Hi,

Just wanted some opinions. I recently received F/O offers from both Air Canada and UPS. I live in YYZ so Air Canada would be great but the pay at UPS is rumoured to be the best out there, not to mention they still have a pension. I'm 36, any advice?

 

Well your username doesn't say AirCanadaguy; so is it a real question?

 

You have a CJO from UPS and you haven't already weighed out the pros and cons? For real? I'd say go Air Canuck for sure, eh.

 

1. Commute (UPS) = easy, Hamilton as backup.

2. Pay = UPS is big $$ and you’ll be well
served by the exchange rate.

3. Taxes - you’ll be a CDN resident so you pay Uncle Sam first then the CRA will deduct that from your total owed CDN tax liability.

4. Benefits: defined benefit, defined contribution (12%), unmatched 401K. Top of the line health bennies in US.

5. Cons - night flying (see night flying thread on UPS section). Company is difficult, unpleasant. Threat of amazon / recession. Brown uniform (pants).

6. Pros: excellent vacation policy. Strong union. Lots of variety of flying - there is a niche for you. Retirement are just about to start increasing so seniority progression should be good.

I don’t know enough about AC to compare. But...AC means no commute, no problems dealing with cross border commuting, cross border investments, retirement funds, banking, and tax issues, etc. Might just be worth it for being easier. We do have a handful of guys that commute from Canada though. Also, check out living in Europe thread on ups site. Has some relevant info.

 

Nice having the cross border option.

 

Air Canada is the best job in Canada, but that's not saying much.

There is no doubt UPS pays a lot more than Air Canada.

In the 2012 government forced contract we lost so much and have since fallen even farther behind...

I'm a top third 737 Captain on the old pension plan and I'd go to any US Legacy carrier tomorrow if I could... I've never really looked closely at UPS/FX but I understand pay is tops there too...

Anyway, the things we do to live in Canada... it's still a pretty good job at AC, upgrades are around 2 years right now on all the narrowbody fleets. Lots going on with the contract re-opener next year, the Air Transat purchase, and the A220s starting to come later this year.

If you have any specific questions on AC, shoot the puck... but unless you're really adverse to a commute or night flying or something in the UPS contract/lifestyle it seems an easy choice...

Good luck.

 

For the commute, I looked into it a bit for you: at chez UPS we have our own flights to/from YYZ (and Hamilton) as well as reciprocal jumpseats with aircanada and all the US carriers that fly to Canada. In addition, we get zed fares on delta, American, Lufthansa, SWA, and others. Taking a UPS flight would be ideal for ease and seat availability - you will be the only one 98% of the time and can reserve it 13 days out. Downside is that it’s M-F nights only (9pm departure to SDF, 5am going back to Pearson). If you have to ride the pax carriers it’s a 2 legger through DTW, ORD, NYC (EWR) or PHL. I found a couple of affordable 1 way tickets and once you build up some miles you can use those here and there if you need. Overall not a bad commute. Not great but definitely doable and somewhat easy with a little seniority built up.