Kelowna Flight Craft

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Bug_Stomper_01
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Re: Kelowna Flight Craft

Post by Bug_Stomper_01 »

Pat Richard wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 11:40 am
Bug_Stomper_01 wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 11:06 pm
Pat Richard wrote: Tue Aug 02, 2022 8:44 pm That place was and still is a giant cancer of a operation. Granted, Im speaking from a maintenance perspective, but I've also had the misfortune of working there and I'd never go back.

Which brings us to their never ending ads - their reputation precedes them and they have a hell of a time attracting experience. Throw on top of that the cost of living in Kelowna and KF's brutal entry AME payscale of $28 a/hr...well, they dont help themselves.

On the pilot side they are unionized so they have seemed genuinly more content so it might be better than the maint dept.

Search this site under kelowna flightcraft. Lots of info
I know lots who have come and gone from there, I wonder what area of Canadas aviation game has the highest turnover?? You see airlines advertising enough but the one that stands out to me is business jet work… I could be wrong of course
I really don't know. I think maybe it might be more of a case of "what geographic are" sees the highest turnover?

Aviation maintenance has never suffered from one sector poaching, or enjoying a stampede, from one category to another. Theyre all shitty in their own way.

Helicopters - get flight pay, but have to work in bug infested or miserable outdoor conditions. My experience was working all day/night outside, out of truck, watching other mechs popping uppers to get awake. You worked half the year but it generally compared to fixed wing on annual income.

Fixed wing - barely half my time was indoors on M2 aircraft. So basically my experience in helicopters, albeit with less tempermental equipment.
Almost always 12hr afternoon/graveyard shifts. Best schedule being 4 on/off, worst being 3 weeks on/off. You basically started tired, having to commute at early hours to catch flights then do a late/graveyard shift. When you left you were getting off shift late at night and had to be on a flight around 7 AM. Forever tired.

Overhaul - moderate amount of time spent there, still had some crazy shifts. Best was afternoon 8 hour shift, worst was 11 hour 12 day stretches, no days off. Constantly on your feet and overtime being demanded constantly. Take a guess what company that was/is?

Ultimately, it comes down to the least shitiest you can tolerate.

That being said, AME's have shown a huge appetite to take it up the arse so the level is quite high. Other trades think we are as a whole, insane.
90% of my career has been in helicopters however I have dabbled in almost every other area in the fixed wing world as well. Helicopters (in Canada) you are indeed outside lots all year round, however there are also overhaul shops to work at. IMO rotary doesn’t have as much turnover in Canada because of the cult mentality. I think GA fixed wing is way up there in turnover because of the low pay and crappy customers.
But someone mentioned Management companies and being on call as being up there as well in another post I started, that I would say for not only technicians but pilots alike the turnover is extremely high, if not the highest. I haven’t seen more job ads anywhere else in aviation in Canada (helicopters or fixed wing alike) for pilots and ames as well as the other supporting roles as I have in business jet work.
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Pat Richard
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Re: Kelowna Flight Craft

Post by Pat Richard »

There definetly was a cult mentality in fling wing when I did it. "marines of the aviation industry" was constantly being spoken. There was a underlying theme, I think, for rotary guys to pat each others backs, trying to convince one another on how great they and their lives were.

Ironically, almost all of them were suffering from Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrome or were dealing with a spouse screwing around. To be fair, it exists in fixed wing also, but to lesser extents. Any job with long rotations suffers similarly.

I've never worked M1 at the flying club or flight school level but I have heard repeadetly that private owners are the biggest pricks to deal with. Always wanting shit done for free. I also have never touched corporate although I have shared hangars with them. They seemed to show up at the most bizarre times and were obviously on call around the clock.

So, lol, wheres the good areas in a/c maint again? We havent even touched on pensions, benefits, paid sick days, time off in leiu of OT, etc, etc.

Yeah. What garbage business
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Bug_Stomper_01
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Re: Kelowna Flight Craft

Post by Bug_Stomper_01 »

Pat Richard wrote: Wed Aug 03, 2022 5:18 pm There definetly was a cult mentality in fling wing when I did it. "marines of the aviation industry" was constantly being spoken. There was a underlying theme, I think, for rotary guys to pat each others backs, trying to convince one another on how great they and their lives were.

Ironically, almost all of them were suffering from Aviation Induced Divorce Syndrome or were dealing with a spouse screwing around. To be fair, it exists in fixed wing also, but to lesser extents. Any job with long rotations suffers similarly.

I've never worked M1 at the flying club or flight school level but I have heard repeadetly that private owners are the biggest pricks to deal with. Always wanting shit done for free. I also have never touched corporate although I have shared hangars with them. They seemed to show up at the most bizarre times and were obviously on call around the clock.

So, lol, wheres the good areas in a/c maint again? We havent even touched on pensions, benefits, paid sick days, time off in leiu of OT, etc, etc.

Yeah. What garbage business

At least in the helicopter world in Canada you can pretty much name your schedule and rate depending on supply and demand (and of course your endorsements and experience). It’s become a seasonal racket in the past five or ten years, not really a viable full time gig anymore (in Canada). It’s pretty sad because prior to the downturn in 2008 there was so much work you could make your nut in three months and take the rest of the year off with the amount of flight pay back then.
The management world of business flight is extremely strange in Canada, it’s probably the smallest niche in Canadas aviation.
The ames from what I’ve seen have a schedule but are also on call no matter the circumstances. The guys I know that do it aren’t the happiest people and the pay sucks, but for the most part that’s all they know. Pilots at those companies last a few years mostly and leave after their bond is up because of the beating it takes on their life. The perk is the training they get, however useless those types are is up to the individual signing the 24 month bond, which of course is the companies leverage to work their new trained guys at 130% for said training bond.
I have done some GA work (maintenance only) for friends and family, there’s a super cheap mentality in that community too. They will cry over a 50 hour where 2 spark plugs are scrap but go out that weekend and bury a $200k truck in the mud and shrug it off.
Airlines and heavies, no thanks lol, low pay and terrible schedule on nights. It’s a different industry than I remember when I first got in this that’s for damn sure.
I don’t think it’s going to get any better anytime soon for the industry unfortunately, in fact I think it’s going to get much worse.
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pild04
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Re: Kelowna Flight Craft Cargo

Post by pild04 »

Hello all,

What's the pay, schedule, bond (if any) and cpt upgrade timeline for a Convair FO at KF Aero? I can't seem to find the latest collective agreement.

Thank you!
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