The state of the industry for new hires?

[Shea_G]

I’m contemplating switching careers and was hoping to get some inside information from those in the industry. I’m currently a professional land surveyor in training (33 years old) a few months away from getting my professional accreditation but find myself not loving what I do (low compensation and more office work as career progresses). The surveying industry has a serious issue lately (last 15 years) with underpaying (avg $35/hr with a degree and 15 years experience vs working with labourers getting $45/hr+).

My question is what is it like for one getting into the commercial rotary wing industry right now? What are typical wages for someone 5-10 years in? Are there a lot of job openings or is it very hit and miss? Rotary wing vs fixed wing? What does the future look like for industry?

I’ve been hesitant to commit 100k for training in the past because I was told the competition for jobs was fierce, I was thinking with the labour shortage going on right now in other industries, this may be a good time to get it as it may be easier to find a job and start building hours?

[Bug_Stomper_01]

The industry is disintegrating around us, now is about the worst time to get in. I can’t count how many companies have gone under in the last ten years, some were 60 plus years old.

[rehande]

I’m contemplating switching careers and was hoping to get some inside information from those in the industry. I’m currently a professional land surveyor in training (33 years old) a few months away from getting my professional accreditation but find myself not loving what I do (low compensation and more office work as career progresses). The surveying industry has a serious issue lately (last 15 years) with underpaying (avg $35/hr with a degree and 15 years experience vs working with labourers getting $45/hr+).

My question is what is it like for one getting into the commercial rotary wing industry right now? What are typical wages for someone 5-10 years in? Are there a lot of job openings or is it very hit and miss? Rotary wing vs fixed wing? What does the future look like for industry?

I’ve been hesitant to commit 100k for training in the past because I was told the competition for jobs was fierce, I was thinking with the labour shortage going on right now in other industries, this may be a good time to get it as it may be easier to find a job and start building hours?

Hi, Everyone has a different experiences. The industry is not bad at all. But there are some pros and cons. Since i have been working over 12 years, i never ever had any major concerns. Flight pay goes up based on your experience. But it totally depends on you, for whom you are working, where and what kind of work ? It needs a little planning and hard work after finishing the flight school. When i was in the flight school, my instructor had told me one thing which i always remember, Any donkey or monkey can learn how to fly the helicopters. But its not just the flying. Its all about your over all personality, how hard work you do, how do you interact with customers, with co workers and where you want to see your self after 5, 10 or 15 years etc. I never ever had any problems of finding a job since i started and had multiple job offers all the time. First 5 years will be tough for sure but after that it becomes easier. If you want to learn and explore the helicopter aviation industry, then CANADA is best of best place in the world to work and learn. I am very lucky and proud what i achieved from this industry and still achieving and learning. I would strongly recommend start your training now and you will find your way. Good luck and cheers.

[Bug_Stomper_01]

I’m contemplating switching careers and was hoping to get some inside information from those in the industry. I’m currently a professional land surveyor in training (33 years old) a few months away from getting my professional accreditation but find myself not loving what I do (low compensation and more office work as career progresses). The surveying industry has a serious issue lately (last 15 years) with underpaying (avg $35/hr with a degree and 15 years experience vs working with labourers getting $45/hr+).

My question is what is it like for one getting into the commercial rotary wing industry right now? What are typical wages for someone 5-10 years in? Are there a lot of job openings or is it very hit and miss? Rotary wing vs fixed wing? What does the future look like for industry?

I’ve been hesitant to commit 100k for training in the past because I was told the competition for jobs was fierce, I was thinking with the labour shortage going on right now in other industries, this may be a good time to get it as it may be easier to find a job and start building hours?

Hi, Everyone has a different experiences. The industry is not bad at all. But there are some pros and cons. Since i have been working over 12 years, i never ever had any major concerns. Flight pay goes up based on your experience. But it totally depends on you, for whom you are working, where and what kind of work ? It needs a little planning and hard work after finishing the flight school. When i was in the flight school, my instructor had told me one thing which i always remember, Any donkey or monkey can learn how to fly the helicopters. But its not just the flying. Its all about your over all personality, how hard work you do, how do you interact with customers, with co workers and where you want to see your self after 5, 10 or 15 years etc. I never ever had any problems of finding a job since i started and had multiple job offers all the time. First 5 years will be tough for sure but after that it becomes easier. If you want to learn and explore the helicopter aviation industry, then CANADA is best of best place in the world to work and learn. I am very lucky and proud what i achieved from this industry and still achieving and learning. I would strongly recommend start your training now and you will find your way. Good luck and cheers.

You didn’t really answer his concerns which are all valid. The pay SUCKS for years, and to be quite frank it sucks as a higher time pilot in Canada too. There’s less work now than I’ve seen in the several decades I’ve done this (rapidly getting worse since 2008). I would agree it’s the best country to gain experience in for low time guys because no one with any experience wants to work for what they’re offering here in Canada. There’s also all the TFW’s you have to compete against that come here for experience then bounce back to where they came from. I even found out some companies are allowing these people to pay to fly revenue in some instances. I think the OP wants a realistic outlook on the pay, schedule, and a comparison to fixed wing.
Realistically it’s a $100K investment for the license alone, with almost no guarantee to fly for years (if ever). He will be sweeping floors and helping ames clean panels making less than minimum wage. Doing ground support for more experienced pilots and running fuel/spray trucks just to be employed by a helicopter operator. Maybe after 3 years he will get some flying experience while still making nothing. Things peaked for helicopters in the early 2000’s and it’s been a downward spiral ever since.
What are you making rehande? How many hours do you have and how many endorsements after 12 years of awesomeness?

[MOAB]

To be fair though you have been in the states for a while now Bugstomper doing maintenance, does that really represent a Canadian perspective anymore?

The US is a different place entirely.

I can agree with Rehande that the last 14 year for me have been great, lots of hard work and not always making great money for those first 1000 hrs, but I would do it again as a career choice.

[Bug_Stomper_01]

To be fair though you have been in the states for a while now Bugstomper doing maintenance, does that really represent a Canadian perspective anymore?

The US is a different place entirely.

I can agree with Rehande that the last 14 year for me have been great, lots of hard work and not always making great money for those first 1000 hrs, but I would do it again as a career choice.

My perspective is more relevant than not MOAB, you have no idea with regards to my experience level. I was full time in Canada for over 20 years. I still help out both ends of the industry in Canada for specific operators. I know what it is and what it was. The industry in Canada is bleeding to death in the utility side of things. 14 years for you means you got in it just as it was tanking and you never experienced the boom years. The industry in Canada straight up SUCKS. I still love the trade (flying and fixing), however, I couldn’t and wouldn’t in good conscience advocate anyone getting into it with what the operators are paying and what the work is like now (especially competing with TFW’s and the never ending funnel of wealthy brats who’s parents help them into their forty’s).

There’s no seismic, no drill work, no bird towing, all there is left is emergency services (forestry mostly which sucks even more now than ever in Canada), some Ems which is very low pay compared to anywhere else in the world ( I believe you know that first hand MOAB), coast guard changed the guard and is locked off for 30 years, and a VERY small pocket of hydro work which will dry up in 2-5 years.

It takes a true sycophant to actually like the industry in todays world. But I guess the two 60 year old companies with almost 100 aircraft combined that threw in the towel in 2020 didn’t know any better, I guess it’s their loss and everyone else’s gain YAY! There were only 860 CPL-H and 249 ATPL-H (which are all CPL’s) registered in Canada in 2021.

Those numbers although indicative of the delay and extensions with medicals aren’t that far off I’d wager 2022 numbers will be lower (and are by the way less than the late 80s). By comparison that’s 27% (rounded up) of the licenses issued in 2008.

See below

https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/licens ... statistics