just received, either that pilot signed a training agreement that he/she shouldn’t have or are just too lazy to go out and find the pilot position he/she would like. In aviation very few operators who fly 2 or more pilot airplanes are going to start a new pilot at the Captain level. In a union shop bringing off the street and putting someone new bypassing existing SIC’s to a Captain slot usually creates more problems than it is worth. In a lot of cases that is not fair to those who have worked their way up to qualify for that position. Aviation is just like any other profession. No one is going to just give you that top position, you have to work for it!