Morningstar Air Express
A Morningstar Air Express ATR 72 on the ramp at Calgary International Airport. Photo: F/O Zayn Malek (Morningstar Air Express)
At A Glance
Pilots joined ALPA: 2020
Number of pilots/flightcrew members: 144
Bases: Vancouver, B.C.; Calgary, Alb.; Winnipeg, Man.; and Toronto, Ont.
Hubs/key markets: Toronto Pearson International Airport
Headquarters: Edmonton, Alb.
Operations: Morningstar maintains a long-term aircraft, crew, maintenance, and insurance contract with FedEx Express, serving destinations between Halifax, N.S., and Vancouver, B.C. The carrier also continues to offer other aviation-industry services in conjunction with its associates, Aurora Jet Partners and Signature Flight Support.
Fleet: 9 B-757-200s, 9 Cessna C208B Caravans, and 4 ATR 72s
Last year was a productive one for the pilots of Morningstar Air Express, as their Master Executive Council (MEC) leaders took major steps toward building their volunteer structure, while charting a path forward with the creation of the pilot group’s first strategic plan.
After an aggressive recruitment drive for volunteers, the pilot group responded and several pilots stepped up to volunteer their time, energy, and expertise on various committees, including Grievance, Central Air Safety, and Pilot Peer Support.
When building their strategic plan, pilot leaders created a mission statement for the MEC, which declares they’ll work hard “Advocating with a unified voice for our pilots’ safety, quality of life, and career success at Morningstar.” As part of the strategic plan, the MEC outlined a working timeline with both short- and long-term goals aimed at establishing a more robust committee structure, increasing pilot group education through communication, and building pilot unity in advance of the next round of collective bargaining, slated to begin next year.
In addition, the MEC continues to encourage management to explore necessary interim enhancements that will benefit both parties. Besides improvements to the compensation structure, the MEC and management have been in active discussions about scheduling rules and are working on implementing a preferential bidding system.
The pilot group is hopeful that necessary and meaningful improvements can be achieved in the interim but is focused on upcoming negotiations. Unlike the last bargaining cycle, which was partly conducted under Unifor, the pilots are optimistic that their improved relationship with management will set the tone for more collaborative negotiations.
