I'll Just Leave This Here : The Way You Get Paid Is Changing

[Hiller Highwater]

I'm just thankful I don't work for HN efffing ZED!! How can you just discard so many longterm employees like that! Holy #### ####!

[alphadog]

Most thoughtful and eloquent post on this thread so far, heliguy1. I ,myself, think too fast and with my temper prevailing most of the time.I agree with the need for solutions that take into consideration diversity of preference ,and the "niche " philosophy that keeps us interested in what we do. Nevertheless,the tendency in recent years is to diminish the importance of the "driver" and at all times maintain the "a dime a dozen" attitude.If a pilot is unexperienced enough,he gets paid with peanuts because of that. If a pilot is experienced enough he might be too expensive all of a sudden. During my years flying I've worked in Canada, PNG and the Middle East. The wages of an experienced pilot fighting fires in the 80s are the same with the wages that a very experienced pilot earns now moving seismic drills on the side of a mountain with a 205. How's that fair at any level? No doubt that pilots will vote with their feet when unfair measures come in to effect and no doubt that loyalty can't be expected at poverty wages.But that is not the solution. A poor country like PNG or Indonesia with enough helicopter companies to cover all their exploration needs and so forth has legislation that mandates time off at levels that would make the Canadian operators feel nauseated . Not gonna bring that in to discussions as it is a different beast of a conversation on its self. But, as a result to this legislation companies run a 28 on and 28 off roster with salaries at 100.000 to 125.000 $ AUS for a median experience VFR utility guy.How come in country like Canada an accountant somewhere has come to think that the payment schedule discussed in my first post is an option?What are the repercussions of a pilot hurting a driller or banging a fuel tank on a drill tower with the obligatory fuel leak and what are the repercussions for some accountant phucking up your expenses your paycheque or your T4 (a big one ,I might add). As a pilot you will be subject to some serious investigations , your abilities will be put in to question, you will get kicked off the job and the summer season that was supposed to save you money for the winter might just go out the window. All because of a wind gust or because you haven't slept well since you started your tour because your engineer is in and out all night doing the 100 and when he goes to sleep he snores worse than the grisly on the other side of the electric fence. The accountant on the other hand will wipe his glasses ,claim fatigue because he's overwhelmed by his job and his 40 hrs a week and will propose some cost cutting measures that will take away from your training , will impose averaged hours and some tiered ,convoluted pay scale that will save his puny *** job and make him look like some kind of maverick in management.

All is fun and games till one pilot that pucks up will bring to the table the camp conditions ,the stress compounded by the pressure to get the job done with improper gear ,improper job bidding for miracle aircraft that lift all kinds of stuff with no margin for error,etc All that while the Quality assurance this and Quality assurance that, safety this and safety that are only busy pointing fingers and collecting solid paycheques .This is why we can't get pay that will not shame you when you walk in the bank for a mortgage and tell them what you do for a living.

We have to stand up for ourselves. If not as am organized group as of yet, at least on our own. For now..

And we have to find a way to let the employers know that without us, the "meat servos", their helicopters would be collecting dust and their senior management positions would not exist.

[xrkyle]

I'm just thankful I don't work for HN efffing ZED!! How can you just discard so many longterm employees like that! Holy #### ####!

 

 

Looking at the financials it's clear why they are cutting costs. They just suspended the dividend which is a huge deal for a company like this and judging by insider activity, it's going to get worse before it gets better.

[helicopterjim]

The real problem is there is no shortage of guys willing to work for crap wages and bad rotations. You can go contract all you want in this market you will be the last one hired and first one let go. The ball is in the operators court and will be for a very long time.

 

**** .... my paycheck and shift schedule must have been all lies ...... let me check the bank balance again.

 

..... says the contractor.

[freck]

 

**** .... my paycheck and shift schedule must have been all lies ...... let me check the bank balance again.

 

..... says the contractor.

 

With all due respect Jim. I'm sure you have been in the industry many years and seen and done alot but there are guys out there that are the exception to the rule. Most guys that are contract (not all) will not have the same success you are having today. Especially in the intermediate market. In your profile picture you don't seem to be hanging out of a 407 or 350.

[HeliRico]

shakey, we might need one of those golden shower... Dyou mind stepping in ?

[bigD]

shakey, we might need one of those golden shower... Dyou mind stepping in ?

I might be a little slow, but I don't get it? Lost in translation?

[MEOB]

In your profile picture you don't seem to be hanging out of a 407 or 350.

 

He can and has, watched it from the left seat with my own two eyes!! He don't do that funny grip on the cyclic when he's in the 407

[twinstar_ca]

Don't stand in the way of the urinary tract evacuation, bigD, lest you find yourself being p***ed on.... That's how I read that!!

[alphadog]

So this pay scale went in to effect in May when its hard to quit because everybody out there hired their crews for the summer. Example of pay for a fairly experienced full time employee Astar and 407 drill pilot, above 3000 hrs : 3000 a month plus 70 $ day rate (taxable) plus flight pay. No number of days guaranteed and obviously no number of hours.No protection from lay offs. If it happens to go on disability the respective pilot will receive something around 650 biweekly. Wow!