80k for a government chief pilot

[digits_]

Am I missing something?

80k/year for a chief pilot for the government of saskatchewan? WTF?

http://www.avcanada.ca/forums2/viewtopi ... 7&t=131216

[goingnowherefast]

That should be the line pilot salary. Hopefully there's a bunch of perks in there, 5 weeks vacation, incredible pension, 200% RRSP option, top notch benefits.

[confusedalot]

Sounds a bit wrong. Even a TC inspector with a minimum atpl and no responsibility makes 100K to start.

I am surprised.

[North Shore]

well, doing the math on the top level mentioned, it works out to $103 a year..plus there's the pension, benefits, etc..not that bad a gig, for the right person..

[goingnowherefast]

Still wouldn't do it for 103 grand. Maybe 100 grand base pay, then a decent something extra for every plane responsible for.

[digits_]

well, doing the math on the top level mentioned, it works out to $103 a year..plus there's the pension, benefits, etc..not that bad a gig, for the right person..

But you wouldn't get the top level to start, would you? Yet you do the job and have the responsibilities from day one.

[Schooner69A]

The salary level quoted for a Chief Pilot position is extremely low. I retired from a line pilot position in Atlantic Canada over 15 years ago making just over $100000..

[valleyboy]

But government job, so only work about half as hard as the private sector

[Meatservo]

When the OMNR was advertising for a chief pilot a few years ago, I was similarly surprised by the salary. It seemed a lot lower than what you might expect, and a lot lower than what I assumed the CL-215 pilots or even the DHC-6 pilots were being paid. Certainly lower than what a decent DHC-6 pilot would make working for a commercial air service.

[lownslow]

What should a chief pilot be worth, and why?

[Bede]

It may surprise some, but CP's rarely make much more than pilots. I think at my company, you get base salary + $20k or something like that. In exchange, you get weekends off, set your own schedule, sleep in your own bed every night and don't have to deal with jet lag.

[digits_]

It may surprise some, but CP's rarely make much more than pilots. I think at my company, you get base salary + $20k or something like that. In exchange, you get weekends off, set your own schedule, sleep in your own bed every night and don't have to deal with jet lag.

I find it hard to believe the saskatchewan government captains would be making 60k or less. But I'm happy to admit governments have surprised me before...

[goingnowherefast]

It may surprise some, but CP's rarely make much more than pilots. I think at my company, you get base salary + $20k or something like that. In exchange, you get weekends off, set your own schedule, sleep in your own bed every night and don't have to deal with jet lag.

Set your own schedule, good one!

Constantly stuck to your phone, always putting out fires.
Jim doesn't like flying with Susan so gotta sort out the scheduling mess even though it's 7am, and you just crawled out of bed hoping to be in the office for 9am.
Bob just called in sick and nobody else is available to fly. So despite being Friday night, and you were just about to crack a beer, guess which chief pilot is going to fill in for Bob and not be home till midnight.
Don't worry, it will be better next week, except your training captain got a call from AC and gave his notice. He had been in the pool for a year, and weren't sure if/when his phone call was going to come, so made it hard for you to plan. Anyway, good for him, it's always been his dream. He has given 10 years of dedicated service, so you can't really complain. Now you're going to be digging through resumes and interviewing for a week, on top of your normal duties. Then your new candidate needs to give her current boss 2 weeks notice as well. That's great for her character, you like that, but it's such a pain in the ass because now your're short a pilot for a week. Guess who fills in! Guess who trains the new gal, since it was your training captain quitting that started this mess.
Things finally calm down for a few weeks, then one afternoon a guy from NavCanada calls. One of your King Airs declared an emergency and is returning to Saskatoon. Apparently something is wrong with the gear. They called the fire trucks, big excitement, lands and nothing happens. Maintenance determines it was a burnt out light bulb, big relief. Except now TC wants to know what happened and you need to make a CADOR response.

You may get to set your own schedule, but it doesn't always accommodate personal plans.

[C.W.E.]

I fail to see a problem here.

If being chief pilot is a poor position don't apply for it.

[confusedalot]

The above post is absolutely spot on.

Never been the chief, but was the right hand man. And he was my friend.

To this day, I would NEVER want to be the top dog.

And they pay crap to the guy who actually has enough guts who stands up and takes it on.....

[C.W.E.]

A chief pilot is the fall guy between top management and T.C. and there is no way you can really help the pilot pool.

Back in the seventies I was chief pilot for a regional airline and got so fed up with the system I took T.C. to court to force them to enforce the laws they are responsible for.

It was a very time consuming stressful period in my career and in the end even though I won my case it really did not change the system because the corruption is so entrenched in the political end of aviation it is hopeless trying to do the job a chief pilot is supposed to do.

[daedalusx]

It may surprise some, but CP's rarely make much more than pilots. I think at my company, you get base salary + $20k or something like that. In exchange, you get weekends off, set your own schedule, sleep in your own bed every night and don't have to deal with jet lag.

Set your own schedule, good one!

Constantly stuck to your phone, always putting out fires.
Jim doesn't like flying with Susan so gotta sort out the scheduling mess even though it's 7am, and you just crawled out of bed hoping to be in the office for 9am.
Bob just called in sick and nobody else is available to fly. So despite being Friday night, and you were just about to crack a beer, guess which chief pilot is going to fill in for Bob and not be home till midnight.
Don't worry, it will be better next week, except your training captain got a call from AC and gave his notice. He had been in the pool for a year, and weren't sure if/when his phone call was going to come, so made it hard for you to plan. Anyway, good for him, it's always been his dream. He has given 10 years of dedicated service, so you can't really complain. Now you're going to be digging through resumes and interviewing for a week, on top of your normal duties. Then your new candidate needs to give her current boss 2 weeks notice as well. That's great for her character, you like that, but it's such a pain in the ass because now your're short a pilot for a week. Guess who fills in! Guess who trains the new gal, since it was your training captain quitting that started this mess.
Things finally calm down for a few weeks, then one afternoon a guy from NavCanada calls. One of your King Airs declared an emergency and is returning to Saskatoon. Apparently something is wrong with the gear. They called the fire trucks, big excitement, lands and nothing happens. Maintenance determines it was a burnt out light bulb, big relief. Except now TC wants to know what happened and you need to make a CADOR response.

You may get to set your own schedule, but it doesn't always accommodate personal plans.

Nailed it !

[seven-oh-nooo]

It may surprise some, but CP's rarely make much more than pilots.

Dollar-for-dollar I make something like 105% of what my top-tier pilots make. If you look at it from an hourly point of view I average out to something like 40% of what a pilot makes. And to be clear, that's time at work I'm referencing not air time or flight time.

you get weekends off, set your own schedule, sleep in your own bed every night and don't have to deal with jet lag.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA. But seriously, is your company looking for a cp?

[DaveP]

It may surprise some, but CP's rarely make much more than pilots. I think at my company, you get base salary + $20k or something like that. In exchange, you get weekends off, set your own schedule, sleep in your own bed every night and don't have to deal with jet lag.

Set your own schedule, good one!

Constantly stuck to your phone, always putting out fires.
Jim doesn't like flying with Susan so gotta sort out the scheduling mess even though it's 7am, and you just crawled out of bed hoping to be in the office for 9am.
Bob just called in sick and nobody else is available to fly. So despite being Friday night, and you were just about to crack a beer, guess which chief pilot is going to fill in for Bob and not be home till midnight.
Don't worry, it will be better next week, except your training captain got a call from AC and gave his notice. He had been in the pool for a year, and weren't sure if/when his phone call was going to come, so made it hard for you to plan. Anyway, good for him, it's always been his dream. He has given 10 years of dedicated service, so you can't really complain. Now you're going to be digging through resumes and interviewing for a week, on top of your normal duties. Then your new candidate needs to give her current boss 2 weeks notice as well. That's great for her character, you like that, but it's such a pain in the ass because now your're short a pilot for a week. Guess who fills in! Guess who trains the new gal, since it was your training captain quitting that started this mess.
Things finally calm down for a few weeks, then one afternoon a guy from NavCanada calls. One of your King Airs declared an emergency and is returning to Saskatoon. Apparently something is wrong with the gear. They called the fire trucks, big excitement, lands and nothing happens. Maintenance determines it was a burnt out light bulb, big relief. Except now TC wants to know what happened and you need to make a CADOR response.

You may get to set your own schedule, but it doesn't always accommodate personal plans.

Nailed it !

Ha! Too funny. Did you ever nail it! That sleep in your own bed thing and jet lag made me laugh too because that’s the perception from the line. Emails and phone calls all week long at all hours! You better have a great relationship with your spouse to put up with that job. I don’t even want to calculate the extra time put in over the years. It’s all a wash anyway!
Dave

[iflyforpie]

Is that being one of probably a few CPs for a national airline or a 703/704 CP for a 100% turnover bottom-feeder?

Because I’d imagine there’d be a difference.

[goingnowherefast]

National airline CPs get to short out problems for just the YYZ 737 fleet. 703/704 CPs get to sort out problems for the whole company. At the end of the day I'd imagine it's all the same shit, just different pile.

Bottom line, 80k or even 100k isn't enough to be a government chief pilot. Maybe if they only had 1 plane and 3 other pilots.

[seven-oh-nooo]

Is that being one of probably a few CPs for a national airline or a 703/704 CP for a 100% turnover bottom-feeder?

You got me on that one, I'm proudly one of them bottom-feeding scumbags. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go bully a pilot into taking off at max gross.

[iflyforpie]

Not over max gross? You must be new.

[planett]

I would leave aviation entirely before taking on that job again, even for twice the money. Maybe it's just me.