Bimini Island Air

[88_MALIBU]

Does anyone have any work experience with them? I would like to know how they are to work for and what it takes to get on with them. Thanks

 

[Duderino]

I worked at BIA for about 8 months. I had a blast working there. The pilots were a great bunch of guys, and we had a lot of fun together. The company is a typical south florida 135 piston turbo prop company. They ask a lot of you, but it is worth it. I made really good money there, considering what I was flying(402 and 208). Didn't have any problems with aircraft maintenance. The Bimini trips are the worst. Its pay by the seat so you get a bunch of Bahamians and White Trash on board, but at the same time you get a great bunch of Scuba Divers and Fisherman. I remember when I first started, I was told that it takes two months sometimes to get on board. The reason for this is because it is sometimes difficult to get an open plane and a check airmen at the sametime. They have probably overcome this by now. If you have a current 8410 in the 208 or 402 it would really help. A friend of mine told me they have a great bunch of pilots working for them now, so it will probably still be a fun time.

In short, it is a great place to build time and move on when the time comes.

dude

 

[Sunnfun]

A friend of mine told me they have a great bunch of pilots working for them now, so it will probably still be a fun time.

I always thought the BIA pilots were nice guys. No problems there. But I heard the company had some problems lately, paychecks bounced etc. Someone told me BIA is Chapter 11, don't know if its true. Is the Metro still flying? Last time I was in FXE it wasn't... But that was in 11/04. Do they still require their pilots to PFT? Sorry, no first hand experience.

 

[Duderino]

They had a PFT program under a chief pilot that was there when I worked there. He would take low time fools(one whose father was a United Captain) and take money from them and then put them in the Metro. This unfortunately directly affected me. It used to piss me off to look that guy in the eyes. But what can you do. The two other guys that payed for flight time where in the 402(and actually helped out a lot with passengers and bags, and in the hangar, and both were eventually offered full time jobs in the planes they had a lot of time in), which did not have a direct effect, like taking a paying pilot seat away from someone. Once the scum bag AVZ was sh!tcanned his PFT program followed him somewhere else, and the PFT stayed and was offered a job flying the caravan. I used to hear rumors around paycheck time that checks were gonna bonce this time. So I would hall ass to the bank to try and get mine in first, even though I was second to last to get back. Not one paycheck bounced. I also heard a lot of rumors about bankruptcy when I was there, and that a lot of money was owed to lessers(sp) but nothing ever showed.
BTW none of there pilots were ever required to PFT, they only had a Program under an old Chief Pilot(AVZ) that brought in people thru his own companies advertising. Some of the pilots there would refuse to fly with them(including me with certain few of the bunch, especially the POS in the metro) and nothing was ever done to repremand that pilot.

I realize this message probably reads like a wheres Waldo Book, but I am exhausted after the Orange Bowl.

OU SUX,
Dude

 

[Freight Dog]

Does Mike O'Brien still run the place? What about Andrea?

 

[Duderino]

Yes, atleast they did when I was there in early 02.