Airspray, Buffalo, Conare and Government?

[Friendofafriend]

A friend of a friends cousins sisters hairdresser works at MB Gov on water bombers. Bombardier 415 I guess? And mentioned what they get paid. Are they the highest $$$ now they are Airspray and how much more are they getting now they are private? Do you apply to Airspray or is it the European owner or whatever that runs the show? It seems difficult to find out what the private companies pay, MNR PQ etc not so much. What company has the most airplanes and pilots. I see conair in magazines the most but very little about them online.

[digits_]

You apply at airspray.

Rumours are similar pay like the mb gov paid.

[plhought]

I thought the contract was won by Babcock? Are they sub-contracting it out to Air Spray?

[digits_]

Not sure about the legalities, but babcock and airspray organized a joint job fair.

[greygoose]

I thought the contract was won by Babcock? Are they sub-contracting it out to Air Spray?

Pretty sure Babcock holds the contract but subcontracts the actual flying out to Air Spray. I'm guessing Babcock are not making much themselves off it but I believe they were more so just looking to get a foot in the door in Canadian aviation for future opportunities. As far as I know all the flying is done under the Air Spray OC under their management. There's been rumblings Babcock has also paired up with Fast Air/Vanguard to try and take the medevac side...at least thats what some of their staff have been saying.

[Friendofafriend]

Soooooooooo....huh? Apply at Air-spray to work for Babcook to fly the Manitoba government airplanes for the afore mentioned BaBcock who makes no profit to fly them...I am confused.
How about this. What does the pilot at the various companies get paid? The rest f the stuff is complicated it seems.

[Pacqing]

REALLY???? just apply at Airspray if you want to fly the Manitoba contract.

[Friendofafriend]

Did I ever say I wanted to fly MB Airplanes? No. I asked about various companies pay. Pay attention jack ass.

[TSAM]

.

[Bede]

Did I ever say I wanted to fly MB Airplanes? No. I asked about various companies pay. Pay attention jack ass.

Not cool. Actually you asked 3 convoluted questions in your original post. One of which was:

Do you apply to Airspray or is it the European owner or whatever that runs the show?

which was answered by the poster that you attacked.

You also asked who has the most planes and pilots and if theyre the highest paid.

[YYZSaabGuy]

Did I ever say I wanted to fly MB Airplanes? No. I asked about various companies pay. Pay attention jack ass.

Not cool. Actually you asked 3 convoluted questions in your original post. One of which was:

Do you apply to Airspray or is it the European owner or whatever that runs the show?

which was answered by the poster that you attacked.

You also asked who has the most planes and pilots and if theyre the highest paid.

Plus, you're on AvCanada all of one day and you've already started with the personal attacks and name-calling. Auspicious start, jackass.

[Friendofafriend]

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaand this is why. This....is...why.

[bigredone]

You're new here so forgiven. Not for asking a question or two but for not anticipating the helpful responses cough cough. As you can read the rule is if you don't know the answer, pretend you do. Anyhow. Here is what you are asking for I think. AirSpray, ConAIr and Buffalo are privately owned as is FPL in NB and finding out what they pay is not easy. ConAir and AirSpray are likely close in pay and likely highest as they don't have pensions and other government benefits to attract pilots. The Gov guys I know seem to make $100k+ as a captain on salary but I can't speak to how many days they work for this. Summer is a large variable. The private operators pay day rate+hourly and would take the minimum required days off resulting in the shortest season so 3-4 months start to finish and they know the start-end date before they go. Going out on a limb i will say $10,000-$30,000/month is a good target depending on position and years of service. Outside of that you'd have to call them and ask. Message me if you need more.

[digits_]

Looks like you are following your own rule pretty well.

[magic wand]

The Conair pilots just signed a new contract with Conair. They received a massive raise. One of my friends is on a committee for the pilots. He said that they got a 41% raise. I am not sure what the equates to in an actual dollar amount, but I would assume it makes them the highest paid water bomber guys in the world.

[North Shore]

OK, I'll bite...

Bombardier 415 I guess? And mentioned what they get paid. Are they the highest $$$ now they are Airspray and how much more are they getting now they are private?

Yes, Cl-415. I'd suspect that the highest paid tanker pilots in the country are the senior few from Manitoba who qualified for a pension when Babcock/Airspray came calling. They retired with a full pension, and then went to work for B/A the next day.
My understanding of the pay structure is that the guys get a basic rate for a 123 day contract, and then an hourly flight pay: the more you fly, the more you get paid. The idea is that the crews will earn roughly equivalent to what they did when it was a government show (minus the pension amount?) I think that the further plan from the company is that they'll rent out the planes (to the USA??)in the (Manitoba) off-season, thus increasing pilot pay, and securing a profit for the company.

The same is true of the Conair pay scale: basic + hourly, although they have two contract lengths, 120 and ?100 days.

Do you apply to Airspray or is it the European owner or whatever that runs the show?

Applications for pilots go to AirSpray in Alberta; AMEs apply to Babcock Canada.

It seems difficult to find out what the private companies pay, MNR PQ etc not so much. What company has the most airplanes and pilots. I see conair in magazines the most but very little about them online.

That's 'cos they're private companies, and are under no obligation to publically release their salaries - most government agencies nowadays have a 'sunshine list' of salaries.
I'd think that Conair has the most pilots - I heard that they have ~60 or so..

I think that BigRedOne is in the ballpark at the top end of his salary range..

[matt foley]

Conair 41% raise!!? I called BS on that one. So I phoned a pal to tell him the ridiculous load of crap that is being spread. It appears I am wrong. Again.
Directly from one of the pilots: "Starting pay for a 130 day run is $55,000.00 and $50 per flight hour. Top is $120,000.00 and 100 per hour. Two stints of 7 days off included in the 130 day run. Goes up 2% per year for inflation."
Now if my calculator is correct the top guys will be getting $130,000.00 for a 130 day and 100 hour season and I am sure there is vacation and and some kind of a pension plan. On top of that there is good overtime and they are starting to send more and more crews to Australia so possibly a 260 day season. Could these guys be pulling in above $300,000.00 and still get 4 months off? Seems doable.

[digits_]

Weird, 55k is pretty low though if they want experienced people. That would mean they were paying 39k before?

[TailwheelPilot]

I know it can vary greatly between seasons and contract location, but how many hours per season would be realistic?

[angry inch]

150 +/-50. Could be 50 on the low side, or 300 0n the top end.