Averaged Mins

[Helirider212]

Its really simple,, as Pilots we need to get our heads out of been paid by the flight hour,,,you are away from home for extended periods of time and suppose to be in a "profession" . Your duty day is up to 14 hrs and most customers demand / expect you to be available for that time. The company expects you to be if you are sitting on spec in a hotel in butt "F' nowhere. So do the math , we should be worth $35 to $55 an hr depending on experience ( check the rates in Fort Mac for a truck driver with no education and a lunch box , we should be worth as much or more) . Now times your rate by 8 hrs..then by 1.5 for the next 6...( or if you want to be nice give the employer 10 to 12 at straight time then X 1.5 after that ) its actually in the federal labor code ( cant remember if we are entitled to double bubble, if so, so much the better). All in all it works out to somewhere between $600 and upwards of $800 a day depending on how you do your figuring. If you want to be greedy ask for a flight pay bonus after the employer has covered his costs and made a reasonable profit,,its called profit sharing... so as an example,, after the 205 /212 has flown 300/350 rev hrs then ask for a flight time bonus. Your away from home you should be compensated, period. its not your fault and its totally out of your control today how many hrs you get to fly. Customers are been controlled by big Ivory towers way over the horizon. Same goes for the company, your heli has a capital cost and needs to be paid for. quit giving the things away...OMNR can not fight fires with out Helicopters, drills can not be moved to remote locations with out helicopters...it might mean a short term pain but in the long run we would all be better off, company makes more , aircrew makes more.

 

In the end a straight day rate is the way to go, takes all the stress away from worrying about mins, unused will I fly wont I fly, all that. The most important part is you have to remember you are taking the good with the bad, you get paid to sit (possibly for many days),and in return when you fly a couple of 8 hr flight days you might not make as much on that day , but in the end you make more. To be fair to the employer you cant get into a mind set of "I am been paid so why should I fly", remember you are been paid to fly, but you are also been compensated for been away from home when the work is beyond your control. Your moral will be in better shape and thus your stress will be down and you will be a safer pilot.

 

I"ve tried this for a few years now and it works...

[helicopterjim]

 

In the end a straight day rate is the way to go

 

 

Yep .... I agree 100% ...... but I can guarantee the hour hogs will wine about how they should get paid for every extra second they waste in the air.

[Freewheel]

I am not sure if some of you fully understand the state of industry right now. If you expect to see 4 hour minimums that aren't averaged become the industry norm in the near future you are being unrealistic. We would all love to see that, your employers included. It just isn't possible.

I just returned from the Prospector Development Association of Canada Convention (PDAC) in Toronto which is the largest mining convention in North America (possibly the world); I have attended for 14 years, and this was the most negative show by far. The general consensus was negativity and that it will be at least another 2 years before anything changes. The National Post ran an arcticle that had a cartoon portraying the industry as a bunch if Hobos sleeping on the streets...and I don't think they were far off...even the strip joints were empty...lol (unheard of at PDAC). The article said that right niw more than 600 Junior Companies had less than 200,000 in the bank. These Junior Mining companies are the ones who truly drive the mineral exploration industry in Canada and Wordwide. Whether your company is directly tied to the mining industry or not, the mineral exploration industry likely represents the majority of helicopter work going on in Canada.

Expect to see more of the same for the next little while. Aircraft are readily available right now at almost half tarrif and no (or low) minimums. If a company wants to go to work at all, they half to come down on their billing terms also. Many employers agree that pilots are underpaid (so is the company) unfortunately you can't draw blood from a stone and no union could change that.

[Twin Helix]

Many employers agree that pilots are underpaid (so is the company) unfortunately you can't draw blood from a stone and no union could change that.

I've worked for a good many years within heavily unionized industries and I couldn't agree more, Freewheel. A lot of people figure that a union will magically get everybody 40 bucks an hour,a corner office with a view and a secretary with t*ts the size of your head...the reality is just as you say...you can't dish out money that isn't there. Unfortunately the way labour law is structured allows unions to make such outrageous promises to workers, whereas it's considered 'union busting' for a company to tell staff "we could never afford that". We're all working in a rollercoaster industry that somebody else is controlling...take the bumps and rough corners as they come, but remember to throw up your arms and say 'WEEEEEEEE!' when the ride is fun.

[freck]

This has always been a problem in this industry. Here we have a guy that is happy go lucky and cares less about everyone elses problems (foriegn work permits) Now he has a beef and thinks everyone should rally the troops and get behind his cause. The original complainants attitude is what needs to change not the operators or their customers.

[Hazy]

 

What an interesting turn of events...

 

What a stroke of genius it is to simply get higher rates and pay pilots more....

 

How easy it is to pay pilots a share of revenue (flight pay) that don't exist...

 

How relevant it is to compare a company with long term contracts, that contain guaranteed revenue (so shares are available), to VFR ad hoc charters where we scrabble and scrape for what we get...

 

How backwards Canada is for pioneering so many things that have made helicopters safer and better....

 

Yeah, I'm in management... So please let me know how easy it is to get all those things that make it so easy.... I plan to leave this "so easy job" where we are failing to deliver all these easy things... I can't friggin wait.... So Mr. Landsalot, please show us what you can do... I'm sure you must have all kinds of ideas how "upper management" can be straightened out....

 

HV

Sounds like management exhausted every idea out there already? Nothing new to learn.....

[freck]

Bump! Seems like you aren't the happiest guy with this industry at times too. Welcome to the whiners club.

[Bladestrike]

Apologies for rehashing an old thread, but what is the state of averaged/non-averaged mins for flight pay for contractors these days?

[Bee3]

6 hours ago, Bladestrike said:

Apologies for rehashing an old thread, but what is the state of averaged/non-averaged mins for flight pay for contractors these days?

Non averaged 3 hour mins this season. 

[Bladestrike]

Thanks Bee3!