Heli-Tour Ripoff?

[Darksidelogger]

safety pused to max

 

I can not believe a professional has a porblem with speeling pissed the flight exim and among excellent punctuation sounds like a real good employea yep where can i find this guy to give him the #1 spot yep

[__________]

The real question is why are there people working there? Yes i understand how low-timers have the dream of flying, but to pay for a job??? Guys/Gals give your head a shake! if no one works for this operator under those conditions just maybe he would have to change the way he runs his business??

 

Now yeah in reality there always seems to be that guy who will do it and gladly take it, and thats what the industry deals with all the time

 

So KiloMike here are some questions for you.

 

How many Lowtimers have you or your company given flying jobs to recently?

 

What are the wages You or your company pay lowtimers on the ground or flying?

 

 

I guess I do take a little offence to your comment being one of those guys that "take it", but then thats the industry and how it treats the lowtimers with the attitude you got to prove yourself. However after 4 years working for Icefield, I could be working for 4 years for another company making a small wage still hoping to get in the pilot seat. Last summer out on some jobs I cleared a couple of cheques bigger than my initial investment to work for the company. However I have been very lucky and have worked very hard to get where I am today as well as the other pilots and friends I work with. So maybe you may just have a personal problem with the owner and not his pilot's or Need to be educated a little more on the current work conditons and payscale (which i will not get into on this site). All I got to say is yes it is a tough place to work but its a tough start anywhere in this industry.

[AH1]

.

[KiloMike]

So KiloMike here are some questions for you.

 

How many Lowtimers have you or your company given flying jobs to recently?

 

What are the wages You or your company pay lowtimers on the ground or flying?

 

 

I guess I do take a little offence to your comment being one of those guys that "take it", but then thats the industry and how it treats the lowtimers with the attitude you got to prove yourself. However after 4 years working for Icefield, I could be working for 4 years for another company making a small wage still hoping to get in the pilot seat. Last summer out on some jobs I cleared a couple of cheques bigger than my initial investment to work for the company. However I have been very lucky and have worked very hard to get where I am today as well as the other pilots and friends I work with. So maybe you may just have a personal problem with the owner and not his pilot's or Need to be educated a little more on the current work conditons and payscale (which i will not get into on this site). All I got to say is yes it is a tough place to work but its a tough start anywhere in this industry.

 

________, to answer your questions.

 

First. The company i used to work for would employee a couple low-timers a year (how i started) spend the summer on the ground and if you worked out then training in the fall and winter. Spring rolls around and your flying Recently i believe there at 3 low-timers a summer.

 

Second. Wages, always a personal question but they would be in the $30,000+ range. Also all extras such as travel etc.. were all covered by the company. Now when the flying came around flight pay was added on top of this which started at a very respectable rate!

 

Third. Your rant about your decisions, I guess you did "take it" and thats what you believe is ideal in this industry. Its good to hear that after 4 yrs you have made back your initial investment, and sounds like you have worked very hard for that. I guess your right in saying maybe i do have a problem with your owner as i did meet him i guess it was 6 yrs ago. I can recall showing up there ink still wet and after a conversation and getting handed a paper outlining his program i was thinking wow i gotta get out of this place! I believe i was educated as he was very upfront about it all. Now the current conditions i dont know, but I am always open for some education and would like to hear about the payscale.

 

You are right it is a tough industry and tough to get a start but there are places that will treat there employees with respect. A year or years of working for nothing doesnt seem like much respect to me.

 

If your not comfortable talking about conditions and wages maybe this summer if we cross paths we can go for a beer and discuss, im buying. :up:

[old dog]

I have known Ralph Sliger, the owner of Icefields Helicopters, for many years.

 

In fact, I hired Ralph to fly our 212's for several summers and he did a very, very fine job. I have also done Ralph's 407 annual recurrent heli-ski training and can report the same result.

 

Bottom line is, Ralph is as safety conscious as anyone I know.

 

Also, Ralph is bringing new pilots into the industry in a safe and organized manner.

 

Historical note: I started at the bottom of the fixed-wing pile in 1968, worked for nothing, then flew ratbag airplanes for nothing. In 1972 I started at the bottom of the helicopter pile and then flew ratbag helicopters for nothing.

 

You may wish to think about what Ralph is doing, and why.

 

Regards,

[__________]

Respectable Answer.

 

And great to hear that your former company can average 3 guys a year. Unfortunately with the amount of lowtime pilots compared to the positions avaiable I doubt this industry will change anytime soon.

 

Things have change a little over the past 6 years and if your buying the beers I 'll tell ya all about it.....

[shakey]

Of course he's buying the beer you obviously can't afford it.

[just looking]

KiloMike you said something that sparked my interest when you said the following.

 

I guess your right in saying maybe i do have a problem with your owner as i did meet him i guess it was 6 yrs ago. I can recall showing up there ink still wet and after a conversation and getting handed a paper outlining his program i was thinking wow i gotta get out of this place! I believe i was educated as he was very upfront about it all.

 

I have never met the owner but Kudos to him for being up front which i might ad allowed you to make a your INFORMED decision. As for companies taking on low timers it seems that only the small companies can get insurance to do this. As most of the big companies run around and say due to insurance requirements they are not hiring under 1,000 hours. What a crock of crap that is. The real truth is the industry is in a slump and they don't have to hire low timers because there are a pile of people with 1,000 hours looking for jobs. These same big companies when they were hiring low timers were paying crap wages $2,000.00 per month and the low timers were expected to be there or in the bush 7 days per week and live in some of the most expensive places in Canada.

 

It would be nice if the low timers could get jobs with a good wage. Sadly this is not the case and they all have to start some were. I have witnessed guys with over 2,000 hours work for dam near nothing to get a 205 endorsement and fly it for a summer on fires. So lets not climb all over the low timers for trying to get the big start. As for Ice fields Kudos to you for being upfront and giving the low timers some were to go.

[green arc]

Is the company in question really charging its employees $25K for a mountian course. Thats crazy. Just a suggestion, I went to the states and for about $10k built up 50 additional hours, all of which were in the mounians. The conditions there were very similar to say Jasper area.

[KiloMike]

I have known Ralph Sliger, the owner of Icefields Helicopters, for many years.

 

In fact, I hired Ralph to fly our 212's for several summers and he did a very, very fine job. I have also done Ralph's 407 annual recurrent heli-ski training and can report the same result.

 

Bottom line is, Ralph is as safety conscious as anyone I know.

 

Also, Ralph is bringing new pilots into the industry in a safe and organized manner.

 

Historical note: I started at the bottom of the fixed-wing pile in 1968, worked for nothing, then flew ratbag airplanes for nothing. In 1972 I started at the bottom of the helicopter pile and then flew ratbag helicopters for nothing.

 

You may wish to think about what Ralph is doing, and why.

 

Regards,

old dog, i agree with you and never once questioned his safety. But to charge people for this training and working for free is what i dont agree with.

 

the historical note, times have changed for the most part, as we are in the 2011. An old engineer used to say to me how back in the day they used to spend all summer in camp, no phones, no internet blah blah blah. well great! News flash we have rules and regulations that have changed all that! its not because us young guys are afraid of work, the industries changed.

 

I dont know what drives me crazy more hearing about people working for free (or paying to work). Or how "back in the day" things used to be done.