My point being this type of operator needs to be heavily regulated. They find creative ways to get rid of pilots that don't bow to their desires. There are too many operators like this in Canada, thus the need for the new duty regs.
The reason these maggots are able to stay in business is because there is no regulation and it has been this way ever since I can remember and I started flying commercially in 1954.
With no active regulation from T.C. these maggots are free to intimidate and use young pilots who are trying to break into the flying industry and there has always been an endless supply of victims.
One of the first things I learned about the flying business was never go to T.C. for help because T.C has maggots just like the unlawful operators.
I flew medevac and a simple “we are beat and not doing anymore trips tonight” was all it took
So that means that you never flew too tired? What if your breaking point happens during a 3 hour flight? You land and sleep in the terminal building?
I'm sure that a shift system like Ornge has, could work for the right person. But the rolling duty, 24/7 on call system that perimeter has for example, is just insane. You'd have to call fatigue on average every 2 days if you really want to avoid flying too tired. If that is something you can do, then great. Either that or you are a super human that never needs sleep.
I've seen a lot of medevac pilots fly way too fatigued, at different companies. It just isn't worth it. And it is mind boggling that this group gets more relaxed rules than the other pilot groups. They need it most.
I think the medevac carveout is crap but that doesn’t mean that pilots have to just take it in the rear. As for rolling duty days I think the new gazette has a requirement for set rest times
Had anyone been able to determine if the new “bottle to report time” regulation(ie 12hrs) is effective immediately or also subject to an implementation timeline of 2/4 years?
I flew medevac and a simple “we are beat and not doing anymore trips tonight” was all it took
The rhetoric on here about how the poor 703/704 pilots are so hard done by is ridiculous. I flew 703 like most everyone else. It's not hard to turn down a trip, or say you're too tired. I did it multiple times and guess what!? I still kept my job and got a great reference from my boss when I left. Why? Because the rest of the time I worked my ass off and they knew that if I was saying I wasn't good to go then it was the truth.
If you work for a place that isn't like the company I was at, nothing will ever change if you don't say NO.
That doesn’t always work unfortunately.. the Medevac operator I worked for gave you 3 sick days a year after that your salary got reduced. So after making 26k a year which just covers rent and your kd you really expect the pilot call it quits when their tired some people can’t afford to be fatigue..
I flew medevac and a simple “we are beat and not doing anymore trips tonight” was all it took
The rhetoric on here about how the poor 703/704 pilots are so hard done by is ridiculous. I flew 703 like most everyone else. It's not hard to turn down a trip, or say you're too tired. I did it multiple times and guess what!? I still kept my job and got a great reference from my boss when I left. Why? Because the rest of the time I worked my ass off and they knew that if I was saying I wasn't good to go then it was the truth.
If you work for a place that isn't like the company I was at, nothing will ever change if you don't say NO.
That doesn’t always work unfortunately.. the Medevac operator I worked for gave you 3 sick days a year after that your salary got reduced. So after making 26k a year which just covers rent and your kd you really expect the pilot call it quits when their tired some people can’t afford to be fatigue..
Probably time to look for a new job. No one should be working for that little in the current state of the industry. Hell, 3 years ago I made more in the right seat of a Navajo.
A Medevac operator I worked for provided zero sick days... Apparently nothing has changed...
Yeah they have a hard time filling seats. So they dual qualified 75% of the staff and when you are OC you cover 2 seats as FO and 4 seats as Captain. Minimal pay increase for DQ. After 2 years you get to enjoy the .5% rrsp matching. So there is that....
Another Medevac operator I worked for had us on an illegal schedule resetting on shift if no flying was done for 8 hours...... Until they got audited. Then we refused to go back.
Medevac is the last place they need an exemption. If anything the extremely challenging nature of the flying should call for more restrictive duty regs. At night, self dispatched, in the snow, little to no support, no reliable weather info or rwy condition reporting....
Another Medevac operator I worked for had us on an illegal schedule resetting on shift if no flying was done for 8 hours...... Until they got audited. Then we refused to go back.
Which regulation did they use as an argument in the audit for that? Might help other medevac pilots out to know how it got shut down.
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Another Medevac operator I worked for had us on an illegal schedule resetting on shift if no flying was done for 8 hours...... Until they got audited. Then we refused to go back.
Which regulation did they use as an argument in the audit for that? Might help other medevac pilots out to know how it got shut down.
They knew it was illegal.. Switched to the legal sched slightly before and during the audit. Their argument was that all the Medevac operators in the province were on the same illegal schedule so it was fine... Manitoba was my favorite province to fly......
Then there was the Medevac operator that claimed garden sprayers filled with gallons of pure isopropyl were exempt from DG regulations..... Til we refused to fly with it. Which took 2 weeks and cost me a year of my life from stress.
I have tons and tons of gritty dirt and it's mostly on Medevac.
My point is transport needs to have deeper and more regular looks at Medevac operators and in addition they should never be given a pass on new duty regs.
Best Medevac operator I ever worked for was Ornge. That place was 100% on the up and up.
Another Medevac operator I worked for had us on an illegal schedule resetting on shift if no flying was done for 8 hours...... Until they got audited. Then we refused to go back.
Which regulation did they use as an argument in the audit for that? Might help other medevac pilots out to know how it got shut down.
They knew it was illegal.. Switched to the legal sched slightly before and during the audit. Their argument was that all the Medevac operators in the province were on the same illegal schedule so it was fine... Manitoba was my favorite province to fly......
Then there was the Medevac operator that claimed garden sprayers filled with gallons of pure isopropyl were exempt from DG regulations..... Til we refused to fly with it. Which took 2 weeks and cost me a year of my life from stress.
I have tons and tons of gritty dirt and it's mostly on Medevac.
My point is transport needs to have deeper and more regular looks at Medevac operators and in addition they should never be given a pass on new duty regs.
Absolutely, but if you could find out which legal arguments were used to claim the rolling duty day is illegal , then the pilots at other operators could at least try to fight back the next 4 years.
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