Hello:
I ran across the post about the "truth about Tradewind" and sorry, but I could not just "stand by" and remain without a reaction...
I am not hidding myself behind some kind of avatar or "smart" user name.
My name is Maxime Desouches and I have been a "vendor" for tradewind for many years and operating as an independent pilot and a mechanic for many years. I am based in SBH (TFFJ) and seen many flocks of pilots, some PICs and some SICs come and go, as the flying industry is evolving.
The comments from "TWinsider" troubles me because they convey an undeserved and incomplete picture of this company's work force and employee's dedication to customer service and obvious safety's concern.
If someone has been working long enough in this industry, they would know that working in a commercial environnement is a bit more complicated than flying around a pattern in a cherokee.
FAA, US Customs, Landing rights, Foreign operations, Weather, Training, etc... to name a few are everyday's constraints that small (and big) operators have to deal with. And pilots don't know necessarely that aspect of the business...
Small operators, like Tradewind, are giving a shot to young pilots to get trained and to acquire the necessary experience to step up to "bigger and faster" irons that they would never get, and otherwise would be still counting landings in their mighty 172īs...😜
Twinsider knows probably little about the difficulty of finding housing in SBH, and sure pilot's life in a small company is full of changes to say the least.
But is he/she telling you that, besides good salary, the crew get "free"housing in San Juan?, access to a company car? Various advantegeous plan? Stay at the 4 seasons hotel in Nevis? Etc...
Sure your personnal life can be complicated, but so is college life....
The very nature of the business is that you might end up working on new year's day.
But you might also run across a celebrity that you will never encounter in your local flight pattern and you are filling up your logbook and getting paid while acquiring valuable experience.
The people in the company are young and motivated in every department. The management is giving every opportunity to employee and crew to move up. What is wrong with that?
Sure there are mishaps like everywhere, but I have never seen the company cutting corners on safety, customer service or disregarding regulations...
They trust their crew (you!) with the life of the passengers and don't hesitate to hand you a 2 millions+ airplane to play with.
Managerial positions were given to young talents in flying, maintenance and operations. Where are you going to find that?😳
So before pointing your finger at a few issues on the open web, behind the safety of your monitor, become a teamplayer and bring your suggestions and comments to the management.
And if you are reluctant to do, for whatever reasons, bring up the issue to me and I will convey your concerns without revealing your name. I don't have a dog in the race... but I recognize hard dedicated work when I see it.
But please, a lot of people in administrative, maintenance, handling, flying and management are depending on "bucks" so you can play "Buck Rodgers" so think about what you are doing and how you do it.
Respectfully.😉