Fly For Free.

[deuce bigalow]

Heres a story I heard the other day the truth of which I cannot verify as it is from the rumour mill. A West Coast Helicopter Company which is in the business of schedueled flights between two major cities and which is also in the Medevac business (but which shall remain unnamed) recently called a meeting of all the line pilots. At this meeting the president of the company asked for volunteers to work on the medevac side of operation......wait for it.....without pay. I pause to allow for uproarious laughter from the gallery. They would staff the sched service on rotation and then staff the medevac side on their days off. This little speech would qualify for a slot on comedy central if it were not so ominous. I would love to know the inside scoop on this. If anyone has more info please elucidate. In the meantime, if you haven't got anything nice to say about anybody....sit next to me.

 

[cyclic monkey]

Just to clarify things, the company referred to above is NOT West Coast Helicopters. I don't think the owners of that company could ever think of something this low.

The company subtlely mentioned above is on the west coast, and it surprises me that the guy that runs the company would come up with such an idea. It's unlike him. Is it true ???
Times must be tough. Some of you guys want a union for better wages, while some guys are just trying to bring home any wages.

It would have been a good season to start a Kamloops to Kelowna shuttle, just to keep all the firefighters and various visiting politicians on the move.
Hey, let's put on a hoist and rappel Jean Chretien onto the fireline!!

 

[deuce bigalow]

Sorry. Definately not west coast helicopters. More like a company on the west coast. Of Canada.

 

[407 Driver]

Hmmm, a west coast company conducting scheds and medivacs, sounds like .... HELI-JET....if you're gonna be too polite or shy to say it !

As someone else mentioned, it hasn't been their style in the past to do things like this ???

 

[deuce bigalow]

HI 407, Not shy or polite, just trying to follow the convention of not naming names. And maybe being a little cute which is my nature. Still no comment from anyone in the know I see. Sure would like to know what the heck this one is all about.

 

[MagSeal]

I wonder why everyone is so scared of naming names. If they're guilty of an offence, hang them out to dry....
If they aren't guilty, at least freedom of speech will allow them the opportunity to debunk the myths and stand up for themselves. Nobody can shut you up...

 

[Elvis]

Are they going to ask the wrenches to work for free on days off as well ???

 

[deuce bigalow]

C'mon H**ij*t dudes. Whats the story? Give it up! I'm pretty sure you guys can't use the excuse of being out of town on fires.

 

[cyclic monkey]

Come on. Give the guys a break!!! Maybe it's their days-off !!
(and they are out flying a free medevac mission so they can keep their jobs on their days-on).

 

[coolhand110]

Being one of those Helijet guys, I can tell you that this is not the case. There is no free work being done. 1 aircraft flying 24/7 12 months a year, the other is 24/7 8 months a year and the other 4 months are 12 hour shifts. All paid shifts. Sorry to stop the rumour mill.

 

[coolhand110]

And to tell you the truth, I was up on the fires. Had a great time. Met lots of great people. Sorry I could not respond sooner. Hope you all had a great summer.

 

[cyclic monkey]

Coolhand, thanks for your input from the inside.

I wonder what started that rumour. It didn't sound like a Helijet thing to do, but in this business you can never tell......
Hey, Deuce, what does your original source have to say about this lately ???

Okay, let's get another rumour started...............

1). VIH is going to buy Cougar...............oops, that was a wild rumour for almost a year before it actually happened.

2). J Lo is not going to marry Ben Affleck. She dumped him for a helicopter pilot she met recently while making a movie in BC, Alberta, and Manitoba.
(Who could it be??..........my money is on Cap).

 

[deuce bigalow]

Thanks for putting it straight coolhand. I got it third hand but will try to track it down. To tell the truth it sounded pretty fishy to me as well. Out of character that is. Nothing like a few facts to squash a rumour.

 

[coolhand110]

What people may be talking about in this case, is that one aircraft would be 24/7 and the other would be 12 hour days. For the other 12 hours they were thinking about having an on call crew. If you got called you would get 4 hour mins, but paid for the full amount over the 4 hours. This was just one of the ideas that were brought up but never actually considered. From what I hear. I don't know any real details about it. Now that I am back from the fires, I am on the 2nd ambulance. Hope this kinda clears it up, if not, just ask and I will try to do better.

 

[coolhand110]

By the way Deuce, just out of curiosity, what is with the fires for an excuse crack? IFR pilots can't fly VFR or just that VFR is not Helijet's bag? I'm sure it was not a slag on the pilots.