Originally Posted by
Rocket61
Hi, also interested in some info about the airline, especially roster on Q400. I heard around 60h/month, how many days off ? Are they often paired/tripled ? Is there any commuting possibility with the Q400 roster at BT ? Thank you
Around 60h a month is about right. A little more in summer, little less in winter. Depends a little bit on how you bid as well, I've seen guys scoring 90 hours and some just 30, but in general they are trying to equalize hours between people. Days off - minimum is typically 8, if you're lucky some months you might see 9 to 11. They have to give you a block of 4 days off per month, the rest is scattered across the roster. New captains can get a deal with a fixed 5/4/5/3 pattern with a caveat that you loose captains bonus and bidding. For FO's there is no bonus or fixed roster. Commuting with non-fixed roster is possible only if you live somewhere near by in the Baltics. There is no clear pattern for rosters. You can get an early start at around 6am and finish anywhere between 12pm to 6pm. Late start can begin anywhere between 11am to 5pm and finish at 10pm-11pm. Then you have short night stops starting at 10pm, spending some couple of hours in a hotel in an outstation and returning the next morning at around 6 to 7 am. Then you have layovers in Helsinki, Palanga, Tallinn, St. Petersburg, Turku, rarely Vilnius.. Or you can be sent to Tallinn to do up to 4 nights in TLL and fly from there
Salary wise what is listed on
https://www.pilotjobsnetwork.com/jobs/Air_Baltic is roughly about right.
Q400 is not the easiest aircraft to fly, the climate we operate in throws in additional challenges, roster is difficult, salary is on the lower end of the scale. On the other hand, planes are maintained in excellent condition, upgrade opportunities are probably one of the best in EU and personally I think in terms of job security I feel a bit more confident here than I would in most carriers in EU (our load factors are at around 75% and our ticket prices are not the cheapest ones around)
Cost of living in Latvia is probably a fair bit lower than in most places in Western Europe, it is generally safe, people don't riot, don't have any sort of extremists running around etc. On the negative side, winters are dark, cold and long, coming here with family and children can be difficult as international schools are expensive and hard to find.