Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

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Pacqing
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by Pacqing »

Would a Citation 11 wide door do the job? B.C. Govt used these for years though I don't know the cost structure compared to the King Air.
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fish4life
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by fish4life »

Pacqing wrote: Sun Apr 14, 2019 6:52 am Would a Citation 11 wide door do the job? B.C. Govt used these for years though I don't know the cost structure compared to the King Air.
MB government already runs their own Citations, the problem is they run them 604 not 703/4 so they can’t meet the landing distance on the chart when the commercial operation penalty is applied.
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greygoose
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by greygoose »

kvny16r wrote: Sat Apr 13, 2019 11:17 am Through the grapevine, I heard the doctors in the Manitoba medevac program won't fly unless it's a jet....
I can easily see the docs getting dumped by the gov’t. Mb is one of the few places that actually fly with a physician anyway. From some of my friends who’ve done lifeflight contract work, it sounds like they are usually hung up on waiting for docs to arrive anyway when a call comes in. RFP requires a 30 min wheels rolling time...Under the current model there’s no way that’ll be achievable if the carrier is always waiting for the doc to arrive from home or hospital. I’ve heard the wait can be anywhere from 1 hr to them holding all night on a call trying to pass it to a basic carrier but going anyway cause all basics refuse the call because of the seriousness. From the stories I’ve heard it sounds like life flight shot themselves in the foot by always trying to pass calls on to basics when they should have really been going. A King Air 250/350/200 with Blackhawk upgrades wouldn’t be far behind in the current model, there’d be no comparison in response time if a new model was put in place where all crew (including doc if they keep them) was at hangar on standby.
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flyinhigh
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by flyinhigh »

I'd be very surprised if any company would run their mouth about that kind of information prior to being released.

As for the pay being shitty, I didn't realize a first year king air Captain making $79,000 base plus .30 per mile after 7500 was shitty. Almost very one I know that works there is quite happy and has never said they got paid shitty. For the how they operate, I don't know any pilot that has worked there and complained about anything other than the behind the clock flying, but if thats bad and dangerous, I suggest you retire now.
bcat737 wrote: Tue Apr 09, 2019 8:37 am So Vanguard Air Care is running around telling everyone they have the RFP Ambulance contract (however it has not been announced). They are making a concerted effort to poach AMS medic staff from other carriers using this statement even though it is not true - real greasy!

They even have their ramps / internal staff approaching pilots and AMS staff from other companies as they are offering a huge headhunting bonus to attract staff - typical how they operate ... too bad their wages are still poor.
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digits_
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by digits_ »

flyinhigh wrote: Sun Apr 14, 2019 3:52 pm For the how they operate, I don't know any pilot that has worked there and complained about anything other than the behind the clock flying, but if thats bad and dangerous, I suggest you retire now.
If you need night coverage, get a shift system in place like ornge does. The way crews are flying now duty day wise (not just there but at every mb medevac operator) is insane.

3 years and 10 months to go I believe? But who is counting...
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mmm..bacon
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by mmm..bacon »

greygoose wrote: Sun Apr 14, 2019 9:27 am a new model was put in place where all crew (including doc if they keep them) was at hangar on standby.
Which Drs are you going to keep on unproductive standby at the airport? Pediatric specialists? Heart specialists? Trauma? etc... Much more efficient from a total system point-of-view to keep the Drs working at the hospital until they are needed for LifeFlight, IMO.

What sort of cabin alt can a 250/350 hold?
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Medevac1
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by Medevac1 »

I am sure there are still old skyward staff just chomping at the bit, for Skyward (skycare) to return onto Manitoba soil. Remember, Skyward went into receivership and left the province to reemerge as Skycare in Ontario. Left behind a whole lot of staff here in Manitoba not being paid.
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flyinhigh
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by flyinhigh »

digits_ wrote: Sun Apr 14, 2019 6:20 pm
If you need night coverage, get a shift system in place like ornge does. The way crews are flying now duty day wise (not just there but at every mb medevac operator) is insane.

3 years and 10 months to go I believe? But who is counting...
mmm, that system works great when you have endless funds to pay for things like over head via the tax payers dollars. If any private company staffed for that level of service without a dedicated contract (i.e. like all private medivac contracts across Canada) and no calls come in, guess what? Your outta business. In the Ornge model, those planes can sit for 6 months and they are still being paid for.

The way the schedule works at Fast/Vanguard is light years ahead of how many operate in the perennial black hole of not knowing when I'm resting or flying like Perimeter did in the not to distant past.

As for the flight and duty regs, couldn't agree more.
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digits_
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by digits_ »

Depends on the rates they agree on. If you have no shifts and there are no calls for 6 months they could still go out of business. Even with no staff to pay for.

You could also do more calls if you have true 24hr coverage. That offsets the extra staff cost.
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bcat737
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by bcat737 »

The Procurement Services Branch published a letter dated today (April 16, 2019) that their department is ...

"in the midst of preparing the next steps in regards to the Air Ambulance portion of the RFP. At the appropriate time, we will be in contact with you regarding the next steps"

No-one has been awarded the contract, and not all potential proponents have presented.

In addition, Ottawa (Feds) have not signed off on this process. A majority of all funding for air ambulance services fall under FNIHB (google it), which also dictates that all contracts fall under Federal procurement laws.
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digits_
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by digits_ »

FNIHB pays for some part of the calls, but they don't decide who gets to do the call in Manitoba. I forgot the name, but there's a central provincial dispatch unit that determines the order in which participants receive a call.
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FighterPilot
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by FighterPilot »

MTCC. But that’s a whole different ball of yarn with regards to efficiency.
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nothingbeatsflying
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by nothingbeatsflying »

Looks like the gov't is about to pull the plug.

https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html? ... 2019-06-06
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digits_
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by digits_ »

nothingbeatsflying wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:26 pm Looks like the gov't is about to pull the plug.

https://news.gov.mb.ca/news/index.html? ... 2019-06-06
So what does that mean? Urgent lifeflight calls in their twin otter? Everything privatized? Weird article.
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North Shore
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by North Shore »

Fibs, lies, and government press releases..
Recruiting staff for highly specialized positions is very difficult due to the specific qualifications and training required, as well as significant competition from private sector employers.
Indeed it is...but who in their right mind would quit any job to come and work for a program that has been under review for termination for the last 2 years? Also, there’s no significant private sector competition whatsoever...some of our pilots came from the private sector medevac field - none quit to go back there. Quit a stable roster out of a heated hangar in Winnipeg to go back to a rolling 14 hour duty day out of Ft. McLake with wing covers for de-icing?! FTS!
We had a good, stable program, with lots of well-experienced guys, all (most) of whom would have been glad to stick around for the long term. Once the privatization review was announced, out went the resumes, and people started leaving (4 of them to Air Canada alone). Better to take a good thing like AC than to wait until the program gets choked to death...
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greygoose
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by greygoose »

digits_ wrote: Thu Jun 06, 2019 7:39 pm So what does that mean? Urgent lifeflight calls in their twin otter? Everything privatized? Weird article.
From reading various news articles it sounds as though the work of the two citations is the only thing up from grabs anymore. As far as I gather, all basic stuff will remain as is. Now the question will be which company will be willing to say no to a good amount of basic calls(lots of lost $$$$$) to be able to put staff/aircraft on standby with fewer trips coming in for those dedicated lifeflight units? Less than a month to add tails and people for this specialized service will be no small undertaking unless they move current planes and staff used for basic trips over. No wonder every Mb medevac operator just posted job ads out the wazoo :rolleyes:
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bobcaygeon
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by bobcaygeon »

95% of the medevac flying in MB is already done by the private industry. The only reason the industry isn't doing Code 4 is because they aren't permitted to carry the extra drugs or use the extra equipment even if its installed.

Other provinces permit allow all the Code 4 equipment onboard a King Air.
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seasonaldriver
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by seasonaldriver »

anyone read the articles from the MB govt and in the Winnipeg Free Press regarding Lifeflight? The govvie ain't nice.
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digits_
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by digits_ »

Wondering how big the bond will be for private jet medevac pilots. And how quickly said pilots will leave again anyway...
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raw_data
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Re: Manitoba Govt Air Services to be Privatised

Post by raw_data »

All I know is that if EIC gets Medevac contract I’m gone! Been doing Medevac in the province over a decade.
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