Medevacs Being Parked

JohnnyHotRocks · Post by **JohnnyHotRocks** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 8:27 pm

I'd do the medevac for way less than $70,000!!!!
Anyone know where these parked airplanes are?

virga · Post by **virga** » Sat Mar 17, 2007 10:50 pm

transport canada is clear on this, when you are "on call" NOT "on reserve" you are deamed to be on duty. which means only the standard 14 hours and extentions. no such thing as 24 hour on call if you have to report in less than 1 hour. if you're ever in doubt give your transport official a call, even anonymously and they will be happy to clarify.

YYZ_Instructor · Post by **YYZ_Instructor** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 4:22 am

How can you be on duty without your duty time being activated? Clarifying it in words is one thing....in the CARS or ops manual is another!

The Aviator · Post by **The Aviator** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:21 am

Okay JohnnyHotRocks, how much would you do it for?

JohnnyHotRocks · Post by **JohnnyHotRocks** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:24 am

I figure I could live off 25k-30k as long as I was building lots of multi time....good stepping stone to AC!!

mbav8r · Post by **mbav8r** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:34 am

Doc wrote:

I don't do medevacs anymore. I couldn't be happier about it! MOH wants more and more, for less and less! 24 hour call is NOT safe! It may be legal, but only a complete moron would believe "legal" equals "safe"! If I've been up since 7 am, and phone rings at 2 am the following morning...well, you get the drift. But it IS legal...but I ain't doing it!

Doc,It was quite nice off you to call me a complete moron. Your example, you've been up since 7am..... Here's a question, you're on call for medevacs, why was it a surprise that you were called in a 2am?
As I've said, I've been doing medevacs for a long time and they are fairly predictable in the sense that hey it's friday night and the natives are restless on top of that it's payday on the reserves, but I'm not going to sleep because there's not going to be a trip tonight, who's the moron.
1st rule: of medevacs, there is no medevac.
2nd rule: sleep when you can and eat when you can.
The highly demanding medevac lifestyle is the reason the pay is higher at most places, just because you couldn't hack it, doesn't give you the right to insult those who can!!!

Nightflight · Post by **Nightflight** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:35 am

JohnnyHotRocks wrote:I figure I could live off 25k-30k as long as I was building lots of multi time....good stepping stone to AC!!

And there you have it ladies and gentlemen! The singularly most wrong thing with our industry.

JohnnyHotRocks · Post by **JohnnyHotRocks** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:40 am

And there you have it ladies and gentlemen! The singularly most wrong thing with our industry.

What do you mean by that????

The Aviator · Post by **The Aviator** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:55 am

Without thinking to hard, they mean people who will fly for min. wage, or less!
Hey JohnnyHot Rocks, break down your $25 000/year to an hourly wage and post it, if your still happy, I'm sure you'll have no problem finding a job.

jjj · Post by **jjj** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 7:55 am

Virga,

Slyservice lifeguard and Global are both Medevac Operators. Learjet 35 - International repatriation Medevacs. I hour call out - anytime in a 24 hour period. With sometimes no sleep at all you will get called out to work a 12 to 17+ hour duty day that will take you across the pond.

These operators will also schedule you 14 days on and three days off. All on call.

Gotta love landing an airplane in Lima Peru or Greenland or somewhere else dark and dirty that you've never been before after being awake for 30 hours or so.

Transport is aware of this and they let it slide.

A few years ago, the pilots from Canada Jet Charters out of YVR (another Lear operator at the time) approached Transport Canada for clarification on duty rules when there was obvious abuse of the rules. Transport Canada did nothing.

In fact sometimes you didn't know when your days off were untill they had already gone past. On occasion you'd be on call for a few days and there happened to be no trips, then all of a sudden a flurry of work. The company would then send you off to work for up to 14 days. "Remember those first three days when you we're on call (on pager - 24hrs - no beer - 1 hour call out) and nothing happened? We'll call those you days off, reset your duty days to zero and send you out for 2 weeks."

Thanks for nothing Transport Canada - kiss my ass!!!!

I doubt you'll never see any real change in the duty rules until there are one or two high profile Medevac crashes with a Lear.

Transport Canada has a proven track record of being reactive rather than proactive in far too many cases. Sonic and JetsGone come to mind. Airplanes need to get bent or bloodied before Transport steps up to the plate at which time all they do is cover their ass.

Good luck guys and gals - fly safe.

JohnnyHotRocks · Post by **JohnnyHotRocks** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:01 am

If it gets me to Big Red faster, I see no problem with it...maybe you other guys are just not willing to work for your dreams!

just curious · Post by **just curious** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:12 am

Well Johnny, it's pretty simple.

To start with it may or may not be a good stepping stone to AC. Multi time, yeah, but turbine time isn't that mysterious. But whether your perspective company has SOPs and folow them, and a well-developed training department may have more to do with being successful in you initial AC period.

The problem that you seem to miss is this. How many general aviation jobs exist for every AC job? Of these jobs, how many are held by single pilots who can live at home?

The hours and lifestyle we put in are crippling physically, and mentally. They cause numerous relationships and even basic friendships to founder. Accepting these circumstances and poor wages do now help you in your career. Rather they help you to accept 80 hour weeks and below normal wages for the rest of your life.

A new medevac pilot is likely not as much of an asset to a company as one who is familiar with the routine, their environment (machine, corporate culture, neck-of-the-woods.). Paying less than an hourly minimum wage means that pilots working for these companies are going to have to abandon the company for anything better the minute they pick up a spouse who isn't in the industry, or their student loans get called in.

Thus poor paying companies never build up an experience base. Pilots never stick around to acquire the polish they should have if they are applying to the bigs.

We all lose out.

Settle for some chickenshit paying job now (when across the board companies are paying well), and you may be setting yourself up for a lifetime.

An awful lot of drivers accept this and the accidents of the "BC 703" are the logical result.

I suspect that these are the reasons for the comment flung in your direction.

jjj · Post by **jjj** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:14 am

JohnnyHotRocks,

I hope you're kidding.

If not...

That attitude is a main reason why we have so much trouble in this industry. Pilots do stupid things to get by as they put in their time. They pass on a legacy of improper operating procedures that eventually becomes someone else's problem.

There are problems in this industry yet pilots generally take no responsibility for the precedents they set with their decision making.

You can't regulate wisdom i guess.....

jjj

Doc · Post by **Doc** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:23 am

mbav8r....where did I insult you in that quote? Ya lost me there. Legal does NOT equal safe. Do you find that an affront to you? How? Are you offended by that statement? I could find lots of examples of "legal" not being "safe". Read the post before you get your knickers in a knot, man.
BTW, I was "hacking it" while you were still in diapers.

Cat Driver · Post by **Cat Driver** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:24 am

I can guarantee you he is kidding.

JohnnyHotRocks · Post by **JohnnyHotRocks** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:34 am

Well, at least Cat caught on...sorry guys, just f*ckin' with ya...I'm sitting in my hotel doing taxes, and I'm bored....

F-16 · Post by **F-16** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:38 am

I wish I knew the icon for a troll because Johnny Hot Rocks has you ALL,

HOOK, LINE, and SINKER.....

virga · Post by **virga** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:44 am

JJJ,
Youre absolutely right that this happens. I did it too. There is only so many battles you can fight with management while you're low on the pole and not very marketable. I have called TC once about this and that is the answer I got. Of course TC is not the most coheasive of organisations and whats allowed by one inspector, isn't by another. I have a feeling though that if you get one of these guys on record, through email or post, they would be held accountable and more likely to at least cover their asses.

second rule of medevac: I need more goddamned yaw damp

Doc · Post by **Doc** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:51 am

I've found, if you ask TC properly worded leading questions, they'll pretty much tell you what you want to hear.

mbav8r · Post by **mbav8r** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 8:53 am

Doc wrote:

mbav8r....where did I insult you in that quote? Ya lost me there. Legal does NOT equal safe. Do you find that an affront to you? How? Are you offended by that statement? I could find lots of examples of "legal" not being "safe". Read the post before you get your knickers in a knot, man.
BTW, I was "hacking it" while you were still in diapers.

Parden me if I took it personally, but a couple post before, I had said," 24 hr call was legal and safe, if you follow the rules" Then you come back and say "only a complete moron would say legal equals safe.
I believe I said that, making me, in your opinion a "complete moron"

Well, as far as hacking it when I was still in diapers.
I've been doing this fly fly thingie, for 12 years now and that meens to me you must be going back into diapers pretty soon then, you old fart

Doc · Post by **Doc** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:07 am

I've been wearing them for years.....part of my astronaut training!

Nightflight · Post by **Nightflight** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:34 am

JohnnyHotRocks wrote:
And there you have it ladies and gentlemen! The singularly most wrong thing with our industry.
What do you mean by that????

First of all please know that I wasn't singling you out and what I meant was that the way the industry is now you have to think bigger than that. There are a few companies that pay more than that now and if you meet the qualifications to do MEDEVAC then now is the time to bargain for FAIR compensation. I suspect that companies will soon start paying proper wages for making them lots of money as they fail to "attract" with their current paltry wages.
I am guilty of working for exploitive wages (36K a year for left seat King Air), but times were very different and I had no other choice if I wanted to stay in aviation. There is choice now so choose wisely and you'll help everyone in the industry.
Cheers!!!

JohnnyHotRocks · Post by **JohnnyHotRocks** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:46 am

Nightflight...I was just trolling....I agree that the industry is great right now...I also agree that now is the time to get all that you can (salary, days off, benefits) so we can set the standard higher....I am happy to see aircraft being parked...maybe now the operators will realize WHY their pilots are leaving!

As for AC...already turned down the interview...maybe it's short sighted, but I can't handle the paycut.

John

mbav8r · Post by **mbav8r** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 9:52 am

I know of 1 company in MB. that wants to add an A/C to their medevac fleet, but hasn't as of yet, because they can't keep the pilots they have for the other A/C and or find more to staff the one they want to add.
They pay about 70k wk on wk off.
Other then that no one has mentioned any parked A/C's.

JohnnyHotRocks · Post by **JohnnyHotRocks** » Sun Mar 18, 2007 10:08 am

Sorry...guess I misread the title of this thread...

Medevacs Being Parked

wow