RCAF cites "Labour Shortage" In Hiring Foreign Pilots

[PanaEng]

the irony of a guy who immigrated to Canada complaining about the foreign worker program...
(Gilles Hudicourt, the pilot quoted in the CBC article)

http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/gilles-hudicourt/41/358/59a

 

[Colin Parkinson]

This is not a current "fix".  It is a recent case of "fill a column on a slow news day".

This practice has been going on for decades among all our allies.  We have accepted experienced pilots from foreign nations for decades, just as we have seen Canadian pilots migrate to foreign air forces.  We have always had the problem of skilled pilots accepting positions at civilian airlines. 

As for Reservists filling flying positions.  Again, old news.  Perhaps not as prevalent today as it was years ago, but I knew a Reservist in Fredericton, who flew ASW missions out of Greenwood as a Air Reserve pilot.  Perhaps he was a rare case, but it does show that there are possibilities.  However, the usual problems with Reservists still persist; availability.

Except that according to this article the RCAF claimed a shortage of qualified pilots as the reason behind the offer. Therefore it is being marketed as a fix. I am all for exchange programs as a way to improve training and coordination. But when it's to fix holes in our experience base,, then it's a sign of other problems.

 

[George Wallace]

Except that according to this article the RCAF claimed a shortage of qualified pilots as the reason behind the offer. Therefore it is being marketed as a fix. I am all for exchange programs as a way to improve training and coordination. But when it's to fix holes in our experience base,, then it's a sign of other problems.

All that has been covered in previous posts.

A shortage in qualified pilots, does not indicate a current shortage in recruiting new pilots, but a shortage to experienced pilots with the flying hours and appropriate combat/ASW/etc. experience to instruct or mentor new pilots.  The shortage at that level, as was previously posted, is due to lower recruitment in previous decades and the natural attrition of pilots leaving for greener pastures.

As has been posted previously, it is not a "fix" that is new, but a policy that has been going on for decades.  Again, not really news.

In many cases, the guys we are hiring (experience-wise) are replacing the ones who did not get recruited in the mid to late 90s and when the pilot production mill failed to meet targets in the early 2000s.

There is no Canadian source for a guy/gal with 15-20 years of military flight experience...except for the CF.

These guys are not displacing Canadians from getting recruited and hired at the front end of the mill as 2LTs.

 

[Loachman]

We are still seeing the effects of the Decade of Darkness FRP and recruiting freeze. This helps a little with that.

We have also introduced three new fleets in the past few years, so adding people with operational experience on those has major benefit.

We've picked up a small number of ex-RAF Chinook pilots, for example.

 

[DAA]

the irony of a guy who immigrated to Canada complaining about the foreign worker program...
(Gilles Hudicourt, the pilot quoted in the CBC article)

http://ca.linkedin.com/pub/gilles-hudicourt/41/358/59a

He is absolutely correct, where he is quoted as saying "He said the immigration rules are meant to permit organizations to hire abroad to fill a labour need “when there is no qualified Canadians to do the job,” Hudicourt said."

It's obvious he can fly aircraft based on his resume/experience but he doesn't meet the education eligibility requirements to be a Commissioned Officer in the CF because he doesn't have an "undergrad" degree.  Therefore, he "isn't qualified" to be an Officer.    :facepalm:

 

[dapaterson]

The RCAF does accept a limited number of CEOTP candidates as pilots each year.  So the lack of a degree is not necessarily a show-stopper.

(Of course, if we want to contineu with our embrace of all things from the past, we could return to having flying Sgts; essentailly, split the pilot occupation into Officers and NCMs; officers would have degrees and command and fly a bit; NCMs would have wings and fly a lot.)

 

[curious22]

Seems to be more CEOTP candidates coming on stream. If your desire is to be a pilot, you cant beat it. Come out of High School, attend basic training and get commissioned 2LT right away, start PFT and THEN go to Seneca as a commissoned officer. If I am wrong about this path, please correct me.

Seems kind of unfair to the RMC/Civvy U guys that attened schooling FIRST at lowly Officer Cadet pay then get commissioned 2LT after graduation.

CEOTP seems like quite the sweet deal as 2LT pay for a 19 year old is pretty good.

 

[dimsum]

Seems to be more CEOTP candidates coming on stream. If your desire is to be a pilot, you cant beat it. Come out of High School, attend basic training and get commissioned 2LT right away, start PFT and THEN go to Seneca as a commissoned officer. If I am wrong about this path, please correct me.

Seems kind of unfair to the RMC/Civvy U guys that attened schooling FIRST at lowly Officer Cadet pay then get commissioned 2LT after graduation.

CEOTP seems like quite the sweet deal as 2LT pay for a 19 year old is pretty good.

Except that in CEOTP, you need to somehow make time to do your degree when you're also doing other stuff such as flight training or being on squadron, while in ROTP you are literally being paid to go to school.  I'm not sure if the Seneca program covers all that is required for education.

 

[DAA]

CEOTP-AEAD Pilot is a "very" structured program which takes 4 years to complete (full details are on the DWAN at the 2 Cdn Air Div, Air Force Pilot Training Website)

BMOQ, Ph 1 Flt Trg, Seneca Semesters 1 and 2, Ph 2 and 3 Flt Trg, Seneca Semesters 3,4 and 5 graduating with a Bachelors in Aviation Technology Undergrad Degree, posted to an OTU.

And successful applicants into the program, are paid at "Pay Level B" on the GSO Scale.

 

[Ostrozac]

Yes, the CEOTP Seneca option is an absolutely great deal -- but it is fairly high risk. If you wash out of Pilot training in ROTP, you are still an ROTP OCdt, and there is the possibility to reclassify to another MOSID. If you wash out of Pilot training in CEOTP Seneca, well, quite frankly very few occupations are hiring CEOTP right now. You might just be hitting the street, with a partial education in a profession that you're no longer involved in.

 

[curious22]

Agree with the "high risk" statement. Wonder how it will turn out being that those CEOTP Seneca people are under a lot of pressure at a fairly young age (19 years or so). At least the ROTP people, for the most part have matured a little after 4 years of university and have learned under that education on how to handle pressure, time management etc. You dont have that same situation in high school.

Would love to know the statistics of how successful the CEOTP people are compared to ROTP or if there is little difference.

 

[dimsum]

Agree with the "high risk" statement. Wonder how it will turn out being that those CEOTP Seneca people are under a lot of pressure at a fairly young age (19 years or so). At least the ROTP people, for the most part have matured a little after 4 years of university and have learned under that education on how to handle pressure, time management etc. You dont have that same situation in high school.

Would love to know the statistics of how successful the CEOTP people are compared to ROTP or if there is little difference.

Compared to DEO, I would agree.  Compared to ROTP, I don't think there's that much of an age difference as the first phase of training (for whatever occupation) is after second or third year (so, ages 20-21).