Does anyone know anything about Mountain Air?

[craka]

Just noticed that there are not many posts about Mountain Air.

Anyone know what there mins are?

How long pilots tend to stay at the Chateu for?

What the big guys thought of their pilots?

[Cloud Cutter]

They are a GA company therefore mins are what ever they can get (say 300 TT, CPL). Of course you would need a bit of IFR experience for the AKL base, don't think there's any guarantee of changing bases either.

As far as I've heard, their pilots are well represented amongst airline new hires.

[haughtney1]

Is Keith Mckenzie still the head man there?

Just a question...


Cheers


H

[flyby_kiwi]

You are correct - he is indeed.

[V Whatever]

I have heard thier minimums have come down quite low, as have everybodies, around the 300 hr mark.

As far as how long pilots stay at chateau for, who knows?

[haughtney1]

I recall on more than one occassion having a beer with Keith...and a recently deceased friend..at a particular Aero-Club bar. A couple of 500's parked up outside, looking for all the world like frustated egg whisks!

Geez im gettin old!




:D

[Slater]

I've heard they have quite a tough bonding deal. Does anyone know anything more about it???

[NoseGear]

Haughtney, just ONE beer??!!!:p I thought KM was a rotgut man myself. Remember doing shooters out of the cap of some god awful liquer of some description, man what a sore head the next day!

As for Mtn air, one of the best GA outfits to work for, all multi at Auckland, and you have a salary paid to you, complete with holidays, sick leave, etc. I know Keith's plan is to have new pilots start at the mountain, work for a year or so and then transfer to Auckland, but it has never worked that way. Having said that, most who work at the mountain, do get up to AA eventually. The former pilots are well represented from Cathay, Air Nelson, Eagle and Air NZ, and probably others. I know of only one who has not moved on from Mountain Air, and it was not the fault of the company.

Keith and Robyn hire a diverse range of pilots, as they need some experienced guys to help out the newer pilots. With the current hiring in NZ, I imagine that lower time pilots would have a good shot at a job, but its not just hours with K and R. They need pilots who can deal with the pax, as that is a major part of the job.

Give them a call and speak to them personally would be a good start.

Good luck, and take a bottle of rotgut with you:p

Nosey

Edited to include this bit about the bond: it is 10k over 2 years, reduces to 5500 after 1 year. You pay nothing for type ratings, training or your IFR/VFR recurrency checks.

[kavu]

Not a bad company.

Get in there and do your time and build some good multi experience. If you're looking at moving on to higher honours then Mountain Air is as good as any other company.

Pay is approx $23000 pa. Alright if you're living down at the mountain but very poor if living in Auckland.

Staff are good.

Bond has been discussed by previous poster.

As far as progression goes, all but one of their previous staff are either flying turbo-props or jets.

Do the time and enjoy it!!!:)

[The Holy Grail]

To add to the two previous callers......Mtn Air is amongst the pick of the GA operators in NZ.....same pay/bond at both the Chateau and AA bases.....the men usuallly start at the Mtn base, which when the weather is good is great flying, drinking and the quantity of swamp donkeys never ending.......if you are in a hurry with your career the AA base is all multi engine trash hauling. Hail to the fellow bongo drivers!

[Split Flap]

Im Sorry, I cant hold it in any longer and I can't belive it hasn't come up allready............

How does one cope with her..........:{ :{ :{ :{ :{ :{

[Emperor Palpatine]

Would this be RM??? Please inform us.

[The Holy Grail]

But I don't understand.............ohhhhhhhhhh................how can this be!?

[turbolager]

Think very very carefully before paying ten grand(!!!) for an islander job in the hottest NZ job market since the dawn of time - this deal is an absolute shafting. Take a closer look at what other companies offer both here and overseas.

[Slater]

How would working for Mountain Air compare to working for GBA??? I know the flying is similar, but what are the pro's and con's for each company?

[NoseGear]

Re-read Turbolager, you dont pay unless you leave. Its a bond.

Slater:
Mountain Air - Pros - contract, payed fortnightly weather you fly or not, 3 weeks holidays per year, 5 sick days, standard contract stuff, all multi at AA, combination of single/multi at the chateau. Cons ,her and CIF's!!! KM is good boss though, treat him right and he will reciprocate.

GBA - you start at the bottom, loading bags and doing loadsheets and check in of pax, work in the engineering hangar as well. Work your way up from single to multi, pay per day as you fly, no fly, no pay. You dont pay for type ratings and no bond, GR and LR are very nice to work for.

In short, get a job with either one, it will stand you in very good stead for your future with the regionals.

Nosey

[always inverted]

Not quite true about gba, you used to start at the bottom, and work at engineering. You probably still can if you want to drive up there and get some extra money but don't think that anyone does. Still load your own bags as do Mtn Air but they have someone there in summer generally helping out on the loading/ unloading.

Both companies would be a good starting point, and both would be worth a call at the moment.

[chad valiant]

Apart from Robin being nuts and regular visits to the employment authority a great company to work for.

[NoseGear]

Regular visits? Hardly mate.:rolleyes:

[Mr Proachpoint]

How to shoot yourself in the foot 101.

Ah yes, the old tearful whinge to the employment court. Such a move has to be carefully thought out. I'm outside the loop on what was just posted but in the past have seen the 'aggreived' being bitten on the butt by a careless bleat. IMHO there is probably no better way to drag your sorry ass into the public by throwing money at a hungry lawyer. It usually makes for an amusing read in the Herald. In saying that, if you have a genuine case and aren't a snivelling d-head with an attitude and no-one to blame but yourself, it's a system there to be used.

I used to work with a few ex Mountain Air pilots and they are good buggers. I'm sure they'll end up where I work now. They have pretty good war stories about how hard they have had to work at times in the past but it doesn't seem to have harmed them. A useful apprenticeship I guess.

MAPt

[Carnegie Wah]

Yep! They can all seem to fly an aeroplane without much further instruction when they move on here.