Info on Central Mountain Air

JET A-1 · Post by **JET A-1** » Sat Aug 27, 2005 12:01 pm

Hey everyone,

Does anybody have any info on CMA besides on the website.

-Working conditions
-Schedules/ time off
-Salary
-Flight hours/ month

Thanks.

B1900 · Post by **B1900** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 4:17 am

Jet-A did you get a interview or a call from CMA

. . · Post by **. .** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 6:36 am

I think they still have people on layoff from the last round of interviews?

JET A-1 · Post by **JET A-1** » Sun Aug 28, 2005 9:38 am

B1900,

I had a basic interview at YYC a couple of months ago and was told they were going to be conducting pilot interviews over the summer. Then some pilots got laidoff. With all of the major airlines hiring there should be some movement right away!

JET A-1 · Post by **JET A-1** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 7:30 am

Anyone know if the pilots on layoff are back flying with CMA? Also heard a rumor that they are short captains and the FO's don't have enough hours to upgrade. Is this true?

Downtown · Post by **Downtown** » Tue Aug 30, 2005 9:35 am

I was in Calgary last week delivering resumes. A woman named Pam at the CMA office there took my resume. She said all laid off pilots have been called back to work and they might be looking for more very soon.

DT

Dockjock · Post by **Dockjock** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 11:13 am

Might be a bit short on Captains but there are lots of F/O's with the time to upgrade, apparently about 15-20 which should be enough for the coming year give or take. Rumours about a fall groundschool though.

snag · Post by **snag** » Sun Sep 04, 2005 4:55 pm

Anyone have any pointers or heads-up info for the interviews?

Dockjock · Post by **Dockjock** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 11:10 am

To answer the original post

Working conditions- pretty good for an airline this size. Most of the people are terrific, but the company does still have a tendency towards "mom and pop" type decisions. Depending on your base, you may only see management 2 or 3 times a year, though, which can be a good thing.

Pilots work 19 days per month. The pairings go anywhere from 4 hrs to 3 days long. 2 weeks vacation must be accrued first before being able to take it (ie no vacation till your 2nd year).

Salary for F/O's is base on experience,
<1000TT $22,500
1000-2000 TT w/500 multi or turbine $25,000
>2000TT w/500 multi turbine pressurized $28,000

Captain yr 1 $40,000

Flight hrs per month depends on your base and seniority. Can't really be more specific as it would vary from all reserve (0 hrs) to 90+ hrs depending on the season.

CAV-OK? · Post by **CAV-OK?** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 6:33 pm

I'm sure it's been asked, and answered before, but; does CMA hire from the ramp to F/O? I'm currently working on my CPL, and am looking for a second part time job. If so, who would I forward my resume to? Any info would be great.

Thanks.

JET A-1 · Post by **JET A-1** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 7:31 pm

CAV-OK,

CMA does hire from the Ramp/ CSA. You have to successfully get an interview and pass the pilot interview to get into the pilot pool though.

DJ,

Thanks for the info. The company sounds great to fly for! Hopefully I will be getting a phone call for an interview. Are a lot CMA's pilots moving onto AC/ Jazz or are they staying? Also how long is the wait for a ramp/ csa job to move to the right seat these days?

Thanks.

Dockjock · Post by **Dockjock** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 8:25 pm

There have been a number of pilots move on to AC recently, close to 10 in fact. 4 have also recently gone to Cathay. The wait from ramp to flying is around 12-18 months I believe, but guess that it will shorten slightly as movement continues. Also, you need 500 hrs minimum to get hired as a rampie.

CAV-OK? · Post by **CAV-OK?** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 8:26 pm

Jet A-1

Thanks. Would the initial interview be the one that would make or break you, or as a ramp employee, you would keep applying for flight crew positions?

Thanks again.

CAV-OK? · Post by **CAV-OK?** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 8:29 pm

Jet A-1

Disregard that last post. I gotcha now. Might be tough for me to pass that interview. I don't have my IFR, and I'm guessing they ask a lot of questions on that.

Thanks.

flyincanuck · Post by **flyincanuck** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 10:47 pm

Dockjock wrote:Also, you need 500 hrs minimum to get hired as a rampie.

First company that I've heard who requires mins for the ramp. I know its for candidates planning to move into the right seat...but still the same.

flyincanuck · Post by **flyincanuck** » Mon Sep 05, 2005 11:04 pm

Sorry I've got to come back to the table and vent for a second.

Give me a break! 500 hours in a plane to work the ramp? This is just a game to some isn't it?

I know the company's mins are set by the insurance company, but has any told them this is just getting rediculous!?

Come on, I mean I personally know of three individuals who had half the time required to work the ramp and were flying right seats in:

Saab 2000s (Europe)
737-700/800/900 (China)
Totters (Caribbean)

Again, they had 250 hrs!!!

And you know what? The planes aren't falling out of the sky in Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean becuase co-joes have less than...oh say...5,000 hrs.

I'm tired of hearing "sorry we didn't set the mins" as much as seeing gas prices over 70 cents a litre.

End rant.

C-KEEP · Post by **C-KEEP** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:05 am

I'm with you Canuck!!! That's retarded...with 500hrs, why don't you fly an airplane???

KAG · Post by **KAG** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 7:36 am

Does CMA hire direct entry captains?

JET A-1 · Post by **JET A-1** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 12:12 pm

I don't think you need to have 500hrs to work the ramp. I know a couple of pilots that had 250 to 300hrs when they started flying. It might have changed just recently though. As long as you have your IATRA exam completed your alright. I also heard from a CMA pilot that they have PPC'd a new pilot with 250hrs. Just enough to get the IATRA valid. If you work your butt off and be patient, in the end they will reward you with a right seat job.

I agree with Canuck! Our industry needs to change! I talked to an exchange student from Paris, who has just completed his PPL and he said that in about 2 years he plans to be on an A320!

gonnabeapilot · Post by **gonnabeapilot** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 12:27 pm

Don't let posted minimums fool you. Just because a company says it wants 500 hours, doesn't mean that's what they'll hire at. From my understanding, it's used simply as an additional filter for sorting through resumes. There will be some people who will look at 'min: 500 hours' and shrug their shoulders and say "oh well". And then there are some that will look at it at say "screw that, I really want to work there, I'm applying anyways." As a company, who would you rather have working for you? From my understanding maybe 2 or 3 of the 15 lowtimers put in airplanes over the last 2 years actually had 500+ hours.

KAG: At this point in time, CMA does not hire direct entry captains and tends to shy away from it in general. But with the mass exodus to the majors, who knows what a few months down the road will bring. CMA will hire high time guys with the mindset that they will be Capts rather soon but soon means spending 6 months to a year in the right seat flying (and getting paid) as an f.o. before you'll see your upgrade.

airliner · Post by **airliner** » Tue Sep 06, 2005 4:03 pm

as for a lower time job there is nothing better. Yes they are hiring and growing as well.

Dockjock · Post by **Dockjock** » Thu Sep 08, 2005 2:10 pm

I'm not saying its fair, but it is within the realm of reality. I can also see it changing now that the company is getting short of pilots.

Is it reasonable to expect 4000 hrs to fly right seat at WJ? For $40K? That's 8x the hours of a CMA rampie for barely double the money!
Or how about AC where 3000 hrs seems to be OK, so that's 6x the experience for $38K? If you wanna work at CMA, don't let posted mins stop you...heck the company says 3000 hrs for Captain, plus 1000 hrs of mountain flying. There are many, many, many examples of upgrades that don't even touch that. Just apply and see what happens.

FlowPack · Post by **FlowPack** » Fri Sep 09, 2005 11:19 pm

I have 500TT with a valid instrument rating and have been working the ramp at a good company for a year and a half, and yet have not seen any fruits of my labour. Sometimes, even after a long stretch of good honest work and making close friends within the company, its often up to one person in managament(who prob doesn't know you) to make the final decision to hire the low time guy. No guarantees my friend.

truedude · Post by **truedude** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 12:24 am

Well I must say that’s really something you have to give CMA credit for, once you pass that interview if you’re a low time pilot you are guaranteed a chance to fly, you just have to be patient and they do try to keep it to a relatively short period of time. I think a year and a half is the most anyone has spend on the ramp in recent history at CMA.

LostinRotation · Post by **LostinRotation** » Sat Sep 10, 2005 1:11 am

I couldn't survive 18 months on the ramp without flying....

Also after 18 months your IFR is invalid, your flying skills are probably shot to hell, especially if you only had 250 hours to start with.

From a common sense standpoint, working the ramp for more than 6 months would seem detrimental to the company. Maybe hiring half of the rampies as just that, and the other half as prospects might work out better ? Shorter wait times for the prospects, which hopefully means skills and ratings are still intact....just an idea

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