Aeropelican Drivers: Have Your Say.....?

[opdeemist]

Hi All,:)

Just wondering if there are any drivers/ex-drivers that would care to comment on the company from a drivers point of view.

How is the company culture?
In general is it a good place to work?
What are the Captains like eg (helpful, arrogant, demanding, mostly pleasant)?
How long for left seat swap?
Pay and conditions?
Standards and checks?
Aircraft Equipment? - (Autopilot equipt... etc)?

Maybe, a week in the life of an Aeropelican pilot....?

If you're shy to share on this open forum, please PM me anonymously.

Any and all pertinent information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
Opdee.

[Fonz121]

Hey mate,

I don't now and never have worked for Aeropelican so I can't tell you much about the company culture etc. I only know that the first year pay for FO's is about $32,000 - $33,000 after your endorsement is taken into account. You would more than likely be based in Sydney too.

Personally I couldn't service my mortgage and live in Sydney on those $ but each to their own.

I've never heard bad things about the company culture so I dare say it's fairly good. Best of luck.

[opdeemist]

Hey Fonz,

Thanks for the quick response.:D If that $ is correct, maybe have to think harder befre appying.

Again, many thanks.


Opdee :)

[Jack Ranga]

You'd get more than that on the dole wouldn't you?

[kirkpatd]

Opdeemist, know the Chief Pilot BW is a very experienced and great fellow to work with. Don't know the actual payscale, but 33K seems less that that req'd under the new Modern Award & FWA rules. Jetstream 31 and Metro 23 base rate for F/O @ 40.1K add on I/R, Turboprop etc should be circa 45K. Good luck.

[opdeemist]

Hi Kirpatd, :ok:

Thank you for your inspiring words, I guess Company culture starts with the Chief Pilot. If he is a good guy and he has no pressure from above restricting his innate nature then I’m sure the company would be a good place to work.

Again many thanks to you and all for continued guidance & participation.

Opdee.:)

[VNAV_PTH]

BW is no longer Chief Pilot... Though I hear they are a good bunch to work for. 45k f/o, 65k capt I hear, and Sydney or Willy base.

[opdeemist]

G'day Vnav Pth,

Thanks for your contribution.:ok:


Opdee :)

[Horatio Leafblower]

only know that the first year pay for FO's is about $32,000 - $33,000 after your endorsement

Long way off.

45k f/o, 65k capt I hear, and Sydney or Willy base.

Closer to the mark, maybe a touch more. EBA available to AFAP members on the AFAP website.

No Bandit or Metro these days, 5 x J32, 25-30ish crew.

[Fonz121]

They need to stop telling guys low 30's (for the first year after endorsement costs are counted for) in the interviews then.

Obviously ask them yourself. Hopefully it's changed and I'm now wrong but that's what I was told. It may be around the mid 40's after the first year or two.

[lemondog]

Hi opdeemist,
Worked there a few years ago. I really enjoyed the job personally and the guys were a great bunch to work with and there was no funny business. That is you did your shift and got paid the award. The shifts i worked 4-5 days a week morning or evening shift so it wasnt a bad roster although it got a bit busier when crew numbers were down etc. I think the pay was about 42 for a Fo from memory and 65 for a captain. Having said that I believe the company has been sold to new owners so the place I left may not be the same and this may account for the drop in pay ie charging for endorsements etc which is a real shame if it is true. If 33k is the figure then I think the owners need to have a reality check as they are clearly not shopping at the same supermarket as me. I really enjoyed it and would work there again, but the reality of paying for a house in the future drove me to move along.
Cheers.

[opdeemist]

Hey Lemondog,

Nice insight mate. Much appreciated. :ok: The money does seem to be a bit of an argument point. When will these companies realise that if the money is acceptable then maybe they won’t have staffing issue longer term. Ah well, we can only hope….!

Again I thank you for your input and wish you clear skies.


Opdee. :)

[The Voice]

yes Horatio, most interesting.

an another note - although it may not be the most recent, there is a copy of an agreement encompassing 2010 available for download from the fwa.gov.au site .. for those who are not AFAP members.

[OpsNormal]

Opdee, I'll do my best to answer your questions from the viewpoint you put forward.

Hi All,

Just wondering if there are any drivers/ex-drivers that would care to comment on the company from a drivers point of view.

How is the company culture?

Safety First risk averse culture and actively doing its best to raise the bar as high as it can.

In general is it a good place to work?

Yes, small and pro-active management doing its best to put the company in a position of continued growth and expansion.

What are the Captains like eg (helpful, arrogant, demanding, mostly pleasant)?

We can be all of those things, that is dependant on you and how much effort you're prepared to put into your work.... No one there is a sky-god so to speak.

How long for left seat swap?

Again, the ball is in your court, there are no hard and fast rules however you won’t get there without the effort and continued performance.

Pay and conditions?

As outlined in FWA/AFAP websites. It is all freely available if you dig around a bit.

Standards and checks?

Aim high, then put the effort in. No unrealistic scenarios presented during training (not like some of the horror stories generally heard about other regionals), but if you don't know your IFR applicable rules and have some difficulty with hand flying IFR to a decent check standard, you may well be better-off somewhere else.

Aircraft Equipment? - (Autopilot equipt... etc)?

Yes, they have F/D's, autopilots and have been standardised panels/GPS etc. There is a new addition that doesn't have an AP at this time, however that is yet to be sorted on the line. It has a few other bells and whistles too...

Maybe, a week in the life of an Aeropelican pilot....?

OK, I’ll do my best to keep it as real as possible here….

Wake-up, yawn, scratch nuts, tap missus on shoulder (sorry.... significant other in this day and age).... no joy this morning. Outta bed, standard coffee, dump etc (S,S,S & SS - if you have to ask you're probably a little young....), in the car and off to work in about 30% the traffic of Sydney (some of us actually get suspicious if we see more than a couple of other cars on the road we don't know). Arrive at work, limodriver has your washed and polished airport bus awaiting your very arrival and the Jet* hosties swoon in your very presence and ask you to sit next to them on the short ride to the terminal where you are met with a chorus of "hellos" and cheerful smiles from behind the check-in counters as you stride purposely toward the door leading upstairs to the office.

F/O has the flightplan/pax numbers/suggested fuel uplift figure (which you'll ignore on principle anyway) and your capaccino ready for you with just the right amount of sugar. You grunt your belated appreciation to him as he then scarpers downstairs to get the aircraft ready and fuelled. Make your way downstairs and small talk with the check-in staff as you make your way past and through security. You delight and brighten their dreary morning with your quick wit and intellect as you wait (feigning impatience at the F/O for not carrying your Jepps through security) for them to do their thing and you make your way finally out to the aircraft to catch-up on the latest goss with the refueller while he tops up your shiny steed. F/O has today’s newspaper on your side of the cockpit ready for you to peruse while the ground crew do their thing and the passengers arrive at the aircraft.

You taxi out and get airborne and ensure that the F/O earns his keep by flying all of the more difficult sectors and also get him to fill in the trip record, do the weight and balance and come-up with fuel figures for uplift at each port during the day for the sole reason that he needs to know what its like to be the Captain and all the responsibility it entails and just how difficult it is to be top of the foodchain as such and of course, for his own personal development as a functioning human being.:=

At the end of the day you inform the F/O that he can take the paperwork upstairs for you and award him 0.3 IF for the 6 approaches you made him fly to the minima, at which time you announced that you were taking over and you landed the aircraft, thus saving everyone from certain death by bringing the ship down safely..... again.:ok:

Dinner at home is another lamb roast with all the trimmings served up to you by your significant other in their best black lingerie... You work out the rest.:ok:

Repeat the above for the next four days and enjoy the weekends on your 52' yacht on your marina berth chomping on your cigars and downing 150 year old cognac.

If you're shy to share on this open forum, please PM me anonymously.

Any and all pertinent information would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you.
Opdee.

You're most welcome!:E

[opdeemist]

You Sir OpsNormal are a champion and a wealth of an informational scholar. :)

One phrase comes to mind “its good to be da king” :E

You had me on the S,S,S but lost me on the SS part. (I thought the SS was another generation)

It does sound like you would be a fairly relaxed captain/ambassador for the company, by not requiring the newspaper to be ironed wrinkle and ink free before being placed on your side of the cockpit. Count me in.

All jests aside, thank you very much for taking the time to put such an answer together.

Your article sir was hugely informative, very well written and friggin hilarious. :D


Muchos Gracias Señor :ok:

Opdee

[Super Cecil]

OpsNormal you are a tosser, I'm glad I knocked back the job with AeroPelican now.

Prunes standards are upheld yet again :bored:

[Stationair8]

Spot on OpsNormal.

[Horatio Leafblower]

Spot on, Super Cecil! :ugh:

The EBA is available on the net as noted above. FOs are on about $46k in their first year, slightly more (abour $100) than a Rex FO in the first year.

[Jack Ranga]

Dinner at home is another lamb roast with all the trimmings


You can afford lamb? (is your wife a cocky's daughter?)