Calgary International Airport II

Originally Posted by Cage

Heads up, Air Canada Rouge is hiring for a flight attendant base in Vancouver.

Why are they hiring so many FA's? Where are the existing 319 FA going since they're simply transferring planes from mainline into Rouge?

[Bigtime]

Originally Posted by Acey

Why are they hiring so many FA's? Where are the existing 319 FA going since they're simply transferring planes from mainline into Rouge?

Don't believe they are using existing AC FA's to get around higher costs, thus the new hires for Rouge. I believe it is only the pilots that are "true" AC employees.

Originally Posted by Bigtime

Don't believe they are using existing AC FA's to get around higher costs, thus the new hires for Rouge.

Yeah but where are the existing 320 attendant crews going as mainline will have less frames? Are there simply less trips for them as routes are demoted to Rouge?

[Cage]

Originally Posted by Acey

Yeah but where are the existing 320 attendant crews going as mainline will have less frames? Are there simply less trips for them as routes are demoted to Rouge?

The five brand new 77W result in over 200 new FAs.

Transitioning from 763 (at 187 seats) to 788 (at 251 seats) result in atleast 3 more FA positions per aircraft. Seven new 788 this year and 5-8 crews per aircraft and you are looking at 100 to 150 new FAs.

AC mainline has significant retirements at both the FA and pilot ranks for the next few years. Retirements for 2013 were handled by the removal of 15 E75s, the FA positions were transferred to Sky Regional.

Finally in a normal summer schedule, AC mainline hires 100-400 temporary FAs just to handle vacation and increase schedule requirements.

This year mainline FA hiring will be near zero. Likely this will be true for next two - three years.

Even if AC FAs were working the Rouge flights, there would still be a need to hire more FAs to handle the increased seat requirements (AC has not yet transitioned to 1:50 ratio and still operates 1:40) for the 319s and 763s. The 762 alone soak up 2-3 extra FAs compared to mainline.

Also the initial Rouge FAs will primarily be part time, especially in Western Canada YVR base.

Ah yes, the bigger picture. While the 319's are going, widebodies are coming in... so to answer my own question I guess the most senior 320 crews will be going up to 763/788/77W.

[casper]

Originally Posted by Acey

Ah yes, the bigger picture. While the 319's are going, widebodies are coming in... so to answer my own question I guess the most senior 320 crews will be going up to 763/788/77W.

I know the pilots are locked in to only being authorized to operate a specific model (or family) of aircraft at a time. I thought the cabin crew can work any type of aircraft in the fleet. Perhaps someone who actually works at the airline could say.

And for Robag, pretty good chance Mickey is in YQR tomorrow, as of this moment they have it pencilled in for YYC-LAS-YQR-LAS-YYC but a last minute sub is about as likely as it was last time, CUN, ZIH, and SAN being the alternatives.

*An inbound 738 from YYZ has already cancelled, and that plane would normally do PSP, so they might need Mickey for that or for PHX. Toss up at this point.

[Cage]

Originally Posted by casper

I know the pilots are locked in to only being authorized to operate a specific model (or family) of aircraft at a time. I thought the cabin crew can work any type of aircraft in the fleet. Perhaps someone who actually works at the airline could say.

Typical full time AC flight attendant maintains currency on the entire fleet. However some special situations do arise. Summer part time temporary FA will occasionally be trained for a specific type of flying, say international tpac. The temp would only be trained on all the widebody aircraft. In the temp situation, there needs to be a hole course dedicated to the restriction. Other reason to restrict fleet types is the FA is senior enough to bid a certain unique profile and/or has specific language talents. An example is a Senior FA at YVR base with Mandarin, Cantonese and Japanese might not desire or need to train on the E90.

A more likely scenario is the FA is not rained to hold certain position. Position would include economy class, business class, galley, economy in charge, business class in charge. Just about every FA has economy class, but business class has additional customer service training specifically on the service standard.

[Robag]

Originally Posted by Acey

And for Robag, pretty good chance Mickey is in YQR tomorrow, as of this moment they have it pencilled in for YYC-LAS-YQR-LAS-YYC but a last minute sub is about as likely as it was last time, CUN, ZIH, and SAN being the alternatives.

*An inbound 738 from YYZ has already cancelled, and that plane would normally do PSP, so they might need Mickey for that or for PHX. Toss up at this point.

Thanks, I'll keep my eye on it.

Originally Posted by Robag

Thanks, I'll keep my eye on it.

It will be Mickey. ETA at YQR is 4:22 assuming no delays in LAS.

[YYCguys]

Acey, how are you able to track movement of specific tail numbers?

flightradar24.com lets me confirm it as they use ADS-B data but I usually have it narrowed down ahead of time... I use the gate information from WS' site primarily, and the -800's are relatively easy to predict. For example, on a Wednesday, the plane doing flight 1460 will always route YYC-LAS-YQR-LAS-YYC so I just assume that to be true, and I just check her arrival gate from PHX last night against the probable -800 departures today. There are other routings that can just be assumed to be true as well, like YYC-CUN-YYC or YYZ-CUN-YYC, YYZ-YEG-CUN/PVR... Only tricky thing is last minute subs and/or the overnight moving of planes on or off the YYC swing gates but if I happen to have my radio tuned to apron I sometimes hear those too.

[cyeg66]

Not sure what the deal is but it would appear Westjet & Encore are grounded. For how long is anyone's guess. The last few flights that already had their airways/clearances were allowed to leave. As it stands, no more.

[Robag]

Originally Posted by Acey

It will be Mickey. ETA at YQR is 4:22 assuming no delays in LAS.

Awesome, thanks for this!

[mersar]

Originally Posted by cyeg66

Not sure what the deal is but it would appear Westjet & Encore are grounded. For how long is anyone's guess. The last few flights that already had their airways/clearances were allowed to leave. As it stands, no more.

Sounds like it was a computer issue. According to twitter its been fixed now.

[cyeg66]

Originally Posted by mersar

Sounds like it was a computer issue. According to twitter its been fixed now.

Thx. Must've been a quick fix. We had exactly 0 flight plans ex-YYC in our system less than 30 mins ago.

[MalcolmTucker]

Hmm. WestJet had a similar problem in Toronto not too long ago iirc. (the computer flight plan issue)

Originally Posted by cyeg66

Thx. Must've been a quick fix. We had exactly 0 flight plans ex-YYC in our system less than 30 mins ago.

Finally a decent day in YYC for you guys... low wind, CAVOK, and no snow! We're on the deck watching departures off 29.

(I guess 14 gusting 20 isn't low wind...)

[CalgaryLankan]

C-Series delivery delayed again by 9 months - now Q2 2015; looks like Bombardier following 2 big brother's.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on...try-to-second-half-2015/article16362574/

[Johnny Aussie]

YUL just posted their November stats.

YTD YYC 13,100,224
YTD YUL 12,982,276

As expected, YYC has become the 3rd busiest airport in Canada.

Now, whether it keeps that title in 2014 is anyone's guess. I bet it will though.