National pilot shortage poses challenge for small northern airline

It's been a challenge to attract and keep pilots who want to work in northern Ontario, according to the president and CEO of Perimeter Aviation, which owns Bearskin Airlines.

The small carrier has been caught up in a national pilot shortage, and has to compete with larger carriers like Air Canada and Westjet – not to mention major U.S. carriers – to attract pilots.

"COVID seems to have caused a lot of the older pilots to leave the industry and what that has done is brought up pilots a little bit earlier into the major airlines than we've typically seen in the past," said Perimeter Aviation president and CEO Joey Petrisor.

John Gradek, a lecturer and co-ordinator with the Aviation Management program at McGill University, said new pilots have traditionally started their careers with small regional airlines that service northern communities.

As they gain experience they eventually move on to larger airlines – and aircraft – where the pay is better.

But Gradek said the COVID-19 pandemic has led to thousands of pilots retiring early out of frustration with the challenges the air travel industry has faced.

"We're short today, somewhere around 5,000 pilots to fill the roles that we need to have filled in Canadian aviation," he said.

That pilot shortage has meant new flight school graduates can land jobs with larger carriers earlier in their careers, Gradek said.

They skip past smaller carriers like Perimeter Aviation, who can't offer to pay them as much.

Petrisor said he has enough pilots to service his company's flights, but it has taken some "creative thinking" and a big pay raise to get there."

He said his pilots negotiated a pay hike of more than 30 per cent in their latest collective agreement.

The airline also subsidizes some of the flight school costs for new pilots – which can be as high as $100,000 – and has an in-house flight simulator for training and development.

"We have a program that we run them through, Moncton Flight School, and we'll help them with the flight training," Petrisor said.

"But anything that we can get for some government subsidization is very welcome in an industry that's hurting right now."

New flight school grads in demand

Stéphane Therrien, the co-ordinator of the Aviation Flight Management program at Confederation College in Thunder Bay, Ont. said they have the only flight school in Ontario that is subsidized by the province.

"So our program is eligible for OSAP (Ontario Student Assistance Program) if the student qualifies," he said.

Therrien said there's never been a better time to become a pilot because the airlines all need workers, and are increasing their pay.

"We're giving them as many pilots as we can and they're taking them," he said.

"They're just not staying around[in northern Ontario] because the offers are better as they move towards the airlines and make their way back down to southern Ontario."