Pay Scales

[Ace303]

I see your point. So I'm guessing that half the battle is trying to figure out if you want to be more of a seasonal/contract pilot vs. working for a company full time with benefits etc.

[412driver]

$300 p/hr???? for fires??? can't say that i have heard it that high...........

 

maybe at $175p/hr with a 2 hour min on 120 days is what i've seen on the hourly.

 

campbell pays $115 per day and $100 an hour no minimums last time i heard

 

my 2 pesos............

[Sisyphus]

Helicopter pilots in Canada are overworked and underpaid.

 

Here is an analysis of wages done in 2001 by Aviation Today. It shows where Canadians rank in the global scheme of things.

 

The Canadian Council on Social Development publishes the following numbers regarding the poverty line in Canada.

 

Statisitics Canada publishes the following data on the average hourly wages of employees. Determine how many hours per year you actually put in on the job and divide that into your anually salary to see where you stand. You should figure overtime into the equation. An employee being paid by the hour and for his over time would be paid for 18.5 hours for working a fourteen hour day. He would get straight time fo the first eight hours, time and a half for the next three hours and double time for the three hours after that.

 

A tour of duty involving forty-two consecutive fourteen hour days would amount to 777 hours of pay. If the pilot was making the average wage for trades, transport and equipment operators and related occupations which in November of 2004 was $18.61 per hour, he would gross $14,459.97 during that period. Five six week tours annually would gross him over $70,000.00

 

Here is a link to a study concerning working fathers. Granted it was done in New Zealand but it is food for thought.

 

Here is how CNN rates the the most dangerous jobs in America.

 

Here is a link to the Agreement between the Treasury Board and Aircraft Operations Group Association . Don't you wish you had a deal like this? These are the guys that give PPC's.

 

Unionize.

[cap]

1) I see no study or Stats on the effects of 'deregulation' on wages since it's inception.

How do wages increase if rates aren't rising in proportion to where wages should be?

 

2) Pilots get paid on a 'Salary Basis', so comparing them to a worker being paid 'hourly' is not a fair comparison. If not, then I would have been much better off being trained and having a career as a certified bricklayer.

 

3)DO NOT compare the agreement signed by the Federal Pilots Union with the rest of he aviation industry. Their employer has extremely deep pockets and is not operating a business in the 'real world' of aviation. They increase the wages, then increase their budget to pay for it and then increase our taxes to satisfy that increase in the budget......and we have no say in that.

 

4) In 1967 I applied for Life insurance on my own 'ticket' and was advised what the cost would be if I wished coverage while I was flying. I was told that the premium was such because my job was rated the same as if I was a trapeze artist for Ringling Bros. Circus. I did the same two years ago and was again advised that I was still rated the same. I have flown legally since 1960 and the vast majority of my peers of that era have died of normal causes and not from being killed while flying. Few, if any of us, had the pleasure of working with scantily-clad females either and earning the same money..........******!! :lol:

[Skidz]

Helicopter pilots in Canada are overworked and underpaid.

 

Unionize.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

In my view, the only way pilots could unionize would be for those working for a specific company to form a union, in the hopes others would follow suit. The problem with that is that the first company to unionize would likely have trouble staying afloat. Would others follow suit ? Owners would do everything in their power to prevent that from happening. And this of course assumes that enough pilots would be willing to entertain the idea of unionizing in the first place.

 

The other alternative would be for gov't to pass legislation forming some sort of parity committee that would set salaries and working conditions across the board, as is the case for certain trades such as EMS and security services in some provinces.

 

The bottom line is: Aviation has always been an industry where people are willing to sacrifice good, stable incomes to get to fly for a living (this is my case). Competition for jobs at the entry and junior levels is so tough that newer guys like myself are very unlikely to rock the boat, and more senior guys will always have younger guys just waiting to take their places. I know that in the next few years, there will be a shortage of experienced helicopter pilots. This is probably good news for more seasoned pilots who will benefit from the supply and demand equation swinging in their favor. However, things will be rough as all us low-timers fight tooth and nail for jobs and to get those hours up. Salaries for low-timers will probably get even worse to compensate for wage increases to experienced pilots.

 

I did a lot of research before diving into this adventure. I knew it wouldn't be a picnic, but I know myself and I know I'm going to be successful (albeit not financially for awhile ).

 

You can't compare flying for a living with laying bricks or mopping floors. It's unfortunate, but we can't have our cake and eat it too.

 

My 2¢...

[cap]

Skidz ------ it works 'on paper', but not in reality. Example: the fist 206's into Canada cost approximately $265,000.....and their rate was about $265/hr. Flash forward to today and a 206 out of Miribel is $1M +. Within this present year 206's have gone out the door for $499/hr on a 3 yr (300 hrs/yr) contract. Yet again, 212's that should normally be at $2,200 - $2,500/hr have gone out the door at $1,750 for an 85hr (guaranteed) per year contract.

 

If I got to try to compete with those figures or say "screw that" and leave the a/c sit, then you ain't getting a raise anytime soon until that changes. It's gotta be that way because I have to 'service' fixed debts each month....including your wages and benefits.

 

You speak a lot of common sense and that will go a long way towards keeping you alive in this business.....you'll do just fine Skidz. .

[Ace303]

50k a year is still a pretty decent living, especially if you enjoy what you are doing. The average salary in Canada is 36k give or takea few c-notes, unless you spend your days flipping burgers at the dub which is probably half again as much. I personally think that if you have the drive, a contact or two, and ambition then you should be able to open some doors and create your own luck to some extent. I plan on getting my engineers ticket and work for a few years, finish my business degree, and then go for my pilots licence. May sound a little far fetched, and who knows what will happen between now and then, but I'm covering my a$$, doing what I like, and maybe even make some good coin down the road. Maybe even manage an A&W one day

[cyclic monkey]

I dunno' about A&W, but Taco Bell is hiring............

[Rotorboy2]

Why would anyone work for Heli-inter for such poor wages ??? That is an insult.

[t34ag]

####, I think we're cut from the cloth! Well stated on both posts!