Ramp Job in Yellowknife with Northwright air

[con24]

[Redneck_pilot86]

Hello everyone . I am a new user and this is the 1st time I am posting here . I was wondering if any1 cud giv me any info Abt living in Yellowknife and working as a rampee for northwright company. I am a low time pilot and I wud really appreciate if any1 cud giv me any info or share their experience ... Thanx
P.s: sorry if there's any mistake of the way I posted

Ugh. Here is a start:
first*, anyone*, could*, give*, about*, would*, anyone*, could*, give*, thanks*, as well as the errors in sentence formation that I can only hope are because you are ESL.

[crazy_aviator]

Im assuming that IF your applying for a PILOT job, your over 16 years of age. PLEASE learn to type. You should have learned years ago but, alas, there is still hope. DONT say "your sorry", do better or get a friend to spell check, otherwise, you will indeed look awfully foolish in this industry

[photofly]

DONT say "your sorry", ...

You're sorry?

[con24]

.

[crazy_aviator]

My apologies photo, your welcome con and remember, there are a lot of helpful folks on these sites, stay on their good side

[con24]

.

[willow burner]

Norman wells isnt much of a place to live. Dont know about yellowknife. Ive heard of pretty rapid progression at northwright. That may come at a risk if you get stuck in a plane by yourself too fast.

Sounds like a better bet than a summer ramp job with some smaller unknown operator. Regardless, if your a fresh out of school cpl, and thats your most promising looking option at this point in the spring, by all means go up north, work like hell, and see what comes of it. Should be an adventure at the very least. If its not for you it ll become clear to all parties pretty fast.

Anyone disagree? Wait, this is avcanada. Anyone agree?


Btw, Where you from?

[con24]

[North Shore]

Geez, if I were Northwright, I'd be looking through the resume pile right about now, to look for the next person after I tell you to get lost. Do you really have any better jobs on offer? Thought not. Get up there, see the place, get your hands dirty, and then decide that it's (not) for you. No, it's not the GTA, but it will be the best flying you'll do in your career. Plenty of time to live in the city afterward - Toronto and your friends have/will always been there; your flying career not so much if you get too picky at this stage of it.

Being female isn't an issue - your work ethic is.

Good luck!

[con24]

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[crazy_aviator]

I was doing some LIDAR maint. out of Norman Wells last summer, I was talking to a female rampie, the pilots look young, I met the owner and some AME's, they were nice and accomodating. Thanks Warren Wright for the help

[con24]

Crazy_aviator thank you... I heard good things about warren wright too from my general manager she happens to know him...and the chief pilot is really nice when I spoke to him...I guess what matters is working with nice people more than anything else... Thanks again

[North Shore]

Con, 'the north' is really what you make of it. Some of your coworkers will love it up there, and stay; others will leave before they even give it a chance. Those two groups are in the minority. Most of the rest will tolerate it and find ways to amuse/enjoy themselves until they get enough time and experience to leave.

A number of years ago, pre 2001, I got to sit in the jumpseat of a jet taking me to Winnipeg. I explained to the skipper that I was off to Pickle Lake for the second half of the summer of my first flying job. Most of the rest of the trip was spent with him recounting tales of his years in Pickle, and the fun flying/ stupid stuff/ crazy characters that he'd met up there. NO-ONE tells tales of being at 380 half way across the country, or the difficult STAR/ILS that they had to do at Pearson on a dark and stormy night. They do tell tales about the time that they saw a cow moose and her calf swimming across a lake, or the parties where it was so cold outside that you could put the ice cube tray outside, and race the water turning into ice with your drink

Have fun. Safe flying.

[willow burner]

Im sure its a pretty intimidating prospect, and yes it ll be a tough road sometimes. Other times it ll be awesome. Most of your coworkers will be cool, and there ll be a few that are not, like anywhere.
There wont be many other girls on the ramp, but its not like there are no working females north of 60:). I fly with a few of them.

One thing though...
Did you say "bond"? Better say it quietly on here or a huge argument will ensue:)

What kind of bond? The kind you have to pay what your training (PPC) cost if you leave inside of a certian amount of time? Or would you have to pay something regardless?..ie: work for free. I can understand your desire to not be stuck there if it doesnt fit.

Anybody know what northwrights bonds are like?

[con24]

Hello willow burner ... What's wrong in saying about the bond ?? It's a 4 years promising note saying they will deduct $250 per month for 4 years.. At the end of 4 years you will get it back but if you leave before that you lose the $250 they deducted

[willow burner]

Hmmmmm. Well that doesnt sound too bad.

The only bonds Im familiar with are associated with specific training. For example, if a pilot is trained on a twin otter and then next week quits and leaves for a twin otter job with another company, the bond forces him to pay back the cost of the training, which can be a lot.

Your s at least you wont have to pay anything out of pocket regardless what happens.

Id sure give it a try. What have you got to lose?

[Krimson]

Hello willow burner ... What's wrong in saying about the bond ?? It's a 4 years promising note saying they will deduct $250 per month for 4 years.. At the end of 4 years you will get it back but if you leave before that you lose the $250 they deducted

4 YEARS??!? That's insane. You don't get a cent of your own money back unless you stay 4 years??
Are they really in a position to be putting that kind of bond on the table?

I never thought I would see the day where a ramp position was bonded...I am understanding of bonds and don't mind them, but this has crossed the line. It is not to cover any training costs on a ramp, it is a complete money grab. There are way more opportunities down south in actual cities. If you are wondering if the north will be for you or not, chances are it won't. Why not sign up somewhere else where you are not paying $250 per month to work on a ramp!

[Redneck_pilot86]

I would turn them down solely because of the bond. I'm sure the contract has no guarantee of a seat, at best it will guarantee you the chance to do a try-out type flight. If pilots at a group stop paying bonds, and just be true to their word instead, then the problem will go away.

[MUSKEG]

I do not believe it is legal for an employer to withhold money earned for any reason.

[xsbank]

A FOUR YEAR BOND!!!
Don't do it!
I had no idea there was a bond, let alone a four year bond - don't do it! And you pay them? That should be illegal and no matter how nice they are on the phone, they're EVIL!

THAT'S SLAVERY!

One year or maybe, if they're offering a type rating, two years, but 4 YEARS!?

Bombardier bonds you for 2 years, no money changes hands, you get a type rating on a Global or a Challenger or an RJ. Even if you leave early the two-year bond is half of what it costs for the type.

Don't do it.

In fact, I wish everyone who works there would just down tools and bog off. Maybe the "nice guys" would get the hint.

4 years. I've never heard such garbage in my entire life.

I'm going to have to go lie down.

[willow burner]

It does sound retarded if its truely a bond for just a ramp job. I was also guessing that the ramp would pay more than 250 a month, so it would work out to a very low paying ramp job, with a $12 000 bonus in the unlikely event of her still being there after 4 years. After four years at northwright, you should certainly be flying something. Heck, before 2 you d better be geting a chance at something with wings.


However, classic example here of how bonds keep getting paid. Its very easy for me to sit here with my job and several thousand hours and say, "screw that, I wouldnt pay a bond for anything". But for con24.....does she have other offers? Where are these better opportunities down in the city? Anybody? Its a different point of veiw from the bottom.

That said. If its true Im kinda surprised at northwright.

[shimmydampner]

I was also guessing that the ramp would pay more than 250 a month, so it would work out to a very low paying ramp job, with a $12 000 bonus

That's how I view it. My understanding is that the ramp wait at NWA is very short compared to similar companies. And after 4 years there you will have a good pile of PIC time and likely be captain on a caravan or twin otter or 99 or 1900. Take that experience, put $12,000 in your pocket, say "thanks, see ya later" and move on. After that same 4 years you can bet your contemporaries who started on the ramp at the same time at other places don't have that kind of coin in the bank and are likely still in the right seat waiting for an upgrade. They probably didn't even have that much more fun or better of a lifestyle than you-as was pointed out, small northern towns are what you make of them, and you can make them a lot of fun.

[esp803]

Don't think of it as a bond, think of it as "forced savings"

[xsbank]