Frustrated Air Canada pilot slams air traffic controller shortage

px_eliezer_

An Air Canada pilot vented his frustrations over air traffic controller shortages on a recent flight, telling passengers to write their MPs to address ongoing delays at the country’s airports.

The pilot on a Vancouver-Montreal flight on Saturday vented over the intercom, with a CBC reporter capturing a portion of his message announcing a 50-minute delay.

In the message, he says that the air traffic controller sector — which is operated by private company Nav Canada — was understaffed, and sick calls had meant there was a holdup at the airport that day.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/air-canada-pilot-air-traffic-controller-shortage-1.7544484

Strange that Canada (with a private company) and the USA (with government employees) are BOTH in trouble,,,,

Hydraglass

px_eliezer_ Strange that Canada (with a private company) and the USA (with government employees) are BOTH in trouble,,,,

Not really - there are exceptionally few places in the world that train flight controllers, and the “western world pool of people” to fill the jobs and the persons interested in doing those jobs often pull from the same pool (many of them are ex air force / military who were trained that way). The overall working conditions between Canada and US aren’t very different - they are dealing with the same traffic, pilots, congestion issues, etc - so when you have similar working conditions, similar pool of applicants, similar aging out of the existing “fleet” of ATC’s, you’re going to end up with similar results. I would be surprised if pay scales were significantly different between here and there as well - the job market between the two countries seems to be somewhat inextricably linked as far as compensation - looking at pay scales here and there on places like Glassdoor you’ll find little difference when comparing similar markets (Toronto vs. New York City, Vancouver vs. Seattle, Windsor vs. Chicago, Ottawa vs. Boston are the common comparisons we use here).

KingB71

Having taken the air traffic controller test 30 or so years ago am not surprised that few people are interested in this job

Thane_Bitter

px_eliezer_ I have no proof but with pot being legalized in Canada and many US states yet its use not allowed for that job, people would rather to be able to get high than voluntary develop high blood pressure and an ulcer?

https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/general-operating-flight-rules/better-pilot-decision-making/cannabis-legalization
Pilots and ATC can only fly 28 days after using cannabis.

MichelR

KingB71 Having taken the air traffic controller test 30 or so years ago am not surprised that few people are interested in this job

Apparently a very high-stress job. Not everyone wants to sign up for that stuff.

Donoreo

I knew an ATC, it was high stress. He said during his time there were many occasions where another person would just yell out HELP because it was so busy.

egeezer

Shortages don’t surprise me either. While pay and benefits may be a factor, the stress, volume of work, long hours, few or no breaks, and aging and failing of their supporting infrastructure are larger factors.

bjlockie

px_eliezer_ Canada (with a private company)

It’s a non–profit company.

bjlockie

egeezer While pay and benefits may be a factor, the stress, volume of work, long hours, few or no breaks

This is what is wrong with many types of jobs.
We don’t pay what they are worth IMO.

Donoreo

bjlockie We don’t pay what they are worth IMO.

ATC used to be a very well paying job, that may not have kept up.

Somewhat-Reticent

Paying well can’t replace sustainable job conditions.

Hydraglass

Somewhat-Reticent There was a 1999 movie about being an ATC - “Pushing Tin” - a bit of a humourous look but it also does an ok job from a fictional dramatization perspective of showing what the lifestyle and job responsibilities can look like. Frankly, you literally could NOT pay me enough to do that job - a million dollars a year would NOT get me in that seat… nor would $10 million/year. Not gonna do it.

px_eliezer_

Hydraglass

Really, they should be paid a lot more than neurosurgeons, cardiac surgeons, obstetricians, etc.

A surgeon is responsible for one life at a time, an air traffic controller is responsible for hundreds.

And often (not always, but often) in much more chaotic conditions.