PHI Contract Pilot Info

[aquila105]

I’ve recently run into an article broadly describing the Contract Pilot position with PHI
In the GOM. Wandering if any insider on the forum could provide fresh intel.
It says in the article that the working schedule is 5 to 14 days per month and you can live anywhere in the US….true?
Who decides your working schedule? Is it based on your availability or company needs?
What’s the hourly pay?
Who pays for the airline ticket back and forth from home?

Thank you.

[Um... lifting...]

My guess would be y'all are a retiring military pilot looking for a change.

I guess this because two years and a bit ago I was looking at exactly this very thing, but with another GOM company. I didn't end up doing it.
The likely answers to your questions are:
Probably.
They do. Their needs.
It's probably a daily rate. In late 2005, $500 was the figure for contract guys with the company I was looking at with zip benefits or anything else... though it was 30 on, 30 off.
You do.

Caveat: If you're looking at working in the GOM in the long-term, be careful about stepping in it inadvertently. If PHI is having labor troubles (I have no idea what's current, I work abroad... just a hypothetical) contract guys are sometimes not looked upon well by their peers. If you just want to do a few months to get a taste of it (that had been my plan), well, that might be different. Try to cultivate an actual contact not in management who actually works there who knows the ins-and-outs of the GOM these days... you probably already know a guy who knows a guy... check your address book.

[tottigol]

Aquila, PHI is slowly phasing out the contract pilots.
I was interested in a 28/14 position, but at the time I talked to them they were reverting to equal time off and then started thinning out the herd.
I thought about applying there but then I thought better of it and I am now where you know.

[SASless]

I would imagine one could experience what the GOM is all about as a Contract Pilot or a Hired Pilot. Leaving PHI or any of the other GOM outfits is an everday thing as quite a number of "new" pilots find out the GOM is not their cup of tea. Some turnover rates run as high as 30-40 percent in the first year. The up side is the training departments are very good at their job.

[Dysfunctional]

To bring you up to date:
1)PHI are indeed phasing out the contract pilot slots.
There are a couple of jobs that nobody ever bids on ("Apache" jumps to mind; 8 hours a day in a 206 and a zillion take-offs) that are filled by some happy contract pilots. They might survive. The rest are going or gone.
2) PHI is also no longer hiring - period. Full up. People sitting around.