Federal air

[fly1981]

Hi,

Could anyone give me any information on Federal air, I have read previous threads about the company, and seems to be alot of conflicting opinions. What sort of monthly hours can you expect to do as a B1900 Captain? What is the general condition of the aircraft they operate? Any other information would be greatly appreciated.

81

[S.E.A.L.11]

New info? or any at all?

Hi,

Does anyone out there have any new info or any info at all on what its like to work for Federal Air? What are work conditions like? Bases? Pay? Hours?

Thanks in advance!!

[Propellerpilot]

All info I can contribute, is that they mainly operate short haul flights to the Lowfeld out of FAJS. Good if you live, stay and want to operate out of Joburg and be back at home by early afternoon.

You will need close to 800hrs at least before they even consider - it usually states requirements on their website. Usually means starting on the Van or BE58 because there are many in front of the cue to fly 1900. People wanting to use FedAir as a stepping stone will be treated as such and be offered a low salary package (similar to flying a C210 in Nam or Bots) - the longer you stay with the company and prove you loyalty and fit in with the crowd, this will eventually change (so they say). That is one of the reasons, contract flying the 1900 was far more attractive for me from that point of view at the time. There is also a seniority system in place - new guys starting right at the bottom - will probably be different when you come with a lot of experience and there is nobody to fill the spaces on top - but I can only speculate about that because it was quite a while ago, things can change quickly... bottom line: if you are happy to make FedAir your carreer it may be worth it, if you have other goals as well it may be more financially viable to persue those instead.

[S.E.A.L.11]

Hmmm...

Hi Proppilot,

Thanks for your detailed feedback! I am very low houred and if I do ever work for Fed Air I will be coming over from Australiasia having moved there from SA a few years ago. I have no probs with regards to living in Joburg, just one concern, does the job pay enough to get by confortably enough living wise or is it a scrape? (Feel free to PM me if need be).

Cheers for your time!

[Propellerpilot]

From what they offered me it will get you through and pay the bills if your single - with a wife and kids they will probably have to eat pap or porridge for dinner from time to time... - just joking but you know what I mean... guess that is just how it is. If you have low hours as you say, it would be more realistic to go Nam or the Delta as the Feds want you to have reasonable experience and the paycheck is only a fraction higher. If they want you - by all means go for it.

[woenwaar]

Ive been at Fedair about 2 years started at the bottom. Has been really great job for me. I do around 60hrs a month a mix between the van and 1900.The company itself is awsome the people/crew are great witch helps alot. The aircraft are nice and are keep in good order.

[S.E.A.L.11]

Thanks woenwaar!

What sort of experience did you have prior to applying??

Any info much appreciated!

~S.E.A.L~

[lvdriver]

Propellerpilot has pretty much summed up the approach taken by Fedair. Right now all positions are filled and the focus is on getting the various crew members to the right levels of experience with the objective of moving them up the seniority ladder that leads to command on the 1900. We have enough crew in the pipeline for our future P1 requirements so when we do recruit it will be at the junior level eg P2 on the C208 either in Joburg or in the Lowveld on the C206 or Airvan.

Hope this answers your questions.

[kingkong123]

I worked at the Feds for a good number of years as a skipper on the1900 . I must say that looking back, that was the best time of my flying career. We had loads of fun at Ingwe(a base in the lowveld) although we seem to have taken it all for granted at the time. If you do plan on staying for a while it can prove to be great company, the salary will improve over a few years that keeps up with the local airlines, but it is however true that the starting salary is not the best. As with any airline there are one or two pilots(management) that are difficult and have no people skills (like MB-WH), but even they can prove to be ok.The owner(TR) is great and will put applying pilots in touch with the Chief pilot (WH) should you try to find out more details. The Feds have always liked to give low time south african pilots a break. I would recommend it to any low time pilot or more experienced pilot that can get in. Federal air has so much to offer any young upcoming pilot in South Africa. Well done to Federal air I'm sure all past and present pilots are proud to have worked there, I know I am....

[sslut]

KK if you think WH has no people skills (not a bad dude at all actually) then you should try the other airports in gunteng!!!!!!! There are some real prime one's floating around......... no names, no pack drill

[Dude1]

Fedair Has more complaints with ALPA than any other company in SA except for the now defunct nationwide .

I fly for fedair and what a mess , promisses broken all the time , some pilots fly loads and others hardly fly at all ( some as little as once a month ) The pay is the worst antwhere . One pilot Joined the company and it took them 5 months to organise him a caravan rating. If you are pals with (WH) he will do anything for you , If you are not or dare cross him you and your career with fedair is finished !!!

I have worked for a few companies and fedair is the worst , Its not about skill or hardwork but about how big mates you are with the Cheif Pilot .

[nyathi]

I'm quite surprised to read this about Fedair and WH!
Fedair has been operating for a number of years, well established company and great to work for, I know the staring salary is not great, but if you grow with the company then it gets much better! Very few companies has a great starting salary! (except contract!)
I know WH for some time now, worked with him a couple of times and I must say he never came across to be "bossy" or "arrogant", he is a good pilot and he does his job, he is the Chief Pilot after all!

Fedair......!

[Cockpit Coffee]

As Nyathi just said:

I'm quite surprised to read this about Fedair and WH!

In the good old days things were different, but things changed, drastically for the worse.

Management don't give a rats about the pilots anymore, and they will nail you whenever they want, and they won't follow any procedures, whether it be their own, or within our legal system. If you aren't buddies with either WH, EL or MB, don't bother going to the company, except if you are a good brown noser.

WH's allows for crew that have been allocated ratings after months of hard work to be removed from the course, just to allow his brown nosers to take the spot. He is also FAMOUS for his promises, and left many a employee hanging with nowhere to go with his empty promises. He has almost ruined a few people.

I am not saying that the brown nosers don't work as hard as the normal guy or gal at fed air, but that is apparently what you need to do to get anywhere in the company.

Least to say, I have not heard of a single crew member standing up for their 'boss'. He gets shot to pieces between the crew, as a useless Chief Pilot, and extremely poor person to work with, and they have NO respect for him at all. Nevermind the rumours that SAX and 1Time will throw his cv away whenever he might have the audacity to come and hand it in. A DE, Oom RR apparently also ripped him to shreds when he went for an evaluation flight for another job, and needless to say, he is still at fed air. So as a person, I wouldn't trust him, and as a pilot, apparently other people won't employ him.

There has apparently been between 8 and 14 (stand corrected) resignations from pilots in the last 2 1/2 months, and with the economy, and aviation close to a recession, that should shout out for anyone to stay away.


The best indication of this is:

Fedair Has more complaints with ALPA than any other company in SA except for the now defunct nationwide

A reminder - e.g. SAA employ +-800 crew members, and fed air +- 30?

So a company with 30 employees have MORE issues with ALPA than with ANY other company in South Africa!

If this is not an indication that something is DRASTICALLY wrong with fed air, I don't know what is.

The only good person in management, SJ. What a bloke!

So, if you want to join them, brown nose, AND join ALPA.

[nyathi]

Jeez like shocked to say the least!

Very hard to believe!

[freefly_rulz]

These posts ring too true for me.

I was one of the 'unfortunates', and that lead to my resignation some time ago.

I am part of the 8, or even 14 recent resignations. I know of an official 8 pilots that resigned.

Still have a very bad taste in my mouth.

[Spilt Coffee]

Hello, I am this WH you are referring to, and I for one got my popcorn ready as soon as this thread popped up again. I had a good ol’ chuckle at some of the inaccuracies that were mentioned. None of what was said has any sort of substantiated proof or otherwise 100% factual. What I love about these rumour networks is that the whole truth never comes out, only a version that brings some sensationalism to the topic.

[Cockpit Coffee]

None of what was said has any sort of substantiated proof or otherwise 100% factual.

Nothing ever said here is 100% factual, I agree with you my fellow coffee lover.

So how much of the rumours posted here are true my friend? We would like to hear your side of the story too.

I am part of the 8, or even 14 recent resignations. I know of an official 8 pilots that resigned.

How many pilots have resigned over the last three months?

As with any airline there are are one two pilots(management) that are difficult and have no people skills (like MB-WH).

Have you heard of this before, this is the third person in the small thread mentioning this after all?

Fedair Has more complaints with ALPA than any other company in SA except for the now defunct nationwide .

How is fed air's image with ALPA? Why would someone make a statement like this if there weren't SOME truth to it?

Is this statement true (from one of your employees btw):

I fly for fedair and what a mess , promisses broken all the time.

Yet another statement that WH is known for his empty 1900 promises. Any comment?

and

some pilots fly loads and others hardly fly at all ( some as little as once a month )

ONCE a month? Sounds absurd

If not five months, what has been the longest period someone needed to wait for a rating?

One pilot Joined the company and it took them 5 months to organise him a caravan rating.

Rumour has it that you could find WH at some of these other airports aswell...

What is the real Oom RR story?

And a new one: That WH is/was a Chief Pilot of another company as well, as shown in one of the local aviation magazines?

Looking forward to hearing the 'real' story, and if the rumours aren't true, I will apologise to you in person, and buy you a beer or two.

[kingkong123]

For the record I said that WH and MB can prove to be ok, not that they are bad people. I never attacked these two pilots abilities or their personalities (both of which are actually good pilots). After all I must agree that they do have a job to do. As chief pilot it must stand to reason that some of the pilots will be upset or disgruntled some of the time, and the stories these pilots tell will have a large tails. I also think that some are mentioning things that are way to personal about WH. I must still maintain that I think the Feds are a good company, if there are problems then why dont the pilots have the balls to call a meeting with MB WH TR and discuss the problems. Oh and who cares about RR- a man who has lost his DE on many occasions, this does not say much about this dodgy person.

[Spilt Coffee]

Firstly, CC thank you for the tone that you uphold, this should be an informative forum, not a grinding session. That I believe should be done in person as adults. I'm looking forward to those beers, I'm paying though

Saying this, please give me a call, or post a possible time that best suits anyone to meet up (I'll probably be poor by the time I've seen everyone that has issues with me, looks like I might even have to buy a case for HP(RH)). Please give me a shout, my door is always open and I'm willing to stay longer especially if it means making a couple of the guys understand and in turn happier about the above mentioned concerns.

I take the blame for a lot of things here, and in explaining it will put a lot of negative attention on fellow employees (pilots), hence this is not the place, please do understand.

As for the case with me applying for another job and doing a checkride with ORR, this was in July 2007, I was offered the position of CP some time after that. As for me being the CP for another company, yes it's true, FedAir did ask me to remove my name from their AOC application, and without hesitation I did immediately. This was not illegal, nor a conflict of interest as the AOC was in the application phase and the agreement I had with the OM was to remove my name and involvement as soon as the application was successful, all of this was done in my OFF time. Both cases has a long story with some serious sacrifices, that'll be for the 2nd beer

Thank you for raising the concerns, feel free to come and chat to me or PM me with gripes, with all things there are logical reasons, we at FedAir are not tyrants and do not intentionally make decisions to harm other people, expectations might have been concieved as promises, economic change is always looming in all our decisions, hence changes are made to keep everyone employed and paid on time (PS we have gotten alot better with that, great HR department!!!).

FedAir is still a fun company to work for, if you disagree, then I'm sorry for the bad experience you've had, rather focus on the positive memories there are. Unfortunately, as with every company, there are points that are good, and there are points which are bad, but luckily we sit with more postitives than negatives. Negatives would include the guys not flying...remember that we live in a very uncertain time, flying business as a whole is in a serious decline (local charter type business). We're busy pumping money into ratings so that the crew can fly more, we're spending money to help the morale of the company whereas we should be saving. That should be something to be said about what we're willing to do for the crew. It just takes time.

Once again, contact me, email, PM, sms, mms, airmail, snailmail, anything, if I dont get back to you then please rename this post to WH, as the issue is then with me, not FedAir. I have only made 1 promise in my life and that was on the 29th of September at 15:49, but I now make 1 more, contact me and I will get back to you with an answer within a week. Training, crew issues and revamped manuals and systems are taking up most of my time at the moment, hence I apologize for the delay in my response.

Thank you, apologies for the long reply.

[S.E.A.L.11]

Well I certainly appreciate everyone taking the time to post their experiences so far, after reviving the thread a few days ago. I dont know 'WH' but I also thank-you for clearing up some percieved issues with regards to staff and general employment issues, or at least being willing to sort em out...

Opportunities offered by FedAir at the hours required are near impossible in my corner of the globe, so not too much of a bad deal it seems.

Anyway I look forward to any more responses that may surface.