Any info on Tradewinds

[Ragtime67]

I am looking for information on Tradewinds. QOL, pay, benifits, crew bases, time off. Any thing that would be helpful.

 

[CSY Mon]

Bases: MIA and LAX.


First year F/O on the 747 = $64.00 / hr. A-300 = $54.00

Int'l per-diem = $3.00 / hr.

2 weeks on, 2 weeks off.
Hireing right now.

 

[Kaman]

Hello,
What are the current hiring minimums at Tradewinds? I heard that they have 2 747-200s on the property with another 6 on the way in the next two years to cover more ACMI contracts in Asia. Any information that you might have on the company and how to apply would be appreciated.

Regards,

ex-Navy Rotorhead

 

[Snakum]

http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/content/view/39/12/

I have a sorta' family connection there I still think about exploiting for a low-time sideways seat when everyone recalls and hiring is on like 1999/2000 again. But I ain't holding my breath. Not sure that FE time would help me land a King Air, Citation, or Falcon 20 freighter, anyway. I'm grasping at straws.

Minh

 

[CSY Mon]

Don;t know about any hireing minimums at Tradewinds.

The pay scale listed on the above link does not reflect a $10.00 over ride for the 747s.

They have 3 747s flying right now, not 2.
More on the way.

 

[Ragtime67]

Thanks for your reply. How is the QOL? do you spend the entire two weeks out of country? what about benifits? I know this is a pain in the arse, but a friend is after me to put in my resume. I am just a little cautous.

 

[Ragtime67]

Can you tell me where to send my resume and who to address it to? I live in the GSO area, would it be better to walk it in?

 

[Thedude]

I can tell ya this. Twice they have called me on a Wed for a class thats starts the following Mon. No warning, no nothing. During the interview I told them that I need at least two weeks notice. Makes you wonder if the rest of the opeartion is like this, no planning ahead?

I also live in the GSO area and I understand that they dont want someone just walking their stuff in. Its a small office and I dont think they want the intrusion.

I am still trying to find out about the QOL. I can tell you first had that they j/s to LAX sucks and would not be worth it. i understand that MIA doesnt do a whole lot of flying so you only get guarantee.

A couple of guys that I have run across that used to work there pretty much told me if you have a job, don't go there unless you really , really need some jet time. Most of them were tight lipped about there experinces there but they said they couldnt wait to leave.

 

[CSY Mon]

I can tell you first had that they j/s to LAX sucks

Not sure what that means.

LAX goes senior, MIA junior, so any new hires would probably not have to commute to LAX.

I have only been here a short time, so I don't know too much about QOL, but so far, so good.

Ya are not out of the country for 2 weeks at the time. A typical ICN (Korea) trip have ya 2 or 3 days in the hotel in ICN, then a day or two in ANC, then LAX for a couple of days, then back to ICN, etc, etc..

The MIA trips are sometimes turns, and others may be a few days in Chile or Brazil before returning to the hotel in MIA....Ya do get Per-Diem and paid hotel while sitting reserve at yer base unlike some other airlines.

Tradewinds Airliens are neither good, nor bad, just another freight outfit trying to expand its market share....For superior pay, benefits and QOL, go to Fed-Ex, or UPS.

 

[I.P. Freley]

I know a guy who walked outta Tradewinds after getting his 747 type... Training was so backed up that he sat for almost three months waiting for IOE (while on training pay), and finally gave up and left for another supplemental.

Rumor is that they've had a lot of people walk out as of late, esp. off the 747, though I don't know for certain... Just rumor.

 

[CSY Mon]

Rumor is that they've had a lot of people walk out as of late, esp. off the 747, though I don't know for certain... Just rumor.

True...
Rumor said we lost 11 souls, but I can only count 6 missing on the list.
Somewhere in between perhaps.

People walked 'cause the company started screwing with the Per-Diem...Changed things around and broke promises.
Guys walked, but now the Per-Diem and stuff is back to where it was.....

Seems they hired some azzhole from Arrow or Fine that told the boss he could save money by screwing crews out of Per-Diem while sitting reserve at the base.
Bad idea...Every time somebody walked out the door, it cost 'em $25K.

 

[I.P. Freley]

Six sounds much more reasonable than the number I heard (around 14). You know how these rumors go...

Either way, they lost two full crews because some idjit decided to play around with the per diem, so I hope that person was worth the $150k loss to the company (6 X $25k).

 

[Thedude]

Not sure what that means.
.

Proofreading can be a beautiful thing. A skill that I sometimes lack. What I meant to say was....The j/s from GSO to LAX is horrible.

 

[FlyingFish13]

CSY MON, What is the projected upgrade time to the CA seat? Airline Pilot Central claims the most junior CA was hired Aug 2004. Is this true or just a typo?

 

[CSY Mon]

True on quick upgrades if ya got the time and the back ground.

No typo: One cool dude that got hired in December 2004 are now flying captain on the 747. Guess who..

Keep applying, they are in a hireing mode right now.

 

[boffin]

What are the competitive mins. and where to send the resume?
Thanks.

 

[FlyingFish13]

CSY MON congrats on the quick upgrade. Do they type all of their FO's? Where does training take place? Are all the new hires going to the 747 or Airbus?

 

[Flywrite]

I interviewed recently and am waiting to hear. My group had 5, average TT seemed to be about 4000-4500, but I know they have hired very low time people too.

In my group there were several RJ drivers, a DAL furloughee, a guy with supplemental experience in 727s and me, who has no jet time but 3200 turbine. One interviewer specifically noted that they look for people who can fly instuments on steam guages, so maybe my thousands of hours hand-flying Jetstreams will help out.

It was mentioned during the interview that they anticipate hiring 70 this year, including a big class (18-20) in May.

They were very up front about the negative side of the job, but everyone was extremely friendly.

My fingers are crossed...

As for who to send too...I think it is [email protected]

Connie Rice is the recruiter, Bruce Clamp is the CP, both are great folks but they are extremely busy right now, so I would probably just e-mail persistently and not try to bug them too much with calls.

 

[Flywrite]

CSY MON congrats on the quick upgrade. Do they type all of their FO's? Where does training take place? Are all the new hires going to the 747 or Airbus?

From the info I gathered at the interview, no type for FOs, Ground School in Greensboro, A300 sim in MIA, 747 sin in DEN, no 747 hiring until later in the year.

Hotel paid in training, training pay is around $2,000/month + per diem, full salary starts on the first trip after IOE, bennies kick in the same day.

 

[CSY Mon]

From the info I gathered at the interview, no type for FOs, Ground School in Greensboro, A300 sim in MIA, 747 sin in DEN, no 747 hiring until later in the year.

Hotel paid in training, training pay is around $2,000/month + per diem, full salary starts on the first trip after IOE, bennies kick in the same day.__________________

Yeah, thats all about right.

The hotel in GSO was a suite type hotel with kitchen and stuff.
Also they rented a Tahoe SUV for us to roam around in.
Nice little perks.

If they are not going to hire on the 747 they better have a class going right now as we are short, short....I fly every day and every night, or so it seems.

Yeah, they are nice people to deal with, training is also very straight forward, no pressure and wash-out threats and BS.

Some 747 g/s and sims go in MIA and some, some g/s in GSO and other 747 sims in DEN...Changes on a daily basis.

They have typed some F/Os in the past if they were "Typeable"..Whatever that means.

 

[CSY Mon]

It was mentioned during the interview that they anticipate hiring 70 this year, including a big class (18-20) in May.

Did they say if the big class in May was for the B-747 or the A-300?

 

[Flywrite]

It was indicated that everyone would be going to the A300 for a while, no 747 class planned until late in the year. Having said that there was a lot of activity going on that was obviously related to staffing levels on the 747.

 

[FlyingFish13]

What are the chances of being based in China on the Bus?

 

[General Lee]

CSY MON,


Do you mainly do ICN, or do you do turns from MIA? I saw one of your 747s in MIA last week----where do you do turns? Can you give me an example of a week of flying for you? Is it true that all newhires are FOs? What is it like for those guys flying the Macau stuff? Sounds like an interesting job.


Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[Flybet3]

This is a company that I am definetly going to apply in the future once I get my 1000 Turb PIC.....seems like a descent outfit and plus they've got GSO as a base, i like it down there.

 

[CSY Mon]

Do you mainly do ICN, or do you do turns from MIA? I

Yes.

We do ICN out of LAX, that includes short and long lay-overs in ICN and ANC.

Some turns out of MIA, did Bogota yesterday, but we have other turns as well.
Some nice lay-overs in the MIA systaem:
Buenos Aires, Santiago, and others. Beatiful women and good food.

All newhires FO?
In general yes and no...
When the 747 came on line 6 months ago they hired captains off the street to save training costs.
(Seniority is nice at a major airline with 5 to 12 years for upgrade, at smaller companies strict seniority is a luxury they can't always afford...And they tell ya just that at the interview)

That being said, a small company may double it's size in 2 years and rapid upgrades could happen to all....Or not.

Most FEs are PFEs, and make more than FOs.
In theory they have a SO program, but have not seen it yet.

What is it like for those guys flying the Macau stuff?

Them guys have a month on and a month off.
Domestic flying in China.
Probably OK for a young single dude, but rough on family life.

(Easy compared to military flying however, one of my buds just came back from flying a year in Afganistan, now he is going to Iraq for 6 months, his dog bites him when he walks in the front door )

 

[CSY Mon]

What are the chances of being based in China on the Bus?

Not sure.

The Bus and the Boeing ops are like 2 separate companies.
Don't know any Bus drivers and don't know if China goes senior or not.

 

[Flywrite]

Not sure.

The Bus and the Boeing ops are like 2 separate companies.
Don't know any Bus drivers and don't know if China goes senior or not.

At this weeks interviews they told us new hires could expect either Taipei or Fort Wayne as a base. Having said that it was mentioned that most of the pilots currently in the Taipei system were pretty happy there, so I dont know what movement would be like.

 

[Bellerophon]

Be carefull of one Bus captain. I was flying into KDAY one night with the RVR reporting 600/600/600. A Tradewinds bus and a Express Net bus both shot the approach and landed. We shot a Cat III autoland to our mins. When I saw the Tradewinds capt at the hub I voiced my suprise that their Airbus was Cat III. He said "no they are Cat I". I then asked what are your mins. He said: "600+600+600 = 1800. I am sure (hope) that these Captains were in the 2% idiot club and do not reflect the tone of the rest of the pilots. I know this because the rest of the fights diverted after we arrived. So just watch out and don't let them talk you into something like this.

 

[CSY Mon]

He said: "600+600+600 = 1800.

He-he, that is new one.

If the weather was on its arse before they started the approach, they could not legally shoot it.

If that was the case, wonder why they would risk their tickets to get in.

(To my knowledge Tradewinds does not pay any extra to bust mins, so anybody doing it, is on his own.)