Sky Dive Pay

[Diver Driver]

I am putting this in General Topics and Salary because I think it falls under both.

I am curious how much skydive pilots are making in Canada. Mostly for a 182 or a 206.

Preseason activities are starting to ramp up and pilot pay was discussed at one of our membership meeting. Pilots at the DZ are asking for a bit of a raise and it caused a lot of discussion at our meeting.

The current rate of pay is $5 per load weather its one load or twenty loads, the problem the pilots are having is that we are out there all day to accommodate the club and sometimes only getting one, two, three, four and sometimes only five loads for the entire day. Bottom line it doesn't pay to go out to the DZ and sit there for no pay, we are technically "employees" and need to be compensated for the time.

The DZ requires a 300hr minimum. We all know it will cost a pilot well in excess of $30,000.00 to built the hours required (0 to 300hrs). Yes there is the argument of building hours but the DZ’s require commercially rated pilots and in reality should be paying a fair wage for a qualified driver.

Anyway I am putting this out there for discussion and some research to see what is going on at other DZ’s.

Looking forward to ideas and opinions,

Diver Driver

[Highflyinpilot]

Everytime I read posts about how little pilots pay is pisses me off.

5$ a load. 5 loads a day would only be 25 $ for the day.


Aviation industry is bullshit.
No offence to anyone, but it seems criminal to pay low wages as such either be skydive pilot or flight instructor.

[compilot]

I flew a 206 part time and I made $12/flight hour with a daily minimum of $48/day. I knew that I was at least paying for my fuel every time I drove to the drop zone. I also had a trailer (provided) to stay in every weekend, so that I didn't have to drive back and forth.

[mag check]

Everytime I read posts about how little pilots pay is pisses me off.

5$ a load. 5 loads a day would only be 25 $ for the day.


Aviation industry is bullshit.
No offence to anyone, but it seems criminal to pay low wages as such either be skydive pilot or flight instructor.

Any drop zone that is only taking 5 loads up a day can't even afford to pay for the gas, let alone pay the pilot 5 bucks.

In my experiance, the only DZ's that are doing well are the ones in the southern US where they have the weather and population base that makes it worth while to get a bunch of twin otters, or casa's.
If you can carry 38 jumpers each load, and a bunch of them are students, or tandems, you can make it.
You might even be able to pay properly for the pilot.

[Diver Driver]

I flew a 206 part time and I made $12/flight hour with a daily minimum of $48/day. I knew that I was at least paying for my fuel every time I drove to the drop zone. I also had a trailer (provided) to stay in every weekend, so that I didn't have to drive back and forth.

Thanks compilot,

This is exactly the type of Answer I was hoping for.

We made a proposal to the club for a $50 dollar "service fee" just to have a pilot for the day and then keep the load pay at $5. A pilot is a "service provider" for the DZ. This way if we flew an average day of 10 loads it would be $100. Anything more and the pilot would actually make a decent wage for the day anything less and then at least our fuel and time would be compensated.

Thank you,

Any more ideas?

[Diver Driver]

Any drop zone that is only taking 5 loads up a day can't even afford to pay for the gas, let alone pay the pilot 5 bucks.

I agree, this is not always the case. The average day would be about 10 loads. It does happen however that we may get only one load in due to weather or commitment from the jumpers for a particular day. These are the days the pilot goes out there and is not covered for his or her expenses.

[imfsub12]

you know the funnest thing. .is ! How long has a jump pilot been paid $5.00 for.. ANY takers??? I've been in it for 5 years.. and its still $5.00

[Zero-Zero]

It's too bad that in Canada we are so greatful to get the crumbs that fall off of the table. We are so conditioned to take what we get, that we can't even help ourselves when the demand for pilots goes up. We just sit there hat in hand and say thank you for the pittance you pay me.

University grads make way more, (right out of school) in fact I'm sure that MacDonald's employees are making way more. After paying so much for an education this is shameful! I flew a few loads about ten years ago, and back then it was $1/head.

Maybe you need to make a stand. Good luck to you.

[imfsub12]

damm that $4.00 a load.. 10 years ago.. wow.. with inflation that woudl be alot more today...

we getting HOSED....

[Invertago]

Sadly though, one must wonder how many resumes arrive for that entry level jump job. As for the low pay on the instructing side, students book ahead of time, if no one is booked, I stay home. If I go to the airport it is because I'll get anything between $45 and $300 for the days work. The $45 day is really only a morning or afternoon at the airport. The other side of the coin is that if you are providing a service, you kinda have to show up even if only for one person. Scheduled airline flights are not canceled because only a few Px showed up.

Make the jumpers book the flight in advance, then the pilot only shows up when there is worked lined up. If the weather cancels things... well sucks for everyone, but thats the name of the game we play. Have peoples phone numbers and a few calls will save the trip to the airport.

Other option... jumping is a sport, people do it for fun with their disposable income, make them pay what is necessary to enjoy their sport. It is a privilege not a right after all.

[Diver Driver]

Other option... jumping is a sport, people do it for fun with their disposable income, make them pay what is necessary to enjoy their sport. It is a privilege not a right after all.

It is like I am living through this meting all over again. lol...

We got a lot of flack about what makes a pilot think he is worth more than an instructor, packer or any other club member.....(by the way instructor $18 to dispatch one load of students, Packer $5 each pack job ($15 for the load of students))

Our response was the instructor, packer club member.... is doing for the "love of the sport". Pilots are there for their career have more responsibility than the club members, what being PIC means at the DZ and the "Service" we provide for the club member. But unfortunately they can not seem to separate "member" responsibility from "employee" responsibility to them we are all members in a volunteer organization.

Having said that it is not over yet and there were some cooler heads around the table that realized that we are not really asking for a lot. All said and done it would come out pretty close to minimum wage.

I would still like to hear from other jump pilots on what they are making, and what they think is a responsible wage. This is not over yet and we will need our arguments and ideas for the next round

[Diver Driver]

you know the funnest thing. .is ! How long has a jump pilot been paid $5.00 for.. ANY takers??? I've been in it for 5 years.. and its still $5.00

What do you think is fair?

[TG]

damm that $4.00 a load.. 10 years ago.. wow.. with inflation that woudl be alot more today...

we getting HOSED....

15$ an hour in 91.

Dude, you were already hosed

[Invertago]

In the end, it is the pilots themselves that set their wages. If you have some young guy offering to fly for free, us avcanadians might not look fondly on him, but it is his choice, no one is putting a gun to his head and forcing him. He is just selling himself short and screwing over his fellow pilots.

If some guy offered to mow my lawn all summer for free just for a chance to play with my mower, would I be in the wrong to let him do it?

You could simply add a buck or two from last years rate, then see who applies, if no resumes show up, put out a new ad sweetening up the deal a bit.

[ragbagflyer]

Any more ideas?

Get a self help book on "self respect" and stop hurting our industry.

[nortont]

[quote="Diver Driver"]

We got a lot of flack about what makes a pilot think he is worth more than an instructor, packer or any other club member.....(by the way instructor $18 to dispatch one load of students, Packer $5 each pack job ($15 for the load of students))

Our response was the instructor, packer club member.... is doing for the "love of the sport". Pilots are there for their career have more responsibility than the club members, what being PIC means at the DZ and the "Service" we provide for the club member. But unfortunately they can not seem to separate "member" responsibility from "employee" responsibility to them we are all members in a volunteer organization. end quote:

You are ultimately responsible for the safety of all jumpers experienced or not, each and every time when they bored you're aircraft until they exit. In the end of the day, you have had more responsibility than said Packer, Tandem Master, Instructor. Therefore the pilot should be paid more than.....

But in the real world getting paid more than the people stated above will not likely happen. So, the DZ should give you a show up fee at least for gas and such, as well as pay per load(s)

My DZ also provides food for the pilots as well.

[Diver Driver]

Any more ideas?

Get a self help book on "self respect" and stop hurting our industry.

Self respect is what I am talking about here. I am trying to fix my corner of the industry.

I am looking for positive feedback on how to fix it, if you have some please share.

[Diver Driver]

You are ultimately responsible for the safety of all jumpers experienced or not, each and every time when they bored you're aircraft until they exit. In the end of the day, you have had more responsibility than said Packer, Tandem Master, Instructor. Therefore the pilot should be paid more than.....

But in the real world getting paid more than the people stated above will not likely happen. So, the DZ should give you a show up fee at least for gas and such, as well as pay per load(s)

My DZ also provides food for the pilots as well.

Agreed and is almost word for word of what I told them at the meeting... The result "Don't insult me by saying I am not responsible when I pack a chute..." Unfortunately missed the point

Personally I don't care what an instructor or packer get paid non of my business and said so at the meeting...My only concern is making sure all the pilots at our DZ are getting properly compensated for their time.

Thank you for your comments, they are in line with what we are trying to accomplish.

[cory_trevor]

The thing that bothers me the most is that you accepted a job that only pays $5/load, knowing that you weren't going to get rich off it, and then you get bored and come on avcanada to whine about. Instead of crying about it on here why don't you talk to management about it, or better yet, when you get a job offer and they tell you that you will only get paid if you do a trip, and that they will only pay you $5 each time, tell them where to put it and maybe then they will realize that they can't get suckers to work for nearly nothing.

[Cat Driver]

What does it cost a sky diver per jump?

And how many do you take per load?

[Diver Driver]

What does it cost a sky diver per jump?

And how many do you take per load?

It depends who is jumping. First jump students about 250, I think about 45 a jump after that once a jumper advances and buys their own equipment it gets quite a bit cheaper. Tandem jumps are about 250 as well.

The first thing I want to do is get pilot compensation to an acceptable level if they have to raise jump fees to compensate that is their prerogative.

one load of first time student is $750 we can do three of these loads in one airframe hour $2 250. Last season we were just shy of 400 students and tandems combined.

I hope this answers your question.

What do you think is fair?

[Cat Driver]

I'm a bit confused.

If you have only jumpers who are regular jumpers they pay $45.00 each?

How many jumpers do you carry in a load?

[Diver Driver]

I'm a bit confused.

If you have only jumpers who are regular jumpers they pay $45.00 each?

How many jumpers do you carry in a load?

We take a maximum of 4 jumpers in a load whether its 4 regulars, jumpmaster with 3 students or two tandems at the same time.

The way I understand it is $45 a jump still using the gear at the DZ once a jumper buys his own rig he is paying a lower fee. Price goes up with altitude as well, but I don't know the breakdown.

[ragbagflyer]

I believe in minimums at the very least. It's not acceptable for you to be expected to be at work without a guarantee of pay which should certainly work out to more than minimum wage! Push for that. Also, tell your employer that you certainly do deserve more money than a chute packer or even a dive instructor. It takes a lot more time to qualify somebody to fly and airplane than it does to teach them to pack a chute. Good for you for pushing for more but I don't think anybody should take a job with that pay system in the first place. And trust me, I know what it's like to start out! But I'm proud to say I never worked for wages like that.

[mattedfred]

what labour regulations are your covered under? how would you be covered if you were injured or killed while providing this service? are you an employee or a volunteer? find out your rights first. present an informed and convincing argument second.

and tell the dispatcher and packer to go fcuk themselves as long as you aren't a jumper yourself or pack your own gear