AME Wages

[tellyourkidstogetarealjob]

Somehow, I don't think Confucius said that.

It's obvious a man who drops a ball would complain it's hard to hold.

However, a ball will always bounce poorly if management buys the cheapest balls it can find - or lets the air out before handing it to the man.

[HS-748 2A]

Billy Ray and tellyourkidsIcan'tkeepajob,

Sorry I took so long to get back to you all but I've been busy making money and enjoying the hell out of myself.

tellyourkids' - actually, the only soft balls around that joint have luckilly moved on, either by having their hand forced on the issue, or for the pursuit of 'greener pastures'; And with the money we're saving, guess what? The boss bought us a heated sump-pump, so no more ice piles on the shop floor. It makes me want to fart a rainbow.

And no, we're not running split shifts. That whole facade was just an excuse for a certain 'department' in the company to piss around on the internet all day and sleep on the job through the night shift. "Oh - I'm sooo tired... waaah-wah-waaa.."

As for the knee-pad issue, go piss up a rope. There has probably never been a more vocal S.O.B. in my department than myself when it comes to telling-it-like-it-is and calling bull $hit when need be. I've done well inspite of that. I must have articulated myself well.

But anyhow, in closing here, you know what strikes me, the biggest whiners are also the most incompetant. All the way across the board, and every job I've ever worked at those who have no real god given tallent, just sit around and bitch. (Jeeze, in fact - It comes to mind; I knew a guy one time who couldn't even figure out how to shut the cargo door on a 748.. I digress)

By and large, they're people who don't know how to fix fcuk all. If you know how to weld, braze, bash tin, and drive a rivet you can call the shots. The world's your oyster.

The people who I see as consistantly the most disapointed in this industry are those guys that thought they could just show up to work with thirty bucks worth of Canadain Tire tools and ball point pen.

Everything they can, they defer; and they make excuses; they hide behind the rules so they never have to actually fix anything.

THEY are also always the ones filling out SMS reports because they've, "Indentified a tripping hazard"; an extension cord taped to the floor.

Oh - "and we don't have parts.." Boo-'effing-hoo. Take some initiative; ORDER the parts. They're not going to order themselves. No company needs another bystander and that's all we ever get when we hire you Big-company-Air-CXXXXX-parka-wearin'-union-hacks. Pass the buck is the M.O.

Unfortunately, truth is, there's an entire sub-culture of these people.

They should go to law school and get out of our hair.

End of Rant and Kind Regards,

'48

[billy ray valintine]

Billy Ray and tellyourkidsIcan'tkeepajob,

Sorry I took so long to get back to you all but I've been busy making money and enjoying the hell out of myself.

tellyourkids' - actually, the only soft balls around that joint have luckilly moved on, either by having their hand forced on the issue, or for the pursuit of 'greener pastures'; And with the money we're saving, guess what? The boss bought us a heated sump-pump, so no more ice piles on the shop floor. It makes me want to fart a rainbow.

And no, we're not running split shifts. That whole facade was just an excuse for a certain 'department' in the company to piss around on the internet all day and sleep on the job through the night shift. "Oh - I'm sooo tired... waaah-wah-waaa.."

As for the knee-pad issue, go piss up a rope. There has probably never been a more vocal S.O.B. in my department than myself when it comes to telling-it-like-it-is and calling bull $hit when need be. I've done well inspite of that. I must have articulated myself well.

But anyhow, in closing here, you know what strikes me, the biggest whiners are also the most incompetant. All the way across the board, and every job I've ever worked at those who have no real god given tallent, just sit around and bitch. (Jeeze, in fact - It comes to mind; I knew a guy one time who couldn't even figure out how to shut the cargo door on a 748.. I digress)

By and large, they're people who don't know how to fix fcuk all. If you know how to weld, braze, bash tin, and drive a rivet you can call the shots. The world's your oyster.

The people who I see as consistantly the most disapointed in this industry are those guys that thought they could just show up to work with thirty bucks worth of Canadain Tire tools and ball point pen.

Everything they can, they defer; and they make excuses; they hide behind the rules so they never have to actually fix anything.

THEY are also always the ones filling out SMS reports because they've, "Indentified a tripping hazard"; an extension cord taped to the floor.

Oh - "and we don't have parts.." Boo-'effing-hoo. Take some initiative; ORDER the parts. They're not going to order themselves. No company needs another bystander and that's all we ever get when we hire you Big-company-Air-CXXXXX-parka-wearin'-union-hacks. Pass the buck is the M.O.

Unfortunately, truth is, there's an entire sub-culture of these people.

They should go to law school and get out of our hair.

End of Rant and Kind Regards,

'48

tellyourkids....... allow me to take this one!

hs-748,feel better now!
stop smokin the oysters!

brv

[crazy_aviator]

Truth hurts !! Good to tell it like it is and especially the union Air whatever LAZY, system abusing thugs !!

[SeptRepair]

HS748, you man have hit the nail on the head.

[AMEwannabe]

Apprentice-
Took ICS course, working for under two years (must complete 4 year apprenticeship)
- Started at $13.XX- fresh apprentice, no tools, never touched a plane before, just started the ICS course (I didn't even know what an aileron was at that point!)
- $14.XX a few months later, worked for a few months then got laid off
- found work 3 weeks later
- started new job at $15, then $15.50 two months later
- 8 months after that got $18.50/hour.
- now at $19/hour. Not bad for an apprentice in TO

[iflyforpie]

HS748, you man have hit the nail on the head.

+1.

[rotorhead350]

Horseshit!

Double horseshit!

Absolute steaming, fetid, rotting pile of horseshit!

Most of the replies here are total crap.

I personally know a few of you. One is actually in management - conveniently forgot to mention it. Another is perpetually depressed about the crap conditions he has to work under. At least two others are frustrated cheerleaders so they come on here to post their rah, rah, rah, sis, boom. bah drivel. One of them, every time he posts his wage, increases the number by 10-15,000 per year. Either he's God's gift to aviation or he's full of it.

Inflation hasn't been much the last 10 years. If these people took their last 5 or 10 years T4's and averaged them, the numbers would be A LOT lower.

The average wage in this industry for a licensed AME is well under $60,000 per year. The only reason most take home more than that is due to overtime that most mechanics don't feel they can say no to (either due to company pressure or financial desperation). Oh, and of course, that's assuming no layoffs or work slow downs. How many of us can claim that?

There's rarely a meaningful pension. Benefits? Come on, talk sense! McDonald's has a dental care plan for full timers, that's nothing to feel overly attached to. Yes, it's nice to have dental, prescription, etc. but be realistic when describing your work.

It would interesting to see a thread on how many work routinely outside in below -35 weather. Or what the longest work day you've ever done it. My personal is around 28 hours but I know guys who've done in the high 30's. An 18 hour day is very frequent and I've passed 20 more times than I can remember. Let's start a thread bragging how our respective spouses/significant others love that shit - and never argue with us about it!

This thread has officially pissed me off!

well said tellyourkidstogetarealjob, i agree with you calling bullshit on this topic!
i didn't chime in because i was having a good laugh at some of these guys.
lets see... guys in their 20's and early 30's , licence is still wet, one maybe two
endorsements making 70k+ per yr and 60 days off per year? bla bla bla....
don't get mad, just laugh at the bullshit!
most of these guys are talkin out their ass,like they do when it comes time to FIX
the airplane. no shortage of those kind in this business
BRV

Just accepted a new job in Africa and will be working either a 4/4 or 6/6 rotation for 90,000us+/year. You can call bullshit all you want but I deserve every penny I get and have busted my ass to get where I am today.

rh350

[Schimunga]

How many of you are divorced? How about more then once? Of all the companies I have worked for there aren't many that I know that are still in there first marriage. So make sure you are putting in your child support when you are listing your pay.

Remember "AIDS"--Aircraft Induced Divorce Syndrome!!!

[crazy_aviator]

Was just talkin to a DOM on van isl,,, im a 25 year AME with multiple abilities,, the DOM of the medium sized shop was saying 25.00/hr would be a starting wage. they had been losing AME s to the shop next door because of the wages , for years,,,,, i go back to the place in was staying and a total stranger started up a conversation , he was a carpenter ,, working in YVR making 34 dollars an hour !!!!! A good AME can do carpentry, welding, sheet metal, body work, electrical, instrumentation, inspections, meet deadlines and quotes, and deal with a myriad of other challenges AND this company is paying 25.00/Hr.,,,,, it saddens me !!!!
OH and did i mention i would also provide my comm pilot services and test flight duties!!!!!!!

[qa guy]

the guys who get 60 days off are you talking 60 paid days.....are u a college instructor.............

[qa guy]

Was just talkin to a DOM on van isl,,, im a 25 year AME with multiple abilities,, the DOM of the medium sized shop was saying 25.00/hr would be a starting wage. they had been losing AME s to the shop next door because of the wages , for years,,,,, i go back to the place in was staying and a total stranger started up a conversation , he was a carpenter ,, working in YVR making 34 dollars an hour !!!!! A good AME can do carpentry, welding, sheet metal, body work, electrical, instrumentation, inspections, meet deadlines and quotes, and deal with a myriad of other challenges AND this company is paying 25.00/Hr.,,,,, it saddens me !!!!
OH and did i mention i would also provide my comm pilot services and test flight duties!!!!!!!

simple soultion.....go be a carpenter....

[flyinggreasemonkey]

you sound like the prick I used to work for, qa guy..here's an idea you might need to figure out..you want quality work, offer quality wages and you'll get quality people. you want shit work, offer shit wages and you'll get shit people.

CYGD, qa guy?

[qa guy]

nope...wrong guy.
I dont mean to sound like an a$$hole. But why does it seem like everyone is so bitter in this industry? Maybe, its a good thing I stayed in GA.
I agree with you though. The pay should increase. The question is what can we do to make this happen???

[c170b53]

Bitter might be right. We are being paid like general mechanics and we are not being paid for the responsibility put on us. Add to it SOP's written to protect those that know short cuts are taking place, frustrated might describe some more. We look at the pilots and concede that they will do better more but how much better? Our wages have not moved in the last 10 years now, I suspect it will be the pilots feeling the pressure next, something we have been feeling for sometime. As for how much I make, far more between 1990 to 2000 than I did between 2000 and 2010. As said many times before but far more accurate now" they pretend to pay us and we pretend to work".

[Tiger Moth]

M1 since 2008
Worked at company for 5 years now
30/hr
shift supervisor
7 on 7 off, all nights, 12 hour shifts, plus whatever overtime I want
ACA on entire fleet (10 different a/c)
busting my a$$ to do the work that no one else wants to do, like troubleshoot snags and keep the hangar clean
perdiems-just enough to buy coffee and a donut for breakfast if away from base
no away from base pay
milage 25 cents per km
usually the engineer that gets to go on "rescue missions" regardless of weather... did my time at -47 plus wind outside,
profit sharing that payed me $40 two years ago and nothing since
decent health benefits
northern alberta airline

Oh yeah, the DoM is a good guy, but the GM is a hypocritical jackA$$

but having said that, I still love working on planes

[longestboat]

748

Spot on, what you have said goes for the same in the UK. Too many wingeing twats around, talking / sitting on the computer all day doesnt get the aircraft fixed / out the door.

I just hope Canadian Aviation is not full of the negative types on this forum, it sure would make for a depressing place to work if it is.


Oh..... and to keep to the thread (although a UK EASA B1 European AME) £50,000 plus cell phone and health insurance. CA$ (current) 77,500. Wife does not work....three kids ...big mortgage... Licensed since 1996 several types on Licence. Business Jets.

Previous job Chief Eng £49,000 plus overtime, perdium £35 plus £40 overnight if away from base on AOG etc. No heatlh insurance. HBC ASC light Jets Turboprops.

Longun

[AMETonyD]

Bumping this thread back up to the top as the context is still current. Four years later, in 2013, what are the expected hourly salary ranges for recent AME-(M,S,E) graduate apprentices; across Canada ?

[helicopterray]

On the helicopter side of things, one can expect to make around $20/hour right out of school.

Rises to $28/hour when you get your AME license with ACA.

Licensed AME's seem to top out at around $42/hour. (There is also a 'northern premium' for accepting a position in a northern community.)

[seamus]

I've seen jobs in this industry that pay from 50k to 150k a year (base salary). Granted, those jobs may often require different sets of skills but ultimately it's up to an individual to decide which job they really want. The real shocker is those paying well in excess of 100k still have hard time finding people too. For those that constantly complain about the low salaries in aircraft maint. I say put a sock in it...

So for all those that would rather sit and bitch on AvCanada instead of properly managing their own lives and careers - well you get out of it what you've put into it, it's as simple as that. Another perfect example of that mentality is the whole, ridiculous, A.I.D.S. syndrome theory. Saying aviation causes high divorce rates it's like saying flies cause garbage. Flies are merely attracted to garbage just like people that can't run their own life attract all kinds of other 'failures'. It's always the ones that continuously blame someone else for all their life's problems that seem to be stuck in some shit situation, professional, personal or otherwise.





.

[NeverBlue]

+1
Checked out the AEA this year inVegas.
You should see the money there...

[motox415]

Was Westjet Encore there???

[Pat Richard]

[AMETonyD]

On the helicopter side of things, one can expect to make around $20/hour right out of school.

Rises to $28/hour when you get your AME license with ACA.

Licensed AME's seem to top out at around $42/hour. (There is also a 'northern premium' for accepting a position in a northern community.)

That is really interesting and informative, thank you for that !
I would love to work on helicopters, though it seems there are few positions available.
I'll keep looking !

what would a "northern premium" be considered ?
even for apprentices ?

[helicopterray]

what would a "northern premium" be considered ?
even for apprentices ?

Around $800 to $1000/month to assist in housing or rental costs, or a crew house, depending on company, because you won't be able to live there on the wages mentioned.