PacificWings

[FlyinDude]

Anyone know any info on Pacific Wings based out of Maui? They fly caravans around the islands and are seeking people without 135 min's. It sounds too good to be true...so, anyone know anything?

 

[PA-44Typed]

“seeking people without 135 min's”
to help with the bags……..or to be a gear monkey…no wait, fixed gear…..uh……uh….tour guid……..uh…flight attendant….. uh to be a 10th passenger!!!!!

 

[jebmei]

I have a buddy who is in ground school to be a Captain with them. They pay the Captains okay - I think around 29K/year (and living in Maui).

FO's do more customer service than flying. Personally, when I was a low timer, I would not of taken a FO job in a single engine/ single pilot aircraft. I think CFI work or VFR 135 captain jobs serve a low timer better than sitting right seat in a caravan.

Anyone know any info on PW based out of Maui? They fly caravans around the islands and are seeking people without 135 min's. It sounds too good to be true...so, anyone know anything?

 

[Hold West]

I have a buddy who is in ground school to be a Captain with them. They pay the Captains okay - I think around 29K/year (and living in Maui).

29K on Maui gets you a tent on the beach and a can of dog food every other day.

Perhaps I overstate, but it's expensive out here. I'm on Oahu, and the rental market on Maui is tighter than here. Look carefully at cost of living before your jump.

I don't know anything about the company, but they are all pleasant enough to work with on frequency. Anyone flying for them will see some of the most beautiful scenery in world, every flight, every day.

 

[FrozenPilot]

Beware the local security.....
http://www.mauinews.com/story.aspx?id=13550

 

[filejw]

And that would be dry dog food not caned.

 

[Kingair1181]

I went out to interview with them last Sept. They are a small operation, only 5 A/C I think, and when I went to interview the starting pay was $8/hr or $8.50 for an FO. You will work as a baggage handler/customer service rep for the first 30 days and then they send you to school on the Caravan. You then fly approx. 40 to 60 hrs a month and on your days off you load bags and check the customers into the flight. Most pilots who I talked to worked a 2nd job just to make ends meet or still had their parents helping them out. $8.50 an hr out there would be roughly half that here in the states, depending on where you live. Moreover, if you plan to fly for them, if you don't stay on and get some PIC time then your time out there will be worthless. I talked to several Capt's who work for the majors and all of them told me that SIC time on a Caravan is a joke. Unless you are dead set on living on the island for a while or hoping to stay out there and make Capt (they do have a quick upgrade time) I would highly suggest looking elsewhere. Just my 2 cents but good luck either way....

 

[Piper877]

Don't do it. There is way too much drama and it's extremely hard to live on Maui for $8.00/hr. A couple months in you'll be so burned out you won't feel like flying for free after working 4:30 a.m.- 1 p.m.
Please stay very far away.

 

[mauipilot]

Used to be a really good company to work for, a little eccentric but good none the less. However, they lost all of their senior captains and their director of ops who held the place together. Maintenance was good to, but I'm not sure anymore. I left about a year and half ago. At the time we had in house training which was a lot better than what I got from flight safety, but I think they went back because they don't have anybody to do the training in house anymore. There are other options if you want to live in the islands they are probably a better fit for most people. Also I don't know of any SIC that ever made it through the upgrade process to Captain. Maybe since I left, but nobody made it in the year or so that I was there.

 

[Eagle-ista]

PW operates under the "Air Nevada" certificate. They have issues...

1) They lost their Director of Operations, Chief Pilot, and a few of their senior Captains when they had a "difference of opinion" with local law enforcement. Rumor was they were assaulted when they refuse to pay for additional security.

2) SIC time in a single pilot aircraft is worthless. If they don't have an SIC training program, you are just window dressing, or a bag thrower. You can't even swing the gear in a fixed gear aircraft. The only way it's worth anything is if puts you in line to upgrade, and then it's only worth something at PW, nowhere else.

3) Listen to the people that are telling you how expensive it is to live in Hawaii. I did it for a year. After the year, my wife and I were $20,000 in debt, and we rented a room with no kitchen. I was working on the mainland, my wife was flying in Hawaii, making around the level of a Captain at PW.

Working (more than) full time for PW could make you bankrupt, the locals aren't happy about you being there, since that job should be theirs (in their opinion), and most mainlanders can only handle living on an island for a few weeks, a condition called "Island Fever".

It is a beautiful place, and the flying is exquisite, but there are substantial costs that you probably won't encounter on the mainland.

By the way, every time I wrote PacificWings with a space between the words, it was reduced to PW by this website. I don't know why, but it is curious...

 

[mauipilot]

It reduces it to PW because of a threat of lawsuit from the company about negative posts on forums such as this.

 

[Photoflight]

I was there about a year and a half ago...four months in that place was four months to long. After screwing over everyone there they got rid of the DO which was the only good thing they had goin for them.

16 hour days 6 days a week. No money and a job you hate...hows that for "paradise"

 

[Airbeast]

Worked there for 5 months as a captain. The worst possible place you can possibly work at. Never had the slightest problem working at any place exept there. The management is the scum of the planet. Will try to make you fly to VFR only airports in IMC, they try to get you change your fuel numbers so you're not "overloaded," Try to keep you flying till the end of the day with binding ailerons, etc... Chief pilot flies at 500 feet in the clouds beside a cliff. The whole operation is really wreckless and just a matter of time till something really bad happens. The FSDO has their eye on them and I wouldn't risk your license working there. On top of that, when you quit they try to say you were fired. If they weren't so popular with everyone, that could cost you a job later. Thankfully most companys know what a load of crap that whole place is. One good thing is that working anywhere afterwards will be like heaven.

Pay is really bad for living on Maui. Maui is nice though if you like the outdoors. A lot of fun stuff to do, but I wouldn't do it again.

And if you're going in as an FO then forget it all together. 1 person a year ends up making it to captain. The rest throw bags for minimum wage. And like said above SE SIC time in a caravan is pretty worthless.

PM me if you got anymore questions.

 

[wiggsfly]

.......................

 

[Piper877]

Worked there for 5 months as a captain. The worst possible place you can possibly work at. Never had the slightest problem working at any place exept there. The management is the scum of the planet. Will try to make you fly to VFR only airports in IMC, they try to get you change your fuel numbers so you're not "overloaded," Try to keep you flying till the end of the day with binding ailerons, etc... Chief pilot flies at 500 feet in the clouds beside a cliff. The whole operation is really wreckless and just a matter of time till something really bad happens. The FSDO has their eye on them and I wouldn't risk your license working there. On top of that, when you quit they try to say you were fired. If they weren't so popular with everyone, that could cost you a job later. Thankfully most companys know what a load of crap that whole place is. One good thing is that working anywhere afterwards will be like heaven.

Pay is really bad for living on Maui. Maui is nice though if you like the outdoors. A lot of fun stuff to do, but I wouldn't do it again.

And if you're going in as an FO then forget it all together. 1 person a year ends up making it to captain. The rest throw bags for minimum wage. And like said above SE SIC time in a caravan is pretty worthless.

PM me if you got anymore questions.

This man speaks the truth. Everything he said happened to him. It's all an example of how this place works.

BTW Airbeast I heard you're flying a Pilatus now. I'm jealous man.

 

[wiggsfly]

well, I'm not going to get into my complaints here, but I will say that compared to other 135 operators I've worked for PW is almost anal about the rules. I've never been encouraged to break any FAR and I have in fact been questioned a few times about perceived violations.

 

[airplane.tape]

advice, stay away!!!!!!!1 unless you want to be happy ever after this job. because it can't get worse

 

[MauiHopper]

if you like to work all day every day and not know your schedule until the night before (at the earliest) than you might like it there. Beware. they tell you you're a scheduled pilot, but your nothing more than an on call bitch to them. even when they do give you your schedule the night before it is often changed and you are unofficially required to be oncall up to your duty limit every day as they will call you in for schedule changes regullarly.

except for the operations manager the management is not too bad. the owners are fair if nothing else, and will pay you at least something for any extra work they ask for you outside of flying. the bennefits are good and now they do give vacation first year, also the jumpseat bennies are a necessity when you live in the middle of nowhere.

the real problem here is the operations manager who redefines the word pathetic. to him the schedule is a weapon against the captains (see paragraph one) and if you're an fo watch out. he takes "do as i say and not as i do" to a whole new level going as far as throwing out mail sent through us for other companies where using a van as his personal motorcycle carrier. also, although you get some commission on what you sell as an fo the big item, charters, he forbids anyone from processing so he can get the commission himself. as for customer service, my cat could do a better job. he lies to every one from the customers to the police and will forbid you from doing anything to help a customer he's screwed over to refusing to talk to the customer in question when he forbids you from helping him. when he does make big mistakes he will just sacrafice someone else to cover his own pathetic ass. he's got the rest of our mechanics leaving in the next few weeks and probably most of the captains as well. heck they've lost a third of the mechanics in the last 3 months and rather than hire new guys they just take it out on those who are left. it will be a miracle if this company is even still standing in 6 months with the pos running the day to day ops.

 

[airplane.tape]

add on

he thinks, if you are perhaps not white or native, you are definitely lucky to be working in the united states

 

[RJP]

On the positive side, you'll probably have your own caravan since there are never enough pilots to man all of them. On a negative note, you'll probably have your career ruined and hate everything about the place.

Enjoy.

 

[wiggsfly]

When it comes down to it no company is perfect. This place is no exception, but it does fill a niche. If you are a 250 hour pilot the pay is much better most instructing jobs. Likewise if you're a 1200 hour pilot the pay beats what you could make at most regionals in the first year. It is also descent if your goal is time building. I should easily cross 1000hrs this year and the FOs seem to be about 600/yr. Not bad compared to a lot of alternatives.

 

[RJP]

When it comes down to it no company is perfect. This place is no exception, but it does fill a niche. If you are a 250 hour pilot the pay is much better most instructing jobs. Likewise if you're a 1200 hour pilot the pay beats what you could make at most regionals in the first year. It is also descent if your goal is time building. I should easily cross 1000hrs this year and the FOs seem to be about 600/yr. Not bad compared to a lot of alternatives.

OK, so you sell your soul to work at a company that is bottom of the barrel and somehow come out unscathed in a few years. Where are you going to take your 3000+ hours of SEL PIC at that point? Maybe airbus will make an A310 with only one motor so MEL won't matter.

 

[wiggsfly]

I didn't come here for flight time or glamour. I came here to reclaim my soul by flying in a location and a plane I still consider fun. Did the jet thing, hated every minute of it. There are a few of us in the same boat here and it fills it pretty well for now.

 

[Almerick07]

RJP, no reason for the constant negativity...atleast dont take it out on people who are enjoying themselves regardless of where they work.

 

[RJP]

RJP, no reason for the constant negativity...atleast dont take it out on people who are enjoying themselves regardless of where they work.

You want me to say something good about PW? OK, here goes. It's in Hawaii. That's it.

Wiggs, I told you there were a lot of spare souls floating around that place. At least you found one. Give it a good home.

 

[mdanno808]

When it comes down to it no company is perfect. This place is no exception, but it does fill a niche. If you are a 250 hour pilot the pay is much better most instructing jobs. Likewise if you're a 1200 hour pilot the pay beats what you could make at most regionals in the first year. It is also descent if your goal is time building. I should easily cross 1000hrs this year and the FOs seem to be about 600/yr. Not bad compared to a lot of alternatives.

Are you guys multipilot all the time or only when it's IFR? If only when IFR, how are FO's logging 600 hours a year?
​

 

[wiggsfly]

We're single pilot IFR and VFR. The FOs are scheduled on what amounts to a completely random basis. The 600/yr is coming from what a few of them have told me.

 

[mdanno808]

We're single pilot IFR and VFR. The FOs are scheduled on what amounts to a completely random basis. The 600/yr is coming from what a few of them have told me.

So they log the empty legs?

 

[airplane.tape]

last month infact he made 7000$ in commission answering the phone and taking all the charter calls even on his day off... and the rampers are left with there little 400$ pay check, of course it is fare he have do to some extra side work, he urned it.

 

[airplane.tape]

i heard a captain got canned... what's the ramp talk about that......?