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2014 Season - Need For Foreign Pilots?


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There's a huge difference between a guy/girl with 5-10,000 hours flying overseas and a 1-500 hour pilot. I'd imagine that the great majority of Canadians working overseas aren't low-timers, and I don't think many folks would complain about foreign pilots with higher time working in Canada if there's a legitimate shortage.

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i found this interesting. I was in Mexico City just before Christmas, delivering some training. I was flying on a Mexican licence validation, good for 6 months. I was told that to get a Mexicanpilots licence, the candidate has to be born in Mexico, it is part of thier constitution! Other pilots flying there, like me, can do so under a licence validation, specific to type and task, which is good for 6 months, and the individual can only get 2 licence validations per lifetime. Interesting!

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Hybrid, they were probably C or N registered.

 

No doubt they were Flingwinger. But to imply that you have to be a national down there to fly is misleading. Were all those Canadian pilots all on specific 6 month work permits? If so, how many times were they renewed?

 

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Two thumbs up for your last posts Shakey. Why should operators be rewarded for being crappy employers by letting them hire foreign workers when no Canadian wants to work for them? I would be very happy to see a few go under! It's a work around, keeps wages lower too and does not benefit Canada in the long run.

 

I get the whole hours thing too but if you just cut off the supply and made them work with what we have it would work too. Sure it would be nice if everyone could come to their first job with 5000 hours and drill move experience but that's not reality. So we are back to hiring guys from down under with their so called 900 or 1200 hours of cattle mustering but maybe they have 200 or 300 but as long as the company can tell an customer that the pilot has the required hours it's all good.

 

I evaluated a pilot a while back who did their license and built 2000 or so hours by instructing in the States and he was afraid to land a 206 in a "confined" i could have put a 61 in. Hours you accumulated watching someone else fly or that you just made up don't count for much in my book but for some they seem to have a lot of value.

 

W.

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Here we go again, and with good reasons.

 

1. Most Canada. Pilots working overseas " the vast majority are high time multi engine pilots flying in offshore capacity" this is not the same as a 500- 1000 hr pilot working VFR. A comparative argument in this case is flawed.

 

2. There are Canadian companies that hire pilots based on qualifications and only look at the bottom line. More over the difficulty with hiring low time pilots is insurance based. And extremely expensive not only from an liability standpoint but market sector limiting. None the less it's the industry that has allowed this trend to cumulatively develop over the last 20 years by not re investing in national development of pilots. It is financially driven .Today there is a shortage of Canadians with the skills to get the job done when it gets really busy.

 

3. There are some great companies in Canada - Yellowhead, Alpine ( nat? ) with high rates of retention to name only a few who give back to the training of young Canadian pilots but may on occasion hire foreign pilots. But these are far and few between.

 

4. There a more than a few Canadian VFR companies that have by virtue of poor leadership and management engaged in less than fair hiring practices and by virtue of these actions have alienated them selves from the regular roster or capable Canadian pilots. They have less chance of attracting the talent they require and look abroad. Had transport Canada put in place proper guidelines to qualify into the management level including management training requirements in some cases this could have been avoided.

 

5.There are a few companies out there that go out of their way to hire foreign nationals, these decisions are based on operational needs where pilots are required to hold both AUS and Canadian licensing and or working permissions or again they fall into paragraph 4.

 

6. Unfortunately it is the industry over the last 20 years that has created the shortage of opportunities so that the low time pilots can come up and develop the skills and experience required. HAC has been clear that its supports the bandaid approach to the hiring for foreign pilots into the VFR market to cover shortages. What probably needs to happen is government sponsored work programs that make it attractive for companies to hire Canadian low timers . Only when it becomes financially viable will the trend reverse its self. If you are waiting for HAC to move on this direction don't hold your breath as this would require leadership with some form of foresight and long term thinking.

 

That all being said I sincerly hope that things improve, And to those young pilots seeking that first chance remember that persistence always wins.

 

P5

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