Lanesuzza

I worked for Skagway Air Service, Mike O'Daniel was the V.P.

I flew the Six. Great group of guys over there. Mike told me on my first day

"Skagway Air has never fired a guy for turning around due to weather"

I remembered that and yes I did turn around a couple of times due to weather with absolutely no repercussions. Mike is a first class act, he worked us hard but was always fair.

FlyingGuide

Thanks for the information. I am just looking to get my 1st job up there and get some AK time. See someething different than Clr blo 120 Thousand, wind calm and 20 something C everyday.

lzakplt

[QUOTE=Lanesuzza;84409]Does Penair ask where you'd like to be based?

Probably sometimes. Call the 135 Chief Pilot, Phil Logan 243-2485 and ask. 135 bases are King Salmon, Dillingham, Cold Bay & Dutch Harbor. (I doubt anyone new will get hired for Dutch Harbor any time soon.)

I don't know much about S/W Alaska but I think King Salmon would be neat. Very Small, like Skagway where I flew before.

Some people love southwest Alaska. There are lots of hunting, fishing, boating, snowmobiling (maybe not in King Salmon) types of things to do. I wouldn't compare it directly to southeast. There is less pavement, and the cost of living is higher. A gallon of milk costs $7, gas is $4.

What is the pay for a Six driver? or better yet what is a pay overview for the whole fleet?

I think an experienced 135 new hire starts at $1800 (plus $300 safety bonus) and $18 per hour. The scale goes up each year and with each new airplane, with a big jump at 7 years from about 2600/26 to 3200/32.

Metro & Saab captain slots are usually offered based on seniority. If you have a family which requires some degree of material support from you, waiting out those 3 plus years in the right seat in Anchorage would be a real "character building" experience.

I might be a little off, but I think new ANC FOs start at 1000/10 or 1200/12, with no safety bonus.

lzakplt

ANC captain pay roughly mirrors the 135 pay scale, with more hours flown.

Lanesuzza

I just sent you a PM prior to reading your posts. You answered most of my questions.

thanks

Fxfan

Again, whats the story on Frontier? They seem to get ignored in these posts. Is that a sign or soemthing?

AKfreighter

No, Frontier is a real good place. I know a guy of there's that just got hired at AK Air. Course, he's been trying for 5 years. Start out in the 1900 right, go to the PA-31 (if you can aren't a screw up) then come back to the 1900 left. Sort of like PenAir likes to do. The Navajo drivers get close to 300 a day when in the bush, sort of a senior operation. Some guys do it as a career, no 1900 command for them. Its harder to single pilot a navajo in the winter out here than be going from parking lot to parking lot in the 1900 with a back up pilot.

AKfreighter

As I was typing that last post a frontier guy I know walked up to say hi. 1900 right seat starts at 20 an hour, just like little ACE. Upgrade at ACE takes 3000 hours. People leave there like a rat off a sinking ship, so once you get3000 hours that's usually enough.

C-207s in Alaska are almost all VFR only, I believe that ATS has IFR equipped 207s or some are for them. But who wants to go actual in a sinlge piston anyway, its pretty much that most of the time as it is. Plus, 95% of the destinations don't have approaches anyway.

GliderCFI

What do you guys know about Everts Air? I hear they've been advertising for flight crew...?

lzakplt

DC-6s hauling freight around Alaska. It never sounded like a bad gig to me, if you don't mind getting up early. I've never heard any horror stories about them.