12,500 hrs. 45 years old. A320 Command, Beaver Otter and Floats

[Needswork2020]

I've not flown for almost a year when Covid-19 ended my five-year overseas A320 Captain job. Many other jets.. B747/737/A330.... (that seems to work against me).

In my 25 years or so of flying, I have operated Metro's in the prairies, Beavers and Otters in the Artic, light twins in the Caribbean, and more recently heavy jets overseas.

I applied for a C337 job fire detection job and not heard a peep. Same with Morningstar, Marc Anthony, Lodges, Conair... PAL as deputy CP now....
I wonder if I should lie and say I have 2000hrs and looking for a break.. Can you have endorsements removed from a license??

Currently in Vancouver surviving as a Courier for FedEx (with some AC/ WJ and Transat guys)... no one will even look at me considering my background with a view I will run.

I am willing to commit to ANY job for 2 years; The world isn't gonna right itself overnight.
I can clean a hangar, make you a drink, and fly the pants off any equipment with the maturity of a 45-year-old who has spent half his life in this career.

From Elections BC officer to School Custodian to Fedex.. I've done that and more this year. I don't take CERB or whatever..

I am able and will work.

Hopefully, this will be more effective than emailing CVs..


Thanks for reading.

[wordstwice]

Did you apply to LAS? They need a Global Captain.

[Needswork2020]

Yup applied to London Air.. and Flair as have B737NG time...

I'm not even after jet work as I get there are loads of guys on the street. Anything in the industry would be acceptable.

[Arnie Pye]

Same here man. Almost word for word. Roughly same amount of time, roughly just as many endorsements and command. Also working for Fedex and loving it just as much as you likely are.

I was told by a back channel that Morningsart won't interview airline jet captains because we are overqualified to fly their ATR's (despite having tons of large turboprop time). I'd have a million reasons to stay in that job, not the least of which is that I'm done ticking boxes for my resume.

Not a peep from Mag Aero fire detection, LAS, Cargojet even,...

It seems that we are now definitely in a little silo and no one wants to touch you because you're in your niche. I think that if I had known we were "too specialized" to make any jump to another sector of the industry, I'd have demanded a specialized salary.

[parallel60]

Anderson Air YVR hiring 4 positions as well FYI.

[altiplano]

Maybe give someone a call or send a personal note along with your resume if you can't get anyone on the blower?

Tell them you already did your time overseas and aren't looking to go back, aren't interested in bottom of the AC or WJ lists, and want to find a permanent good gig here.

Mighty be a way to break through any assumptions they may have about where you are looking to take it.

[Needswork2020]

Same here man. Almost word for word. Roughly same amount of time, roughly just as many endorsements and command. Also working for Fedex and loving it just as much as you likely are.

I was told by a back channel that Morningsart won't interview airline jet captains because we are overqualified to fly their ATR's (despite having tons of large turboprop time). I'd have a million reasons to stay in that job, not the least of which is that I'm done ticking boxes for my resume.

Not a peep from Mag Aero fire detection, LAS, Cargojet even,...

It seems that we are now definitely in a little silo and no one wants to touch you because you're in your niche. I think that if I had known we were "too specialized" to make any jump to another sector of the industry, I'd have demanded a specialized salary.

Wow.. Literally the same deal.

I was super keen on the Morningstar YVR C208. My son is here with my ex and living in Vancouver long-term is the new goal. I don't care what I fly, and I am certainly not going the AC/WJ way at my age and experience.

Keep your chin up brother.. things have got to get better, they can't be much worse.

[Needswork2020]

Anderson Air YVR hiring 4 positions as well FYI.

I applied online, tried ringing but couldn't speak to anyone. That job would be one to end my career in, happy to give it 15-20 years. Unfortunately, I think I really need to lower my experience on my CV if I am ever to get a reply.

[wordstwice]

I don’t want to start a debate here but I know corporate departments are very wary of hiring airline types. One of the companies you mentioned received over 100 applicants from airline pilots and threw them away, didn’t even give them a chance.

So I don’t think it’s the amount of experience you have but the fear that you’ll leave as soon as you get a chance. If there’s a way you can convey this in your resume or get someone to talk on your behalf then you might have a better chance. If you know anyone who works at one of these places that’s your best bet.

[digits_]

I am willing to commit to ANY job for 2 years; The world isn't gonna right itself overnight.

That's the problem. Whether it's realistic or not, operators want to hire people who "want to stick around forever!". Hiring someone with less experience gives them a chance that said pilot will stick around for a long time. Hiring an experienced pilot for a fire detection job, pretty much guarantees he'll be gone as soon as things get better.

After all, if you really wanted to fly fire detection, you would have applied -and probably gotten the job- years ago.

Would you trust someone to stick around if they have the experience to get a job that pays triple -or more- the amount of the job you are offering?

[Needswork2020]

A two to three-year commitment for a lower-end airline job seems appropriate. Even as A320 Captain the longest contract I have been given was 5 years; Most start at two. I'm pretty sure MAG isn't going to expect C337 pilots to stay on over two years.
Airspray/ Conair would be life jobs; it really depends on the situation. YVR Corporate is a life job.



Anyway, the solution seems to be to lie on my CV and cut my experience in half.

[digits_]

A two to three-year commitment for a lower-end airline job seems appropriate. Even as A320 Captain the longest contract I have been given was 5 years; Most start at two. I'm pretty sure MAG isn't going to expect C337 pilots to stay on over two years.

A year ago, sure. But now? Where would the C337 pilot go after 2 years? Airlines will barely have gone through their recalls, lots of tourist operators will have ceased to exist. I hope I'm wrong, but it is unlikely there will be any significant movement in 703 jobs, or anywhere else.

An airline pilot in a 337 job is probably the one that will be able to leave first, when he gets recalled.

There have been a couple of job ads here in the past few months where it was specified that airline pilots were welcome, if they could prove they actually quit/gave up their recall rights at their old airline job.

If that's something you are willing to do, then it might help if you could specify that. Assuming you could find a way to communicate that to the employer before he throws the resume out.

[GRK2]

So. It's who you know. In addition it's (and this is HUGE) who knows YOU! The Corp side is especially an Old Boy's Club. I've seen the ads, and know who is being called and who will never get a sniff. Those jobs are virtually a lock for the one who has a PPC on type and corp experience. It's easy to find them.

I also know a tonne of really well qualified pilots are either back home already or about to arrive. If you had a solid rep BEFORE you left to be an Expat Captain and you KEPT that rep overseas you stand a chance. If you were a real d*ckhead or stepped on anyone while you were away, that move made it home before you. Again, no chance if that's the case. (Not saying it is with the OP, it's just a fact.)

Good luck, it's a buyers market right now and it's gonna be a while before that changes.

[Ash Ketchum]

I just want to say good on you for keeping working and having a good attitude whatever job you are doing. Coming from the airlines (with alot less experience than you) I have also found difficulty in finding anything aviation related and am back in a previous engineering career for the time being. Have you thought about starting a business until things improve in aviation?

[Kosiw]

Sad thing is, even once things do bounce back, one can expect years in the right seat with little hope of any upgrade and more $$. The amount of lost earnings potential due to the pandemic for everyone without work these days is really depressing if one sits down and does the math.

[ant_321]

Sad thing is, even once things do bounce back, one can expect years in the right seat with little hope of any upgrade and more $$. The amount of lost earnings potential due to the pandemic for everyone without work these days is really depressing if one sits down and does the math.

I did that for me and my wife. (With lots of speculation of course). I stopped counting when it his 7 figures.

[Zaibatsu]

There’s an expression for this. Something about hatching and chickens or something.


You never made the money. It was never yours. You did nothing to deserve it. It was potentially available because of a unique set of circumstances some or all of which may have applied to you. Artificial wage inflation by unions that your skill and value alone don’t justify as the job is being done by nonunion or lower paid pilots just as well at other operations. By market forces and consumer confidence that changes faster than fair weather sports fans. And finally, pure luck......... or lack of it...... as to whether it benefits or hinders you.

I’m not saying it isn’t good for pilots to earn millions of dollars over a career. Of course it’s good. And it has a trickle down effect. But you need to think in terms of glass is half full vs half empty. You got to earn wages as good as you did. You had the potential for more while many pilots took the safer route and decided to settle for less for a more stable career.

Mr ex-pat OP probably has probably earned enough to comfortably retire by Canadian standards. Paid in USD. Likely a lot of that was barely taxed. Fast upgrade to Captain at higher rates than Air Canada pays. Depending on operation or locale the COL can also be inexpensive.

And the pay is there for three reasons. First is that the locale likely isn’t the greatest. At best away from friends and family in paradise. At worst in a compound under an oppressive regime. Second is the work. Very hard work compared to domestic airlines. Third is the temporal nature of the work. It isn’t there forever. Either people can’t do it forever or something like this happens and opportunities dry up. You have to come back home with your tail between your legs to everyone you were gloating over on Instagram with your balling lifestyle not even able to get BOTL at the airline you probably scoffed at a year ago.

So after all of that opportunity and progression and earnings to come back and displace someone with 500 or 1000 hours getting a job on a 337 to try and get some skill to make it in this industry and pay off his debt? To push a 3000 hour laid off Encore Captain out of the right seat of an ATR who has far more recent and relevant experience and is trying to pay down a half million dollar mortgage in YYC ? To come to this lifelong realization that you just want to settle down to the simple life but not while you were making bank overseas? To stay small forever even as the industry heats up again like we all know it will?

Maybe you are seeing the reason why you aren’t getting any leads.

Please.

We’ve had to live in Canada this whole time. We’ve had to watch our pay which is in units %70 the value of your units payed out at 70% or less rate and then taxed at 50% to borrow money to buy some of the most expensive real estate and products and services that are more expensive than most places and hope that CPP is still there to supplement our TFSA and RRSPs in the hopes that we don’t wind up in retirement prisons dying of disease like lots of Canadians are.

Don’t take our jobs.

[ahramin]

What most people don't get is that an airline pilot continues to accrue seniority on the pilot list at the same rate whether they are working or sitting at home. I had a callback today for a part time position and they started asking about what I could do if it turns into a full time position. After explaining that I can and will pass on going back to my old position until my seniority level allows me to go back with a decent schedule, they seemed pretty happy with that.

I understand many corporate flight department managers are too insecure to even speak to an airline pilot but if you get a chance, make sure you frame it the right way. I make it perfectly clear that if the money and schedule are better at the old job, I'm gone. But the old job has a lot of downsides at the bottom of the seniority list dealing with COVID PITA stuff so make it worth my while and I'll stay.

Also if you're an airline pilot, you're used to being treated like a racehorse and having everything done for you. Flight planning, logistics, catering, passenger briefings, IROPs, grooming, it's all someone else doing it for you. Throw someone who has been flying that way for five years back into a charter operation without proper supervision and it's going to be a disaster for a few months. If you've been flying small stuff on the side the whole time and are still used to doing everything for yourself, try to communicate that.

['97 Tercel]

IMO, biz jet companies don't really like airline people. Many bad experiences.

Keep the Beav and Otter stuff etc, and downplay the A320 experience (at least for anything less than the Global)

[Turbolag]

My thoughts. Corporate flight departments are insecure to talk to airline pilots. The reason airline pilots aren’t finding jobs, is that everyone knows COVID will end and no one wants an employee that is going to up and leave to go back to another employer first chance they get. Simple. Corporate jobs are few and far between and those of us lucky enough to have one, and a good one at that, will gladly stick it out. I think it would be funny if the situation was reversed. If all the corporate pilots were out of work and decided to mess around as airline pilots for a year or two until they could get back to their departments. No that would be interesting.

[Liftdump]

PARKER ERASER

[ahramin]

PARKER ERASER

[SAR_YQQ]

and I am certainly not going the AC/WJ way at my age and experience.

Not entirely insurmountable, RCAF do it all the time. Experience is not nearly as valuable as a seniority number. Once you have 2,000 hrs, you’re on equal grounds as everyone else. I look forward to the day where all I have to do is put the gear up and worry about what to eat at the next lay-over.

[MACH83]

To OP, keep the faith. You are applying for a small trickle of jobs in a severely depressed industry, most of which are likely to be filled by known applicants. When things pick up again (and they will) opportunities will arise, including ones that value your extensive experience.

[GATRKGA]

You see this thread kids?

Don’t rush to the airlines. You’ll be avoided like a 250 hr wonder. If you do go to the airlines, make sure you plan for the world ending.

I feel for the OP.

To the winner that posted about being the victim of a half a million dollar mortgage, why should you be so specially treated because you chose to go into debt? Can’t afford it? Work with your peers at making your work place pay you more. Or rent a basement so you realize what living within your means truly means as a regional fo in this country. No body bought the half million dollar real estate but you. You live with your choices. Let me guess you likely fomoed because your buds all are “house”’owners and you weren’t, right?

The OP decided to leave this fucked industry, and will have a job before you the moment this industry picks up again. Oh and he will probably buy the scraps off what’s left of your mortgage when you default.

Stop living a fantasy. You will suck a three wood for a really long time before you can afford shit as a pilot in this country. Can’t deal with it? Make it better, or don’t become one.

For the love of god, don’t tell the Op to stop taking jobs cause of your stupid life choices. That’s got to be the most pathetic line I’ve ever read.

It’s as if you feel entitled or something because you stayed home working for encore while the OP went away and made money? He sacrificed other things. The way I see it, it’s tit for tat. You both deserve the job. Probably him more, because unlike you, he wasn’t handed a q400 gig on a silver platter for having a pulse. He probably passed a few 4 day assessments to be in the position he is.

Oh the ignorance.