So I am interested in starting out in the seasonal work environment of the fire surpresion side of Aviation. I understand that a person would start as a “Bird Dog” and work your way up that way.
In western Canada I am aware of at least 2 operators Conair and Air Spray. When does the hiring season start and which company is the preferred operator to work for.
I know there has been a recent thread about “Bird Dog’s” and it was very interesting. The big draw for me to that side of the industry is the time off in the off season. As well I understand that some of the crew member’s families just follow in a truck and trailer to the various bases throughout the fire season.
Any how any advice would be helpful.
Fire Season Hiring?
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Gadgetgoat
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Re: Fire Season Hiring?
CONAIR seems to start looking at guys when they get a feel for who is not coming back which is usually early Feb. Mins are ATPL 2500 TT 500 MPIC with mountain, bush, round engine, float, turbine time getting you extra points. The majority of new hires seem to have substantially more time than the mins. Contact info is on the web site and if you are a low timer save your stamp as you CV will just get binned.
Re: Fire Season Hiring?
Hicks & Lawrence usually hires detection pilots first. Minimum hours used to be 1000 with 100 multi. PIC. They're based in Dryden. A good company when I was there. They have a job posting for both detection and bird dog pilots.
