Most professional operator to work for.

[Markovian P.]

Long time lurker, first time poster.

I know this is a highly subjective question, but which operator (private or commercial) do you consider to be the most professional/sharpest to work for, i.e. which has the highest standards in terms of safety, SOPs, customer service, TC compliance, etc.?

To rephrase the question, which group of pilots, do you look at and think "those guys know their stuff, take pride in their job, embrace kaizen, and have qualities worth emulating"'?

If you consider the operation that you work for to embody the above, please say so. Otherwise, I'm interested on what the pilots on this forum think is the 'best' operation in terms of the above (not salary/QOL etc., but purely which has the highest standards) in Canada, but also more specifically, on the West Coast?

[Bede]

I have nothing to offer, but great post. Instead of constantly bitching about stuff, we can use this forum to promote better employers. Better employers don't have pilot shortage issues.

[digits_]

Those are all very different questions.

On the 703 bush level, for the longest time, you needed the experience and to 'know your stuff' in order to deal with the crappy operators. Nothing motivates you as well to learn the regulations by having TC show up trying to shut down the company while you're being 'questioned'. Or a boss trying to force you fly in weather you shouldn't after telling you your employment might be in danger. It's a great motivator!

The pilots who take pride in their job and have qualities worth emulating, are the happy pilots. What it takes to make pilots happy, often depends on personal preferences, but some kind of job security, proper schedule and good salary sure helps.

Compliance and safety requires a few key people who take those things at heart and almost personally keep things going in a small company.

The happiest pilots I've known seem to be some private jet crew, and flight instructors linked to a government contract. At a small jet operation, or private owner, you can be your own safety department, which can work out great. When government contracts are involved, often safety and compliance can be more important than the actual job, which may or may not be something you'd enjoy.

[Mr. Lutsch]

I’d nominate PASCO. There are many things that we don’t get right all of the time. It can be disappointing to hear about an upset passenger or disgruntled employee, but in general everyone brings their best and our highs outnumber our lows.

By necessity, the standard of training is very high and the experience is valuable.

In any large group, there is inevitably a wide range of temperaments, philosophies and levels of professionalism, but overall, I think the people at PASCO are solid and I’m proud to call them my colleagues.

I can’t say much about reputation as someone inside looking out. It probably varies a bit depending on who interacted with who under what circumstances and when. Our customer reviews can vary between glowing and scathing, but we do our best and I would definitely nominate PASCO as a contender for the criteria that you outlined.

“highest standards in terms of safety, SOPs, customer service, TC compliance, etc.?”

[Markovian P.]

Those are all very different questions.

Firstly, thank you for the reply.

I understand how these are potentially different questions. “Professionalism” can be a rather ethereal concept and is deeply subjective. The different questions were an attempt to clarify what I meant by “professionalism” by asking the main question from a variety of angles.

The pilots who take pride in their job and have qualities worth emulating, are the happy pilots. What it takes to make pilots happy, often depends on personal preferences, but some kind of job security, proper schedule and good salary sure helps.

Compliance and safety requires a few key people who take those things at heart and almost personally keep things going in a small company.

I could not agree more, but I have also found the inverse to also be true. It is incredibly disheartening when colleagues, senior employees, and management don’t take pride in their job, are tardy/tolerate tardiness and general slackery and do the absolute bare minimum (if even). (Disclaimer: this is not a description of the company I currently work for, but definitely does include previous operators I have been employed at.)

The happiest pilots I've known seem to be some private jet crew, and flight instructors linked to a government contract. At a small jet operation, or private owner, you can be your own safety department, which can work out great. When government contracts are involved, often safety and compliance can be more important than the actual job, which may or may not be something you'd enjoy.

This is great and exactly the type of information I am looking for. My next career move will hopefully be my last for very many years and I want to find an operation where personal attempts at kaizen and professional conduct aren’t a constant swim against an organizational current, and where management expects a high level of professionalism as standard.

[Heavy Rayn]

Some of the happiest pilots I’ve met operate private jets for a great owner. Typically they’re the hardest job to find since the “job” is good to the level that people don’t move on but if you can get into one that’s the way to go in my opinion.