George Wallace said: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.
Colin P said: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.
SeaKingTacco said: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.
PanaEng said: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
curious22 said: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.
curious22 said: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.