I'm seriously considering moving to Yellowknife in early May to look for work on the ramp or what have you that will lead to flying. If anyone has any info on the current situation up their it would be greatly appreciated. Things like how long most guys are spending on the ramp before flying right now? Do any of the companies have crew houses or do you need to find our own? Can you live off of the ramp pay? Any info would be great.
Also any thoughts on Buffalo Airways? Is there 250 hr requirement set in stone or will they look at guys with 230-240 hrs.
Thanks in advance.
Situation in Yellowknife
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groundtoflightdeck
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Re: Situation in Yellowknife
YES, it's set in stone points to req. #4merlin wrote: Also any thoughts on Buffalo Airways? Is there 250 hr requirement set in stone or will they look at guys with 230-240 hrs.
Thanks in advance.
"Additional Exams Proof of IATRA or ATR exams passed "
you
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Brantford Beech Boy
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Merlin,
It's your choice, but you would be wasting your time working the ramp at 7f and hoping to get a job with 250hrs.
We no longer have any 704 ops, only 705. Alas, the big heads got rid of the twins and beech. So, the entry level position now is sitting sideways for 2 years. Then transition to cojo on ATR42. Ergo, the minimums for entry level are now 1500 hrs
or so I've been led to believe.
I guess it never hurts to try though.
Good luck.
BBB
It's your choice, but you would be wasting your time working the ramp at 7f and hoping to get a job with 250hrs.
We no longer have any 704 ops, only 705. Alas, the big heads got rid of the twins and beech. So, the entry level position now is sitting sideways for 2 years. Then transition to cojo on ATR42. Ergo, the minimums for entry level are now 1500 hrs
or so I've been led to believe.
I guess it never hurts to try though.
Good luck.
BBB
"Almost anywhere, almost anytime...worldwide(ish)"
Merlin,
Yellowknife is a great place to start, worked for me and many others.
Buffalo has slowed down in the cargo dept but their fire season will start soon so there may be something there. No guarantees there other than breaking your back and Joe yelling - a lot of turn-over lately though so if you are tough you will probably fly eventually. I believe Tindi hired a few for the ski season and will hire a few more for the summer. Looking at at least 12 but more like 18-24 months on the ramp but a great company and the only one with a schedule for rampies. Sunwest seems to have a ton of people and has hired consistantly over the year but always more in the spring. Heard that they are starting training bonds since they lost a few to Borek. Northwestern and Summit are the only others - NW has 2 ramp guys in YK and I think 2 in Ft Smith but only hire as a guy moves up. Summit likes AME/Pilot types.
Cost of living is high, lots of jobs to keep you in the KD until a ramp job shows, people are great and if you are patient it will happen eventually. The sooner you get here the better though - newbies start arriving soon.
Good Luck
Yellowknife is a great place to start, worked for me and many others.
Buffalo has slowed down in the cargo dept but their fire season will start soon so there may be something there. No guarantees there other than breaking your back and Joe yelling - a lot of turn-over lately though so if you are tough you will probably fly eventually. I believe Tindi hired a few for the ski season and will hire a few more for the summer. Looking at at least 12 but more like 18-24 months on the ramp but a great company and the only one with a schedule for rampies. Sunwest seems to have a ton of people and has hired consistantly over the year but always more in the spring. Heard that they are starting training bonds since they lost a few to Borek. Northwestern and Summit are the only others - NW has 2 ramp guys in YK and I think 2 in Ft Smith but only hire as a guy moves up. Summit likes AME/Pilot types.
Cost of living is high, lots of jobs to keep you in the KD until a ramp job shows, people are great and if you are patient it will happen eventually. The sooner you get here the better though - newbies start arriving soon.
Good Luck
We are saturated with wannabe's up here right now.But if you don't play,you don't win. Good-luckThanks to all for the helpful responses. Everyone says go north, go north. But what gets me is that it doesn't seem to matter how far north you go, all the companies are still getting loans and loans of resumes. If you are lucky enough to actually fine a ramp job, they want you to put in at least a year on the ground with no committment to fly you. And that is the best situation, most companies want you to do 2 and even 3 years on the ramp. You can't tell me that it takes 2 - 3 years of ground work for them to tell if you are a hard worker, that should be clear in a few weeks.
It seems to me that all these CP and their companies are simple using low time pilot as a cheap work force. I have to say that if a company ask me to work for 2 years on the ground, even with a committment to fly after that, I would ask for my resume back. Some people might think that I'm just don't want to pay my dues, but that isn't the case. I simple think that if your going to puit in your time on the ground you should get some committment from the company in return. If a company said, ok you can work the ramp for a year or less and providing you work well and fit in we will take you onto the flight line, I would gladly go for it. However, the last one I heard from Norman Well was that the guy signed a 3.5 year contract with no committment to fly. That is just crazy.
Let me know what you think, am I out to lunch? I think that we(pilots) have yourself to blame to some degree, because we agree to put up with this crap.
Merlin
It seems to me that all these CP and their companies are simple using low time pilot as a cheap work force. I have to say that if a company ask me to work for 2 years on the ground, even with a committment to fly after that, I would ask for my resume back. Some people might think that I'm just don't want to pay my dues, but that isn't the case. I simple think that if your going to puit in your time on the ground you should get some committment from the company in return. If a company said, ok you can work the ramp for a year or less and providing you work well and fit in we will take you onto the flight line, I would gladly go for it. However, the last one I heard from Norman Well was that the guy signed a 3.5 year contract with no committment to fly. That is just crazy.
Let me know what you think, am I out to lunch? I think that we(pilots) have yourself to blame to some degree, because we agree to put up with this crap.
Merlin
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flynfiddle
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No offense Merlin but are you on crack? Maybe I did not read it correctly but it sounded like you are not willing to work for a year or two on the ramp to earn a flying spot? If that is indeed what you are saying then Yellowknife is definitely not the place for you.
Life would be grand if all we had to do was just show up on Company x's door step and have your PPC waiting for you. I mean who are these companies kidding anyway, we're all hard workers right? No such things as lazy pilots right? No such thing as a poor work ethic right? No need to see what kind of a worker a fellow is or if he has an ounce of common sense, just give him a very expensive aircraft, throw in some passengers and hope he comes back alive and in one piece.
It is admirable that you have set standards for yourself with regards to what is acceptle to achieve your goals, it's too bad the guys before us were not the same way .. however .. this ain't Kansas Dorothy and nothing is going to change for a very long time so unless you can afford to go out and buy yourself a PPC or your uncle owns an airline, working the ramp to get a flying job is a reality.
Good luck and happy hunting
Life would be grand if all we had to do was just show up on Company x's door step and have your PPC waiting for you. I mean who are these companies kidding anyway, we're all hard workers right? No such things as lazy pilots right? No such thing as a poor work ethic right? No need to see what kind of a worker a fellow is or if he has an ounce of common sense, just give him a very expensive aircraft, throw in some passengers and hope he comes back alive and in one piece.
It is admirable that you have set standards for yourself with regards to what is acceptle to achieve your goals, it's too bad the guys before us were not the same way .. however .. this ain't Kansas Dorothy and nothing is going to change for a very long time so unless you can afford to go out and buy yourself a PPC or your uncle owns an airline, working the ramp to get a flying job is a reality.
Good luck and happy hunting
If we got your reply right, then I too have to agree with flynfiddle, YK's not the place for you. I understand how you feel but it's the nature of the beast right now. Having a CPL and a huge debt doesn't mean you are justified a job and unfortunately now, working on the ramp for a year doesn't either.
I'm sure most CP's will have a pretty good idea what kind of person you are after a week let alone a year but if the senior pilots ain't leaving he's not going to throw you in a plane just because your 12 months are up, He can't afford to. As mentioned above, if you aren't willing to quietly work your ass off until you get the nod, no matter how long, there always seems to be somebody that is.
With the whole Air Canada sh!t storm it's only getting crazier.
FYI the lurkers are starting to show up here and the ice bridge is getting slushy!
Good Luck whatever you decide to do.
I'm sure most CP's will have a pretty good idea what kind of person you are after a week let alone a year but if the senior pilots ain't leaving he's not going to throw you in a plane just because your 12 months are up, He can't afford to. As mentioned above, if you aren't willing to quietly work your ass off until you get the nod, no matter how long, there always seems to be somebody that is.
With the whole Air Canada sh!t storm it's only getting crazier.
FYI the lurkers are starting to show up here and the ice bridge is getting slushy!
Good Luck whatever you decide to do.
Merlin:
First it is exceedingly easy to work hard for a few weeks if a result is guaranteed at the end of the very short time. It is another thing entirely to put it all on the line for as long as it takes to earn yourself a seat in an airplane, it shows who want it bad enough and as rough as it can be it if you get there you will have earned it. Thats the way Yellowknife works if you go there with an attitude that you are owed a job it will be a waste of time; theirs and yours, and money.
Also the 3 1/2 year contract in Norman Wells is not correct. The new guys there sign no contract, usually they fly within 6 months, and if they decide to stay for the 3 1/2 year period they get $10500 the company holds in trust for them.
First it is exceedingly easy to work hard for a few weeks if a result is guaranteed at the end of the very short time. It is another thing entirely to put it all on the line for as long as it takes to earn yourself a seat in an airplane, it shows who want it bad enough and as rough as it can be it if you get there you will have earned it. Thats the way Yellowknife works if you go there with an attitude that you are owed a job it will be a waste of time; theirs and yours, and money.
Also the 3 1/2 year contract in Norman Wells is not correct. The new guys there sign no contract, usually they fly within 6 months, and if they decide to stay for the 3 1/2 year period they get $10500 the company holds in trust for them.
You can fly a radial farther than you can ship a Merlin.
Well then I guess I'm on crack or out to lunch or maybe both.
I wasn't saying to won't work the ramp, infact I'm working the ramp right now. What I was saying was that I think 2-3 years is to long. I also think that some of these companies could and should show more committment to the guys who are busting their asses for shit pay. Some compaies do seem to be good about this, namely Skyward. Anyhow, I have said my piece and will just leave it at that.
Merlin
I wasn't saying to won't work the ramp, infact I'm working the ramp right now. What I was saying was that I think 2-3 years is to long. I also think that some of these companies could and should show more committment to the guys who are busting their asses for shit pay. Some compaies do seem to be good about this, namely Skyward. Anyhow, I have said my piece and will just leave it at that.
Merlin
Well then I guess I'm on crack or out to lunch or maybe both.
I wasn't saying to won't work the ramp, infact I'm working the ramp right now. What I was saying was that I think 2-3 years is to long. I also think that some of these companies could and should show more committment to the guys who are busting their asses for shit pay. Some compaies do seem to be good about this, namely Skyward. Anyhow, I have said my piece and will just leave it at that.
Merlin
I wasn't saying to won't work the ramp, infact I'm working the ramp right now. What I was saying was that I think 2-3 years is to long. I also think that some of these companies could and should show more committment to the guys who are busting their asses for shit pay. Some compaies do seem to be good about this, namely Skyward. Anyhow, I have said my piece and will just leave it at that.
Merlin
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just curious
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And Flybabe ain't Dorothy neither. Come to think of it, she also knows how career progression goes up north.flynfiddle wrote:however .. this ain't Kansas Dorothy and nothing is going to change for a very long time
It's really simple. Somebody goes to WestJet, Borek, or JetsGo, everybody moves up a notch. Whether the Ramp Rats have 200.6 hours or 5000 hours is not germane, except for the Medevac contract. Some years it is quick, with the fall "culling of the herd", Borek can scoop up a half dozen drivers, and everyone on the ramp moves up. Sometimes it happens that way in the Wells too. Sometimes not. There's no guarantees. CPs cannot arbitrarily move people up with no seats available.
If you don't wish to try your luck up in the 'Knife that won't sadden the dozens more that drive up each year.
That you have a job is good. To denigrate the risks that others have taken to get to the same level is not.
