First Air ATR posting

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flapflap
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First Air ATR posting

Post by flapflap »

Hi there,

I've noticed that First Air was looking (and is apparently still looking) for F/O on the ATR. Does anyone has information they'd like to share with us about the job ? Is the First Air/Canadian North future merger influencing the hiring lookout ?

Thanks!
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Marinth
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Re: First Air ATR posting

Post by Marinth »

There is a really high turnover in first officers, the job sounds really good on paper, 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, but when you get into the actual grind of it, it's not a great schedule. 15 days on 13 days off, if you commute, knock an extra day and a half off your days off because nothing connects to the jet to iqaluit. Your vacation is bid on your time "off", so you will never get more than 13 days off in a row, making an actual vacation hard. Training is done on your time off, one sim in Houston that will cost you 5 days, one in Montreal that does you in for 3. 2 ground schools a year, sometimes more if they want to show you how to use an iPad,etc... In the end you are away from home a lot.
The merger with Canadian could work out well, but it could end up with layoffs. Both sides are saying they won't, however the Canadian North dash 8s will likely be gone, and I don't see there being a need for as many flights into many of the communities as there are now with two carriers. It's a tough one to say.
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dhc#
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Re: First Air ATR posting

Post by dhc# »

Also both companies are very senior so if /(when) the merger is done, good luck to those lower on the combined seniority list ever seeing a left seat.

I see the 5T side becoming the charter ops and the 7F side becoming arctic sched only ops of the merged company...

Maybe the -8s will be saved if they can pick up more oil patch work in AB for the -100s in addition to 5Ts "new" -300 they just put online.

Wonder if Summit will still do sched/freight work for the new company once the merger is done ??
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digits_
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Re: First Air ATR posting

Post by digits_ »

Marinth wrote: Fri Aug 24, 2018 10:11 am There is a really high turnover in first officers, the job sounds really good on paper, 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, but when you get into the actual grind of it, it's not a great schedule. 15 days on 13 days off, if you commute, knock an extra day and a half off your days off because nothing connects to the jet to iqaluit. Your vacation is bid on your time "off", so you will never get more than 13 days off in a row, making an actual vacation hard. Training is done on your time off, one sim in Houston that will cost you 5 days, one in Montreal that does you in for 3. 2 ground schools a year, sometimes more if they want to show you how to use an iPad,etc... In the end you are away from home a lot.
The merger with Canadian could work out well, but it could end up with layoffs. Both sides are saying they won't, however the Canadian North dash 8s will likely be gone, and I don't see there being a need for as many flights into many of the communities as there are now with two carriers. It's a tough one to say.
What is the schedule like for captains? The same? If so, why are the senior guys sticking around?
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Marinth
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Re: First Air ATR posting

Post by Marinth »

digits_ wrote: Sat Aug 25, 2018 7:49 am
Marinth wrote: Fri Aug 24, 2018 10:11 am There is a really high turnover in first officers, the job sounds really good on paper, 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off, but when you get into the actual grind of it, it's not a great schedule. 15 days on 13 days off, if you commute, knock an extra day and a half off your days off because nothing connects to the jet to iqaluit. Your vacation is bid on your time "off", so you will never get more than 13 days off in a row, making an actual vacation hard. Training is done on your time off, one sim in Houston that will cost you 5 days, one in Montreal that does you in for 3. 2 ground schools a year, sometimes more if they want to show you how to use an iPad,etc... In the end you are away from home a lot.
The merger with Canadian could work out well, but it could end up with layoffs. Both sides are saying they won't, however the Canadian North dash 8s will likely be gone, and I don't see there being a need for as many flights into many of the communities as there are now with two carriers. It's a tough one to say.
What is the schedule like for captains? The same? If so, why are the senior guys sticking around?
Same, except in our last contact we got a week of vacation for guys over 10 years service, and 2 weeks of vacation for guys over 20 years. Lots of guys stay because of the golden handcuffs, it's a good paying job, tough to take the paycut when you've been making that kind of money. Other guys it's because only having to commute twice a month is really nice, takes a lot of stress out of your life if you love somewhere obscure. Lots got tied in when times were slow. There are only 16 captains up there, so it's not like they've managed to find a large group of people willing to do it, but it works ok for some.
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Tertle
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Re: First Air ATR posting

Post by Tertle »

Any idea how long the upgrade times are in Iqaluit vs. Yellowknife?
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young grasshopper
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Re: First Air ATR posting

Post by young grasshopper »

Iqaluit is +/- 2 yrs. Yellowknife is considerably longer.
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ehv8oar
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Re: First Air ATR posting

Post by ehv8oar »

Just wondering what the schedule is like for the Ottawa base? What destinations do you fly to in the ATR?
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shimmydampner
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Re: First Air ATR posting

Post by shimmydampner »

https://firstair.ca/plan-your-trip/route-map/

Really? You couldn’t have figured this out on your own?
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CL-Skadoo!
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Re: First Air ATR posting

Post by CL-Skadoo! »

The Ottawa base IS THE IQALUIT BASE. You simply rotate out of Ottawa and are responsible to get yourself to Ottawa to start the rotation of two on two off. Everything said above, applies and is correct
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ehv8oar
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Re: First Air ATR posting

Post by ehv8oar »

https://firstair.ca/plan-your-trip/route-map/

Really? You couldn’t have figured this out on your own?
RTQ, I asked about the ATR, that is the general route network for all the aircraft.


Thanks for the info CL
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