Pilot vacancies, high travel demand contribute to Sunwing flight cancellations

One of the problems behind the Sunwing flight cancellations Saskatchewan is seeing comes from an overwhelming demand for travel coupled with a need for more pilots to take people to their destinations.

Barret Armenn is a pilot and president of Unifor 7378, which represents Sunwing pilots. He’s also a vice-chairman for the Univor Aviation Council.

While he doesn’t know exactly why Sunwing is cancelling so many of its flights — or why Saskatchewan seems to be seeing it so much — he can say the issue isn’t taking too much of a toll on pilots.

That’s because when a flight or several flights are cancelled, those pilots are just redistributed to other flights that are available.

There’s been an “enormous” surge in travelling south by Canadians this winter, he said. Such significant demand requires significant infrastructure and for airlines to be operating at peak capacity.

However, many airlines are still recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic.

Armenn said the massive number of layoffs seen in the transport sector, and in aviation specifically, set the industry up for a slow return with rehiring as well as replacing pilots who chose to retire during the pandemic.

“We’re seeing a huge influx of people wanting to travel south and the recovery is still ongoing,” Armenn explained.

While staffing is likely just one of several factors, Armenn said it’s a major one.

He said there is a good pool of pilots to draw from in Canada too, but more qualified pilots are needed. The vacancies in the industry, though, allow for pilots to have choice in how and when they work, as well as who for.

“The pilots are going to who pays the most (and) who has the most competitive benefits and remuneration,” Armenn said.

After previous concerns over Sunwing considering hiring foreign workers who might not have the same level of training that pilots in North America receive, Armenn said the airline has now put its best foot forward and has a positive relationship with its pilots.

Around Christmas, Armenn said Sunwing expressed its appreciation to its pilots, who saw the airline trying to recruit more and retain those it already had.

Air Canada and WestJet are also recruiting, though. It has left airlines trying to recruit from smaller carriers and leaves labour leaders in a powerful position to increase wages and make remuneration more competitive.