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First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 3:57 pm
by victory_aviation
A guy I know was offered a job with FNT and he turned them down. He told me to apply there. Could anyone tell me about the company? Is it a good place to work? What exactly do they do? Has anyone here worked for them? Have they had any problems in the past?

Thanks


JP

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:01 pm
by Bushav8er
http://www.fnti.net/

Flight/Maint School

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:03 pm
by victory_aviation
Im talking about FNT in Gimli MB. They use DC-3's and something else I think.

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 4:33 pm
by lilfssister

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:51 pm
by North Shore
??Huh?? The queen of moved threads doesn't move this into the Employment Forum, where it belongs?? :?

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Fri Apr 11, 2008 9:58 pm
by Mr. North
From my limited experience they have a high turnover and had their OC pulled for a month back in '06.

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:18 am
by DHC3Rwannafly
If your going for a record number of engine failures throughout your career, then this is teh place for you. Have fun driving out of st. theresa's point in august and blow a jug 50' above the trees.

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:35 am
by 1000 HP
They had dc-3's and C-46's last I heard. About 2 years to make captain. Looks like a lot of uphill freight chucking. But wouldn't that be a blast to fly those birds? :D

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 7:39 am
by Chuck Ellsworth
But wouldn't that be a blast to fly those birds? :D
The problem is you have to actually know how to fly an airplane, which culls a lot of wannabe's. :smt040

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:19 am
by lilfssister
North Shore wrote:??Huh?? The queen of moved threads doesn't move this into the Employment Forum, where it belongs?? :?
:mrgreen: You have it all wrong! I am the queen of posting links to previously discussed topics.

Like all royals I devote some of my time to charity, though. My favourite is postinthecorrectforum.arggggghhhh

Non tax deductable donations may be made here:
http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... 54&t=25832

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:21 am
by shower of sparks
hard work with lower pay, you'll start as a 'load master' before f/o, good guys seemingly except the c.p. is an attention depraived twerpy man-boy so you better laugh at his witless jokes if you want to do well. oh and gimli is the town made 'famous' from the t.v. show 'falcon beach' apparantly, yay.

sos

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 9:25 am
by cplanedriver
AMEN .
No white shirts and gold bars there....But there is some interest and respect shown on the ramps from some aviators. It's easy to tell the folks who love flying and those who are "just workin"....
Fly Safe

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 1:10 pm
by synthpro
I USED TO WORK FOR FNT. I LASTED 2 WEEKS.

INFO YOU NEED TO KNOW:

1) ALTHOUGH EVERY YEAR IT SEEMS THEY ARE ABOUT TO GET SHUTDOWN, THEY SEEMINGLY FIND A WAY TO KEEP TRUKING ALONG. THEYV'E BEEN IN OPERATION FOR ALMOST 10 YEARS.

2) IF YOU WANT TO FLY, YOULL BE DOING THAT RIGHT AWAY. NO DISPATCHING OR RAMP WORK FOR A YEAR. YOU'LL START OFF AS A CREWMAN (FLYING THE DEAD LEGS) AND HELPING THE GROUND CREW LOADING. YOUR DAY WILL START AT 4AM. YOULL BE LOADING THE PLANE WITH FORKLIFTS AND DOLY'S. IT IS PROBABLY THE HARDEST WORK YOU WILL EVER ENDURE. ONCE THIS IS DONE, YOU WILL PREP THE PLANE, HOOK UP THE HERMAN NELSONS, THE GPU, AND DE-ICE. FINALLY..... 8AM ARRIVES. WHILE THE GROUND CREW GO HOME TO TAKE A NAP... OFF YOU GO WITH JEFF FLYING. EACH LEG IS ABOUT 1.2 HOURS.

YOU'LL ARRIVE TO YOUR DESTINATION, AND OFF LOAD THE AIRPLANE. BY THIS POINT, YOU ARE EXTREMELY TIRED. AFTER 20 MINUTES, YOU START UP AGAIN. THIS TIME, YOU'LL BE THE ONE BEHIND THE CONTROLS. WHILE FLYING, JEFF (THE CHIEF PILOT) WILL BE ASKING YOU MANY AVIATION QUESTIONS. DON'T WORRY IF YOU ANSWER THEM INCORECTLY. HE'S A REALLY GOOD TEACHER AND EXTREMELY INTERESTING. HE'LL TELL YOU ALL ABOUT HIS EXPERIENCES IN AFRICA. SOME HELL OF A STORY!

3) ONCE YOU GET BACK TO GIMLY EMPTY... YOU 'LL HAVE ONE MORE RUN TO DO. SO YOU LOAD IT UP ALL AGAIN AND GET BACK TO GIMLY AT 7PM. THEN YOU HAVE TO PUT THE COVERS AND PLUGS ON. FILL THE ENGINE WITH OIL AND SOME OTHER STUFF. YOU'LL BE HOME BY 8PM.

4) SO BASICLY, 4AM - 8 PM..... ALMOST 7 DAYS A WEEK IF WEATHER PERMITS. YOUR PAY WILL BE $750 EVERY TWO WEEKS.

5) THE GOOD THING ABOUT FNT, IS YOUR FLYING 705 RIGHT OFF THE BAT. YOU DO THIS FOR 2 YEARS, AND BOOM.... YOUR ON YOUR WAY TO AIR CANADA OR JAZZ.

6) PEOPLE IN MANITOBA ARE SUPER SUPER NICE LIKE I SAID, JEFF IS A REALLY GOOD GUY. THE GROUND GUYS WERE PRETTY FUNNY.

7) WHEN YOU FIRST ARRIVE THEIR, THEY HAVE A CREW HOUSE (CONDO). YOU'LL BE PLACED THEIR UNTILL YOU CAN FIND SOMETHING ON YOUR OWN.

HOPE THIS HELPS!

SYNTHPRO

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 3:03 pm
by Mr. North
synthpro wrote:1) ALTHOUGH EVERY YEAR IT SEEMS THEY ARE ABOUT TO GET SHUTDOWN, THEY SEEMINGLY FIND A WAY TO KEEP TRUKING ALONG.
..TC will never have the balls to pull the plug on an operation called First Nations Transport, no matter how bad they are. <--- And thats from an oldtimer who'd been there a while.

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 4:18 pm
by Doc
NOPE

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 6:35 pm
by Cat Driver
I USED TO WORK FOR FNT. I LASTED 2 WEEKS.
Why did you quit?

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:04 pm
by synthpro
GOT A WAY BETTER JOB WITH AIR LABRADOR. A LEGITIMATE AND PROFESSIONAL COMPANY WHO REPSECT DUTY TIME AND REST PERIODS. THE HARD WORK WAS FINE... BUT BY YOUR 8TH CONSECUTIVE 16 HOUR DAY, AND WITH NO END IN SIGHT, EVEN THE BEST OF EM' WILL THROW IN THE TOWEL.

IF EVER THEY CHANGED THEIR POLICY, WE'RE THEY LEFT THE CO-PILOTS TO DO JUST THE FLYING AND PAPER WORK (AND PERHAPS OFFLOAD THE PLANE), THAN IT WOULD BE A GREAT GIG. BUT LOADING IT, DE-ICING AND ALL THAT OTHER JAZZ AS WELL WAS JUST WAY TO CRAZY.

OH AND BY THE WAY.... ALTHOUGH THE NAME "FIRST NATIONS" SUGESTS, THEY'RE OWNERSHIP HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH NATIVES. THEY TOLD ME THEY CALLED THEMSELVES THAT JUST FOR THE HELL OF IT... PERHAPS TO GENERATE MORE BUSINESS.

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sat Apr 12, 2008 8:40 pm
by Cat Driver
Thanks for the answer, I can understand your decision.

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 9:31 am
by cplanedriver
Synthpro
R U the guy that took another man's gloves and slunk away in the middle of the night? Or the guy that bought the 800 dollar parka and wanted the company to pay for it, or one of the many who didn't like starting work at 0600(never saw an 0400 start perhaps once in awhile 0530). Yup big old airplanes need big old work but the 46 is usually finished (8 days out 0f 10) at 1400-1500 hrs,,,,quit scaring away the fresh meat....U R right, flying occurs right away, even on the 3s. The learning curve can be steep for some but it is quality education.
And there is some First Nation ownership dude...
Fly safe.

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 11:53 am
by synthpro
ARE YOU TRYING TO TELL ME I'M A LIAR???? CAUSE I COULD HAVE SWORN MY ALARM CLOCK RANG AT 4 AM IN THE MORNING EVERYDAY FOR TWO WEEKS...... I COULD HAVE SWORN THAT I LOADED OVER 10000LBS EVERY MORNING AND EVERY AFTERNOON!!! I COULD HAVE SWORN THE 3 OTHER PILOTS AROUND ME AT THE TIME ALL QUIT FOR THE SAME REASONS - HARD WORK, NO DAYS OFF, NO LIFE. SO DO NOT QUESTION MY INTEGRITY. IF YOU HAD OR ARE HAVING A DIFFERENCE EXPERIENCE WITH THEM... THAN GOD BLESS.

AND NO... IM NOT THE GUY WHO "STOLE THE GLOVES" OR WHO BOUGHT A PARKA..... WHAT KIND OF PETTY ARGUMENTS DO YOU GET YOURSELF INTO ANYWAYS OUT THEIR IN GIMLY???

EVERYONE ON AVCANADA... DON'T LISTEN TO THIS GUY... WHAT I SAID WAS 100% ACCURATE. IF YOU DON'T BELIEVE ME... JUST DO A FORUM SEARCH ON FNT, AND YOU'LL SEE MANY MANY OTHER "SCARY" STORY'S THAT WILL SOUND ALOT LIKE MINE. I HAVE NOTHING TO GAIN BY SAYING THE THINGS I DID. I LEFT ON GOOD TERMS AND IM NOT SOME DISGRUNTLED WANNA BE.

I BELIEVE I LAYED OUT THE PROS AND CONS VERY ACCURATELY.

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 12:39 pm
by Mr. North
I reserved harsh criticism because my experience with them is dated. But it doesn't seem like much has changed. When I was there it was a horror show.

Definitely not the place for a low-timer.

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 1:56 pm
by rigpiggy
Synthpro, quit yelling!

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 2:23 pm
by cplanedriver
Whoa Synthpro
Listen to you.....
Methinks he doth protest too much...
Fly safe

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Sun Apr 13, 2008 3:36 pm
by Chuck Ellsworth
O.K lets see what this might be all about.

Get up early in the morning and get the airplane ready to fly....if it is winter the airplane will probably be cold so you have to get it warm to start it.

You have to load and unload but you get to fly a real airplane and the guy who is teaching knows his stuff.......

....the work is hard and the hours are long.....

....sounds like how I started flying real airplanes with Austin Airways forty years ago....

...the best thing about that..... all the hard work was worth it. :smt040

Re: First Nations Transportation (FNT)?

Posted: Mon Apr 14, 2008 6:54 am
by Slurms Mackenzie
the reason these guys go through guys fast is lots of pussies go to flight school. if this is your first job ( i mean 1st job, not just in aviation) then you will be in for a steep learning curve, but at least it's not winter! if you have experience at working hard, then no big adjustment