Conair

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Phlyer
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Conair

Post by Phlyer »

Third job ad I've seen from them this fall plus one for a Chief Pilot.
Are they really having a hard time finding people?
Anyone applied and heard back?
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North Shore
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Re: Conair

Post by North Shore »

They're probably asking for a very particular set of skills - accumulated over a long career... Firefighting's not exactly sitting in the right seat of a Q, ILS to ILS, after 1.5 years of instructing...
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Dry Guy
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Re: Conair

Post by Dry Guy »

They're asking for 2000 hours.
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Phlyer
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Re: Conair

Post by Phlyer »

Yes I agree completely North Shore.
A few years back they were adamant that people have a bunch of tail wheel and float time but I'm not sure if that is still the case.
I wonder if they are trying to get a pool of good candidates together now for interviews later on closer to the spring...
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'97 Tercel
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Re: Conair

Post by '97 Tercel »

3rd job ad - prob means they need to pay pilots more than they current do.
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digits_
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Re: Conair

Post by digits_ »

Phlyer wrote: Thu Nov 28, 2019 1:59 pm
I wonder if they are trying to get a pool of good candidates together now for interviews later on closer to the spring...
Good luck with that in this job market. Might as well wait till the spring, because they'll have to restart anyways if that's the plan :P
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Phlyer
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Re: Conair

Post by Phlyer »

digits_ wrote: Thu Nov 28, 2019 9:13 pm
Phlyer wrote: Thu Nov 28, 2019 1:59 pm
I wonder if they are trying to get a pool of good candidates together now for interviews later on closer to the spring...
Good luck with that in this job market. Might as well wait till the spring, because they'll have to restart anyways if that's the plan :P
I was thinking the same - why "hire" when you don't need people until 3 months later.
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Dry Guy
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Re: Conair

Post by Dry Guy »

Any one know why the chief pilot left? That's the second in a few years I believe. Must be difficult to manage all the different types and bases.
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Floatinghog
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Re: Conair

Post by Floatinghog »

The CP didn’t leave. There are a few retirements in the list and therefore some movement within the matrix. Great place to work. Awesome team and outstanding flying.
Conair is a reputable and well managed company. Like everything in life - you get out of it what you put in. Apply if this line of work interests you!
Fly safe
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angry inch
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Re: Conair

Post by angry inch »

Mr “Hog” oinks the truth... It’s a good place to work. Just my opinion... There are pilots & engineers working there who have been there for decades.
To the Original Poster, I think they are regularly advertising because of the current hiring climate. It might Have something to do with terms & conditions, but the company has been around for 50 yrs & historically, hasn’t had to do a lot of advertising for crews.
The nice thing is that there are currently a number of options out there for a 2000 hr pilot. Conair is just one of them.
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C.W.E.
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Re: Conair

Post by C.W.E. »

The nice thing is that there are currently a number of options out there for a 2000 hr pilot. Conair is just one of them.
Not to mention it is one of the best companies in Canada. :mrgreen:

If I were starting my career in aviation again I would probably pick Conair as my first choice.
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co-joe
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Re: Conair

Post by co-joe »

Still a good gig but there have been a few small changes away from that in the past few years. Starting pay actually went down a couple years ago, and the pre-diem structure changed for the worse. 120 days is a long time to be away from home, pay should be going up.

There's also a move away from 2 pilot machines towards those Air Tractors which are single pilot and require a lot of experience to fly. I've even heard recently of pilot quitting mid season for better jobs.

My personal experience with their hiring process was overwhelmingly negative, and unprofessional, and personally I would never apply there again. But to each his own.
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Daniel Cooper
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Re: Conair

Post by Daniel Cooper »

co-joe wrote: Fri Nov 29, 2019 6:49 pm My personal experience with their hiring process was overwhelmingly negative, and unprofessional, and personally I would never apply there again. But to each his own.
What happened to you? I remember heading out to Abbotsford for an interview and never got an answer afterwards. After a month or so I emailed the CP and all I got was a form letter PFO email that had "NAME" at the top of it instead of my name. Oh okay thanks. :lol:
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co-joe
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Re: Conair

Post by co-joe »

Daniel Cooper wrote: Fri Nov 29, 2019 7:55 pm
co-joe wrote: Fri Nov 29, 2019 6:49 pm My personal experience with their hiring process was overwhelmingly negative, and unprofessional, and personally I would never apply there again. But to each his own.
What happened to you? I remember heading out to Abbotsford for an interview and never got an answer afterwards. After a month or so I emailed the CP and all I got was a form letter PFO email that had "NAME" at the top of it instead of my name. Oh okay thanks. :lol:
I interviewed for a "parts ." job out of YXX, over the phone. Super in depth questions, get to know the CP. He basically offered me the job, and I asked if I could have the night to talk it over with my GF. It paid 40K flying an Aerostar VFR only, on call in YXX, no pre-diem, no living allowance. Everybody wanted a 1 year lease minimum, even RV parks, so basically move to YXX for a summer job and be stuck there for 8 more months unemployed. Then HR sent me an Air Canada style psych eval, then he ghosted me. Didn't returns calls or emails. I talked to HR, they said they'd call me back for sure and didn't. I had over 4000 hours and that's how they treated me.

But I'm sure they'll be much better to you...
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bigredone
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Re: Conair

Post by bigredone »

Soooooooo to start with:
"Starting pay actually went down a couple years ago..." Not even close to true. At very worst one only gets the cost of living escalator. State your source.
"...the pre-diem structure changed for the worse." It's per-diem first off. Again not at all true. Source?
"There's also a move away from 2 pilot machines towards those Air Tractors which are single pilot.." Getting worse so let us add the negative credibility rating. The requirement for multi crew aircraft pilots is expanding faster than single pilot aircraft which is also increasing. Site your source.

Not sure why I am bothering(retirement can be boring somedays?) when I will likely be accused by those who know nothing of not knowing anything but for the majority that actually appreciate accurate information here goes. Three main reasons Conair is hiring:

1) Expansion- New BC Contracts start in 2020 with additional FireBoss and RJ85s. Q400s starting to come on stream for existing and new customers as replacements and/or additional aircraft. Australia fluctuates annually in its demands so better to be fat than thin staff wise. Expanding USA work via AeroFlite(US devision) requires supplemental aircraft/crew on occasion.

2)Retirements- There are a few this year from Line(0-3) and Managemant(2). There are several pilots well past 65 and insurance policies aka spare pilots. Early retirements/quitting(with almost 100 pilots it's still below the average) has ticked up to account for 1-3/year give or take. It is not for everyone and this becomes rapidly apparent so "1 and done" is not uncommon.

3)7-14 days off- A new CBA has pilots getting 7 or 14 days paid off during the season starting 2020. 90 pilots now requiring days off in excess of the CARS requirement no matter rain or shine where prior with a CARS exemption and some rain most would do 123 days in a row with no need for reserve pilots.

A little math and you see the need for 15 pilots +/- in one year where in the past these occurrences were spread over several years. A perfect storm of goodness for pilots looking to work there.

I will gladly respond where I can to any questions of which I KNOW the answer although some of my information is becoming dated and second hand.

Prune juice and nap time.
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JohnnyHotRocks
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Re: Conair

Post by JohnnyHotRocks »

Sounds like a good way to spend the summer and then spend the winter down south in flipflops with a pail of beer.
What is the salary like?
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bigredone
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Re: Conair

Post by bigredone »

Base pay $60-130k/116 days of service or $500-1100/day. Hourly($50-100), vacation, RRSP match etc on top. A few 100 day contracts but mostly 130 day with some RJ pilots working 260+ days.
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JohnnyHotRocks
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Re: Conair

Post by JohnnyHotRocks »

Thanks for the info
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TheRealMcCoy
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Re: Conair

Post by TheRealMcCoy »

Was always a dream of mine to fly with them. But after a co worker went there last summer and then opted out and hearing some more info from another fella as well. Don’t think I’ll be applying.
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flying4dollars
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Re: Conair

Post by flying4dollars »

TheRealMcCoy wrote: Thu Dec 05, 2019 4:08 pm Was always a dream of mine to fly with them. But after a co worker went there last summer and then opted out and hearing some more info from another fella as well. Don’t think I’ll be applying.
If you're going to make that kind of a statement, you might as well share.
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