Air Sprint Questions

[AirSprintInc]

Any idea when you may be hiring for YYC based FO’s?

Hi Ddutch,

For now we continue to concentrate our recruiting efforts out East, in YYZ and YUL specifically, but I can foresee a return to Western hiring by the end of the year.

Hi Matt,

Any updates on hiring for the First Officer role in YUL/YYZ bases? I have applied for the position but I haven't heard anything yet.

Thank you.

Hi Av8tour,

As mentioned above we are actively recruiting for our YYZ and YUL bases, if you send me PM or email with your details I would be happy to provide some feedback.

Cheers!
Matt
mrolleman@airsprint.com

[Stable_Approach]

1500 hours a hard minimum or have you hired with less?

[AirSprintInc]

1500 hours a hard minimum or have you hired with less?

Hi Stable Approach,

We have hired with less for the right individual, but for this round of hiring we are focusing on pilots who qualify for direct entry CJ Captain positions or First Officers with 2000 - 3000 hours total time.

That said, it never hurts to apply, so even if you are not within the range we are currently looking for or meet the posted hiring minimums I would still encourage you to submit an application.

Matt

[ethernet123]

.

[yowflyer23]

How often are you able to switch between the different work schedules. Can you do 16/12 one month and then 18/10 the next?

[AirSprintInc]

How often are you able to switch between the different work schedules. Can you do 16/12 one month and then 18/10 the next?

Hi yowflyer23,

Twice a year, in the Spring and Fall, we run what is called the "Alternative Schedule Bid" where pilots can bid for the non-standard schedules. The standard schedule is 16/12, non-standard would be 14/14, 18/10, and all of the rotational schedules, 7/7, 8/6 and 9/5. Outside of the twice yearly bids, a pilot can request an alternative schedule at any time, and if it is available, be awarded that schedule.

For pilots awarded an alternative schedule of 14/14 or 18/10 (or rotational 7/7 or 9/5) they may not be able to switch back to the standard schedule of 16/12 until the next bid, depending on the number of pilots on the opposite schedule. We require a balance of pilots on both the 14/14 and 18/10 schedule to ensure proper crewing levels as well as remaining within approved crewing budget levels, so for example, we would not be able to accommodate 8 pilots on the 18/10 and 2 pilots on the 14/14 for the same position (CJ3+ FO, Emb Capt, etc.). So, in the case of a pilot currently on an 18/10 and wishing to return to the 16/12 we may not be able to accommodate that change request until the next Alternative Schedule Bid.

Not being able to accommodate that change request is fairly rare, I cannot personally recall running into that issue on the CJ side of things since offering the various schedule options, however it is possible.

Hopefully that answers your question and feel free to reach out directly and I would be happy to go through all the ins and outs of our schedule choices or answer any additional questions you may have.

Matt Rolleman
mrolleman@airsprint.com

[Loading...]

A few questions:
1. How often do you get called in reserve approx?
2. Any plans to increase the pay scale? 145k for Embraer captain seems low compared to industry standards.
3. How long is the average layover?
4. Are pilot headsets provided?
5. Are people making this a career destination? With hiring around 2000-3000 hours, why would I go here instead of big red?
6. Perhaps the most important question, do I need to drain the lab?
Thanks

[MD11]

A few questions:
1. How often do you get called in reserve approx?
2. Any plans to increase the pay scale? 145k for Embraer captain seems low compared to industry standards.
3. How long is the average layover?
4. Are pilot headsets provided?
5. Are people making this a career destination? With hiring around 2000-3000 hours, why would I go here instead of big red?
6. Perhaps the most important question, do I need to drain the lab?
Thanks

1. Reserve is usually at home and you can get lucky by not being called at all for days on. Some rotations you can have a fairly easy schedule but then sit on reserve in a mediocre hotel in YYZ 2-3 days for "coverage" instead of sending you home. Usually plenty of notice is given if they need to fly you somewhere or operate out of base.

2. Lot's of payscale discussions but upper management has stated it does not want to be the highest paying employer but somewhere in the middle. Starting pay is above average no doubt but the bigger issue is the yearly increases and ridiculous 25 year payscale with subpar gains.

3. Varies between the CJ and EMB. Embraer fleet has a way better lifestyle, destinations and conditions. Layovers are usually min rest with the occassional 1-2 days somewhere in the US or affordable Caribbean island. CJ pilots typically don't stick around due to the lifestyle and fairly long road to E545 upgrade.

4. No, however there is 1 spare per aircraft in case of the rare instance you forget your own.

5. Not a career destination and stated that way by the president of the company himself in the past. Many pilots would like for it to be setup as a career place but the conditions and payscale don't make it a desirable place to stay. Recently some 5-10 yr employees on property have resigned seeing better career prospects basically anywhere else. Company refuses to implement a 7/7 schedule for everyone and is turning to "AI" to justify better scheduling. Cheaper for ASP to constantly hire every 2 years and bond pilots rather than reward them for their time dedicated to supporting the operation. 4 year EMB F/O upgrading to CJ Capt will get bonded for the new type for example.

6. Citation lav dumping is unfortunately part of being on that fleet. Has been brought up to management several times by pilots to be compensated in some form for doing this "shitty" job where EMB pilots live a cushy life with an APU and externally serviced lav. Pilots are treated worse on the CJ and worked way harder IMO.

Overall it is a good company and a great place to work for 2-5 years at most. If only the company truly cared and made the changes pilots are requesting it could be legitimate alternative career destination to any 705 operator.

[digits_]

Layovers are usually min rest

How long is a min rest?

[AirSprintInc]

A few questions:
1. How often do you get called in reserve approx?
2. Any plans to increase the pay scale? 145k for Embraer captain seems low compared to industry standards.
3. How long is the average layover?
4. Are pilot headsets provided?
5. Are people making this a career destination? With hiring around 2000-3000 hours, why would I go here instead of big red?
6. Perhaps the most important question, do I need to drain the lab?
Thanks

Hi Loading,

I'll do my best to answer your questions below;

1. It varies, most of our flying is scheduled a day in advance so you'll generally know what your flights are the day before. However, mechanical issues, sick calls, etc. can result in a call out while on reserve.

2. There are no plans to adjust the pay scale at this time, I believe the last CBAA salary survey put our Embraer Captain pay (midsize corporate jet) at or above the average mark compared to other respondents. For FO and CJ Captain pay we were towards the higher end. We are constantly monitoring industry trends to ensure we remain competitive for salary.

3. Again, varies, taking a look at the schedule from last week, if I exclude the "layovers" at our main bases (YYC, YYZ, YUL), we had 4 aircraft layover for 2 or 3 nights, but generally speaking our layovers away from base are under 24 hours.

4. No, one spare kept in the aircraft if you forget your own.

5. Some pilots are certainly making this a career destination, others choose to move on to airlines or other corporate opportunities. No one company is a career destination for everyone. We have pilots that have chosen us over airlines and other corporate operators as they feel we’re a better fit for them. Comparing us to AC is a bit of an apples and oranges comparison as we in a completely different area of aviation. If you enjoy corporate aviation and what it offers, as far as unique destinations, interactions with owners, modern aircraft with the latest technology, job security and different schedule options we may be a good fit for you.

6. Unlike the airlines, in corporate aviation we sometimes have to wear different hats. While draining a lav is certainly not the most glamorous part of the job, every job comes with things we need to do that we don’t like, and I’m sure that most would agree that this is one of those tasks. That said this isn’t an every day occurrence, most flights do not require a lav service. The Embraer aircraft have an external lav connection so lav changes are generally handled by ground crew. For the CJ fleet, as it has no external connection, pilots generally only need to take the lav out and hand it off to ground crew to be changed, and place it back in after.

Hope that helps!

Matt Rolleman

[AirSprintInc]

A few questions:
1. How often do you get called in reserve approx?
2. Any plans to increase the pay scale? 145k for Embraer captain seems low compared to industry standards.
3. How long is the average layover?
4. Are pilot headsets provided?
5. Are people making this a career destination? With hiring around 2000-3000 hours, why would I go here instead of big red?
6. Perhaps the most important question, do I need to drain the lab?
Thanks

1. Reserve is usually at home and you can get lucky by not being called at all for days on. Some rotations you can have a fairly easy schedule but then sit on reserve in a mediocre hotel in YYZ 2-3 days for "coverage" instead of sending you home. Usually plenty of notice is given if they need to fly you somewhere or operate out of base.

2. Lot's of payscale discussions but upper management has stated it does not want to be the highest paying employer but somewhere in the middle. Starting pay is below average no doubt but the bigger issue is the yearly increases and ridiculous 25 year payscale with subpar gains.

3. Varies between the CJ and EMB. Embraer fleet has a way better lifestyle, destinations and conditions. Layovers are usually min rest with the occassional 1-2 days somewhere in the US or affordable Caribbean island. CJ pilots typically don't stick around due to the lifestyle and fairly long road to E545 upgrade.

4. No, however there is 1 spare per aircraft in case of the rare instance you forget your own.

5. Not a career destination and stated that way by the president of the company himself in the past. Many pilots would like for it to be setup as a career place but the conditions and payscale don't make it a desirable place to stay. Recently some 5-10 yr employees on property have resigned seeing better career prospects basically anywhere else. Company refuses to implement a 7/7 schedule for everyone and is turning to "AI" to justify better scheduling. Cheaper for ASP to constantly hire every 2 years and bond pilots rather than reward them for their time dedicated to supporting the operation. 4 year EMB F/O upgrading to CJ Capt will get bonded for the new type for example.

6. Citation lav dumping is unfortunately part of being on that fleet. Has been brought up to management several times by pilots to be compensated in some form for doing this "shitty" job where EMB pilots live a cushy life with an APU and externally serviced lav. Pilots are treated worse on the CJ and worked way harder IMO.

Overall it is a good company and a great place to work for 2-5 years at most. If only the company truly cared and made the changes pilots are requesting it could be legitimate alternative career destination to any 705 operator.

Hi MD11,

Just a few corrections that I think might be needed here;

1.I wouldn’t consider our hotels in YYZ mediocre, we’re almost always in a Hilton or Marriott product, and while some pilots have a preference to one brand or the other, the complaints about cleanliness, noise, or safety for hotels stays in YYZ are extremely rare (1 or 2 a year) compared to the 1000+ hotel nights we have there. In addition, the Pilot Travel Committee (made up of line pilots) have chosen the preferred hotels in YYZ that we use.

3. Min rests are rare, looking at our data in the previous 30 days we operated approximately 1800 flights of which we had 4 cases where 1 or both crew members faced a min rest. During that same period we had another 25 cases where 1 or both crew members had a rest period that was between 10:01 and 11 hours inclusive. Our average rest period where two flights are operated with less than 24 hours between them is approximately 16 hours.

5. I don’t think I have ever heard James (President/CEO) ever say AirSprint is not a career company. As for the rest, it’s mostly opinion but it is definitely not cheaper for us to turn over pilots at the 2 year mark and that is definitely not the goal here.

6. I think expecting to be paid extra or bonus for doing parts of a job that you don’t like for the most part isn’t realistic.

Layovers are usually min rest

How long is a min rest?

10 hours from “block on” +15 minutes or “check out” (whichever is later) to “check in” at the FBO/airport.


AirSprint isn’t the company it was 10 years ago, significant improvements have been made to schedules, pay, and countless other areas of the operation to improve the quality of life for pilots. And what it looks like today will not be what it looks like 10 years from now either. In the previous 5 years we have more than doubled in size from a fleet and pilot perspective and we continue to grow. As we grow it opens up more opportunities to make improvements, not only for pilots, but for the entire company.

Looking across the industry as a whole, I’m hard pressed to find another company that has made the same amount of improvements over the previous 10 years. I expect that 10 years from now I’ll be able to say the same thing again.

Kind Regards,
Matt Rolleman

[tigerCT]

Do you sometimes have openings in YWG? On both aircraft or just the CJ?

[Diadem]

10 hours from “block on” +15 minutes or “check out” (whichever is later) to “check in” at the FBO/airport.

Ten hours in a hotel isn't much time to rest, but ten hours from check-out to report is absurd. If the drive takes half an hour each way, that's only nine hours in the room to get eight hours of sleep, find food, eat, shave, shower, etc...I guess exercise is right out the window.

[goingnowherefast]

10 hours from “block on” +15 minutes or “check out” (whichever is later) to “check in” at the FBO/airport.

Ten hours in a hotel isn't much time to rest, but ten hours from check-out to report is absurd. If the drive takes half an hour each way, that's only nine hours in the room to get eight hours of sleep, find food, eat, shave, shower, etc...I guess exercise is right out the window.

604 is a license to abuse. I've hoped that most private operators don't fully utilize the leniency.
It's a shame that 604 weren't included in the part 7 flight and duty time regulations.

[AirSprintInc]

Do you sometimes have openings in YWG? On both aircraft or just the CJ?

Hi tigerCT,

Yes, we will hire for both types in YWG.

10 hours from “block on” +15 minutes or “check out” (whichever is later) to “check in” at the FBO/airport.

Ten hours in a hotel isn't much time to rest, but ten hours from check-out to report is absurd. If the drive takes half an hour each way, that's only nine hours in the room to get eight hours of sleep, find food, eat, shave, shower, etc...I guess exercise is right out the window.

Hi Diadem,

The 10 hour rest period is based off of a hotel that is no more than 15 minutes away, any longer and we will adjust the rest period to compensate. We will also assist the crews in arranging meals, provide a hotel if at home base, or any other assistance required on request. Again, this is a very rare scenario, the data from the previous 30 days shows an average rest period of 16 hours.

Kind Regards,
Matt Rolleman

[JustaFlyer]

Hey Matt, just curious are you still actively looking to hire first officers? Have applied quite a bit of times without any feedback.

[AirSprint HR]

Hey Matt, just curious are you still actively looking to hire first officers? Have applied quite a bit of times without any feedback.

Matt will be a few days in responding... Send me a PM with your name and I'll have someone reach out this week.

Thanks,

James

[Flyincanada]

Hello !

I am just curious. Are you guys still actively hiring for first officer position? If yes, I am wondering when would be the ground school? I saw the Sep.17th postings regarding recruiting.

Thank you so much

[AirSprintInc]

Hello !

I am just curious. Are you guys still actively hiring for first officer position? If yes, I am wondering when would be the ground school? I saw the Sep.17th postings regarding recruiting.

Thank you so much

Hi Flyincanada,

We are indeed still hiring First Officers and Captains for the CJ fleet as we continue to add aircraft (3 CJ's added since the September posting). We do have a particular need for Captains for the CJ so those applicants meeting our Captain requirements are receiving priority at the moment. For First Officers we are still targeting pilots with at least 2000 hours. For both Captains and First Officers we are currently looking to fill positions in Toronto (YYZ) and Montreal (YUL).

Our next available start dates are in early March and vary slightly depending on which aircraft you are assigned.

Feel free to reach out directly with any other questions!

Matt
mrolleman@airsprint.com

[Flyincanada]

Hello !

I am just curious. Are you guys still actively hiring for first officer position? If yes, I am wondering when would be the ground school? I saw the Sep.17th postings regarding recruiting.

Thank you so much

Hi Flyincanada,

We are indeed still hiring First Officers and Captains for the CJ fleet as we continue to add aircraft (3 CJ's added since the September posting). We do have a particular need for Captains for the CJ so those applicants meeting our Captain requirements are receiving priority at the moment. For First Officers we are still targeting pilots with at least 2000 hours. For both Captains and First Officers we are currently looking to fill positions in Toronto (YYZ) and Montreal (YUL).

Our next available start dates are in early March and vary slightly depending on which aircraft you are assigned.

Feel free to reach out directly with any other questions!

Matt
mrolleman@airsprint.com

Thank you very much for your fast and kind reply.

[Loading...]

Hello !

I am just curious. Are you guys still actively hiring for first officer position? If yes, I am wondering when would be the ground school? I saw the Sep.17th postings regarding recruiting.

Thank you so much

Hi Flyincanada,

We are indeed still hiring First Officers and Captains for the CJ fleet as we continue to add aircraft (3 CJ's added since the September posting). We do have a particular need for Captains for the CJ so those applicants meeting our Captain requirements are receiving priority at the moment. For First Officers we are still targeting pilots with at least 2000 hours. For both Captains and First Officers we are currently looking to fill positions in Toronto (YYZ) and Montreal (YUL).

Our next available start dates are in early March and vary slightly depending on which aircraft you are assigned.

Feel free to reach out directly with any other questions!

Matt
mrolleman@airsprint.com

Hey Matt,

Any word on when hiring will resume for YVR?

[AirSprintInc]

Hello !

I am just curious. Are you guys still actively hiring for first officer position? If yes, I am wondering when would be the ground school? I saw the Sep.17th postings regarding recruiting.

Thank you so much

Hi Flyincanada,

We are indeed still hiring First Officers and Captains for the CJ fleet as we continue to add aircraft (3 CJ's added since the September posting). We do have a particular need for Captains for the CJ so those applicants meeting our Captain requirements are receiving priority at the moment. For First Officers we are still targeting pilots with at least 2000 hours. For both Captains and First Officers we are currently looking to fill positions in Toronto (YYZ) and Montreal (YUL).

Our next available start dates are in early March and vary slightly depending on which aircraft you are assigned.

Feel free to reach out directly with any other questions!

Matt
mrolleman@airsprint.com

Hey Matt,

Any word on when hiring will resume for YVR?

Good Morning Loading...,

Out focus is still out East for both Captain and First Officer positions, on the First Officer side we may open up West based positions within the next 6 months but that will somewhat depend on internal movement as there are several internal pilots who have accepted temporary East positions with the intention of moving West when spots become available.

Kind Regards,
Matt

[Sulako]

Hi Matt (and James),

I just wanted to say thank you for posting here and being so transparent. It's a refreshing change from most employers who are pretty mercurial about their company culture. I know it's a lot of work and also I know that some posters here can be a little rough around the edges, but I for one really appreciate the time and effort you put into bringing clarity about your operation.

Cheers and have a most excellent day!

[AirSprint HR]

Hi Matt (and James),

I just wanted to say thank you for posting here and being so transparent. It's a refreshing change from most employers who are pretty mercurial about their company culture. I know it's a lot of work and also I know that some posters here can be a little rough around the edges, but I for one really appreciate the time and effort you put into bringing clarity about your operation.

Cheers and have a most excellent day!

Thanks for the kind words. All the best in 2025.

James

[AirSprintInc]

A quick hiring update, we recently received a number of additional training slots from our training provider and as such we have opened up positions for Calgary based Citation Captains. The start date for these positions will be March 10th. For those that are interested and meet the requirements you can see our posting with more details here: viewtopic.php?t=222498

Positions remain open for YYZ and YUL based First Officers and Captains as well on both the Citation and Embraer, those postings can be found here FO: viewtopic.php?t=221496, Citation Captain: viewtopic.php?t=221494 Embraer Captain: viewtopic.php?t=221495.

Kind Regards,
Matt Rolleman