I’ve seen Conair job offer and I’m going to apply. Always been interested by aerial firefighting and I feel like it’s the right moment for me.

I’m just curious to know if they hire directly on the Q ? Almost a 1000 hours 705 on turboprops and mostly jet (737).

From my understanding the base pay is somewhere around 65k + flying pay, is that correct ?

It also seems you get 2 weeks off during the season, I assume you also have some days off here and there during the summer ?

Any other recent informations would be appreciated.

Thank you

I can’t speak to their hiring or pay, but when I worked on the provincial side of their operation (2021), pilots didn’t get much time off, I think it was about a week back then. Besides that, your opportunity for time off will depend on the alert status, which is set by the province, based on the weather and likelihood of a fire kicking off. If I remember correctly, the most lenient normal alert was 2hrs, which gave you 2 hours from the time of the alert to get back to base and have your engines running. Very rarely would you get a more relaxed alert which had no time limit. This alert was basically only in place if it was raining, which means you’re probably not flying anyways.

I have not worked for them however the pay is on the low side. The union tried to get good wages but the Arbitrator gave them crap. The per deim is out of the 90s and the lodging allowance is as well. About $160 a day between the 2…. Two periods of 7 days off out of 130 days. (The average airline pilot works about 196) you are also responsible for your lodging anytime you are in Abbotsford on training.

Too bad the arbitration went the way it did.

How are they retaining such talented drivers?

I honestly think the people who stay do so because they genuinely like the job. Pre-COVID, the wages weren’t terrible, and the union put forward what I’d call very reasonable proposals.

For 130-day contracts, the union asked for:
• RJ85 Captain: $125k–$180k (Levels 1–5, left seat)
• Q400 Captain: $117k–$172k (left seat)
• CL-215 Captain: $101k–$162k (left seat)
• AT-802 / Bird Dog Captain: $93k–$153k (left seat)
• First Officer: $89k–$119k

This was in addition to flight pay based on $125 per hour, although I don’t believe flight-hour pay is an appropriate model for this type of flying.

None of this was achieved.

Instead, the arbitration award resulted in a 3% increase, and the pay scale still stretches across 12 levels.

CL-Skadoo! wrote: ↑Tue Jan 13, 2026 7:06 am How are they retaining such talented drivers?

They aren’t.

They lowered experience requirements and it’s a revolving door. Think Jazz or Encore but you get to drop stuff from airplanes.

‘Bob’ wrote: ↑Wed Jan 14, 2026 3:23 pm

CL-Skadoo! wrote: ↑Tue Jan 13, 2026 7:06 am How are they retaining such talented drivers?

They aren’t.

They lowered experience requirements and it’s a revolving door. Think Jazz or Encore but you get to drop stuff from airplanes.

I figured a coupled ILS spoon-fed by ATC is a little different than what these folks are doing. I can’t believe they can afford to play with experience with the stakes being so high.

Looks like they’ve dropped the ATPL requirement… “applicants with a Commercial Pilot License (CPL) only considered if overall experience is extraordinary and close to achieving the ATPL”

Conair simply hasn’t kept up to the times with pay. Just sad.Lowering their standards is not the solution. When will their management realize it’s next to impossible to find a job for 6 months during the off season and you can’t live off $64,000/yr. It’s become a revolving door these last couple of years it seems.

Sounds lame... Not just Lame... but "Sofa.King" Lame

There is virtually zero accuracy to any of the aforementioned misinformation. Where you people come up with this, likely some kind of desire for attention, is beyond me.

BRO

bigredone wrote: ↑Wed Feb 18, 2026 8:33 am There is virtually zero accuracy to any of the aforementioned misinformation. Where you people come up with this, likely some kind of desire for attention, is beyond me.

BRO

Tanker 299 quoted some salaries, if you feel this "misinformation" then please post the correct numbers.

What do you guys expect? Conair is a boys club run by some archaic twats. They are far from a progressive company

bigredone wrote: ↑Wed Feb 18, 2026 8:33 am There is virtually zero accuracy to any of the aforementioned misinformation. Where you people come up with this, likely some kind of desire for attention, is beyond me.

BRO

Bottom half of the seniority has a half life of two years. Heavy attrition of experienced guys from the top half. One year upgrade to heavy tanker captain. Most tanker FO slots unfilled or first year hires.

Misinformation? Do tell….