West Coast Air
Moderators: sky's the limit, sepia, Sulako, lilfssister, North Shore, I WAS Birddog
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just curious
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- Location: The Frozen North
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Cat Driver
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 8:31 pm
They operate Beavers and Twin Otters on floats out of Vancouver harbour..
From what I have seen they are one of the better operators.
Cat
From what I have seen they are one of the better operators.
Cat
The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
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Cat Driver
- Top Poster
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 8:31 pm
Last time I talked to Tom he didn't mention any connection between him and West Coast...
But his son Rick went there to work in management some years ago.
Anyhow you could do a lot worse in aviation than working for West Coast.
Cat
But his son Rick went there to work in management some years ago.
Anyhow you could do a lot worse in aviation than working for West Coast.
Cat
The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
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maxofthenorth
- Rank 2
- Posts: 90
- Joined: Wed Mar 10, 2004 1:03 pm
I know of three in the last 5 years. They smacked and bent the wing of a twin otter on the water in Victoria a couple of years ago and did the same thing to one of their beavers just a couple of months ago. A twin otter flipped in Vancouver Harbour also around 3 or 4 years ago. No casualties or fatalities that I'm aware of. They seem like a good company and I know a few former (and now retired) pilots. Everyone I know was happy there.
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rightseatwonder
- Rank 6
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- Joined: Sun Feb 22, 2004 7:21 am
- Location: M.78 FL410
Baxter air and wca are not affiliated...yet. Rick (son of tom-owner of baxter air) has recently bought out wca's fomer owner Al Baydala. (he has been minority owner and Vice pres for the past 5 years or so). As of now, baxter air and wca affiliations are just speculation as Rick and Tom are rumoured to be past their historial "differences".
They now have 5 twins in the water and 2 beavers. Lots of summer time work but slows down considerably in the winter...so lots of seasonal contracts. There have been some pilots there from the beggining..(as wca anyways) and so not a lot of turn over in the full time roster.
Relative pay for the coast, good benefits, AL and Barb and Rick were great owners when i was there...the x-mas party was one of the best parts of working there...lots of people won trips and airfares around the world etc
One thing i remember is that the uniform benefits were great. storm tech fleece lined winter jackets, long sleeve fleeces, short sleeve fleeces vests, sweaters, 5 shirts ties hats every year.
Run well from an employee standpoint...in fact pilots were prohibited from picking up any bag over 50 lbs..ever... due to wcb insurance. Fun to pull that one on the dockies!
T.C pdm ,crm courses every year...west coast winter weather seminars with guest speakers ever year i was there, i heard that they sent 4 crew to Flight safety last year even. They used to have west jet and regional passes setup...lots of hotel discounts etc.
As for incidents...yes they've had them. I could potificate as to why i thought they happened, but .....anyways. I found the training to be great. I was only there for the engine failure in vancouver so i couldnt say other than "grapevine" as to the others.
They have hired off the dock before...ive heard they are going to or have hired off the dock recently, but they generally like PPC pilots (who doesnt??) and they like coast time.
Ricks a sharp guy and from what i saw being there 3 weeks ago, the whole of the company thinks that his buyout will make for a bigger better company. we'll see i guess.
They now have 5 twins in the water and 2 beavers. Lots of summer time work but slows down considerably in the winter...so lots of seasonal contracts. There have been some pilots there from the beggining..(as wca anyways) and so not a lot of turn over in the full time roster.
Relative pay for the coast, good benefits, AL and Barb and Rick were great owners when i was there...the x-mas party was one of the best parts of working there...lots of people won trips and airfares around the world etc
One thing i remember is that the uniform benefits were great. storm tech fleece lined winter jackets, long sleeve fleeces, short sleeve fleeces vests, sweaters, 5 shirts ties hats every year.
Run well from an employee standpoint...in fact pilots were prohibited from picking up any bag over 50 lbs..ever... due to wcb insurance. Fun to pull that one on the dockies!
T.C pdm ,crm courses every year...west coast winter weather seminars with guest speakers ever year i was there, i heard that they sent 4 crew to Flight safety last year even. They used to have west jet and regional passes setup...lots of hotel discounts etc.
As for incidents...yes they've had them. I could potificate as to why i thought they happened, but .....anyways. I found the training to be great. I was only there for the engine failure in vancouver so i couldnt say other than "grapevine" as to the others.
They have hired off the dock before...ive heard they are going to or have hired off the dock recently, but they generally like PPC pilots (who doesnt??) and they like coast time.
Ricks a sharp guy and from what i saw being there 3 weeks ago, the whole of the company thinks that his buyout will make for a bigger better company. we'll see i guess.
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Cat Driver
- Top Poster
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- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2004 8:31 pm
I agree with the above post, Rick is a good guy and he will run a good company.
Accidents are another matter. Accidents can happen to any company or pilot.
Cat
Accidents are another matter. Accidents can happen to any company or pilot.
Cat
The hardest thing about flying is knowing when to say no
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
After over a half a century of flying no one ever died because of my decision not to fly.
