Flight Pay, And Averaging

[the pup]

Hi all.

Just wondering what the different companies are doing out there, I’m getting 3hr mins a day but there averaged, which I don't agree with, so I’m just wondering if this is standard procedure industry wide or if I’m getting ripped off.

[412driver]

it seems that everyone is different............

 

when i last went out on summer contract i got 2 hours a day non averaged

 

200 bucks an hour on a 204.......

[ame206350]

Hi all.

Just wondering what the different companies are doing out there, I’m getting 3hr mins a day but there averaged, which I don't agree with, so I’m just wondering if this is standard procedure industry wide or if I’m getting ripped off.

 

This time of year you should be able to get 4 hour mins but as far as the averaging goes - pretty standard depending on the job IMO.

[T tail]

The helicopter company is getting paid for the machine to be sitting on site say min's of 3 hrs and included in that is your wages, when you go over the mins I'm sure that whoever you work for is still charging the same hourly rate that includes your wages per hour that machine is flown over mins (please correct me if i am wrong) .....So I can't see why your not entitled to that extra amount...But as everyone will say its all give and take...just don't get taken for a ride

 

 

TT

[go coastal]

Its a bit confusing for sure but it mostly all depends on the length of the contract. For example if you are on a short term 3-day hire with B.C.F.S. they pay 4 hrs a day averaged over the three days. This means that you and your company get paid a min of 12 hrs. If you fly over the 12 hrs you and your company will both be paid. Where it gets frustrating is if you fly 0 hrs on day 1, 4 hrs on day 2, and 8 hrs on day three, you (and the company) still only get the 12 hrs. And therefore not 16 (like I am sure we all wish). If you are on a long term contract for say 100 days, then you will usually get paid the average over the length of your shift. i.e a 30 day shift is good for 90 hrs (if you are on 3 day mins). It doesn't matter if you fly solid 8's for the first 11 days of your contract and then sit on your butt for the remaining 19 days, you still only get 90 hrs. What sucks is that it took you the last 19 days of your shift to earn the final 2 hours of your flight pay! Whatever the case, most companies are unlikely to pay you for any more flight hours than they get paid for themselves.

 

One other sucky thing that can happen is for the user agency (again say B.C.F.S.) to continue extending your contract to use up your averaged mins. They won't fly you but by doing this they get to hold on to the machine without paying any more for it. As long as they keep extending the same contract they hired you on, the averaged period keeps getting longer and longer. Your three day averaged initial hire can get extended by another three days and so on... So this means that if you flew three 8 hour days in a row, they can then sit you for another three and not pay you a dime extra, while still holding on to the machine (which they often like to do in a bad fire year). That way no other province can grab the machine.

 

Confused yet? I know I am.

 

gc

[Skids Up]

One other sucky thing that can happen is for the user agency (again say B.C.F.S.) to continue extending your contract to use up your averaged mins

 

Not so with BCFS. If your hired for a 3 day contract, you get your 12 hours. If you fly 8's everyday you will get 24. And if they extend you again for 3 days, you get another 12 hours even if you don't turn a blade on the second 3 day.

 

That is the nice thing about BC. Bad thing is that they only pay 85% of rate for unused mins. Guess you can't have it all.

 

Alberta doesn't average, wasn't there this year, but that was the case last year.

 

And we all know that Ontario sucks. They are the kings of averaging and shuffling to make it happen... :down:

[twitch]

I look at it this way.... MY daily minimum is 4 hrs. The companies that I worked for this summer were fine with that. So what the company did as far as averaging was of no concern to me as far as my pay. So as long as I was on contract I knew that I was making a minimum of my 4 hrs. One exception was very early in the season the company was on 3 hr mins. for a week or so. So I did the same.

[brokentrout]

Alberta DOES average!

[chopperman]

Alberta does not average, it's 4 hours a day. The rate is reduced for unused mins though.