Lynden Air Cargo
 

Are there any Lynden Air Cargo guys here? I have an application in for a Loadmaster position. So far I have heard great things about the company, but I wanted to get a first hand opinion.

Known the folks at that company for years and I have the highest regards for both management and flight crews. I think you will enjoy being part of the Lynden family.

Thank you.

I applied to them no less than three times for the same position with my 747 load experience. Never a response. Good luck!

Taught one of the owners two sons and son-in-law how to fly. Great people. I still remember sitting around with the boss trying to figure out what kind of plane they should get to replace the electra's. The c-97's were too old but there was talk of 737's with the gravel kit. Then one day a couple c-130's show up. Then another day we hear, "hey, I bought another c-130!" That family loves to fly. Favorite plane was the super stinson on floats.:)


ps - Drink a mug a milk a meal!

How's Lynden air cargo doing these days?

What's it like to fly the Herc??? I hear they fly those things all over the world

Judging by the amount of stuff I see them put on to the Hercs daily, I would assume they are doing quite well.

Did you get the job?? (hope you did)

I did not. But at this point I think it is for the better. If I ended up getting the job I dont think I would be able to finish school. Once I am done with school I will try again.

Anything new for Lynden? Seems like a great job for freight into exotic places! Probably more glamour and money elsewhere. Still all C-130s/L-382s?

Yep...they have seven now.

they have at least one.. perhaps two that are in the Middle East all of the time.

Qol? Hiring? Growth? Hard to find things out about them.

Check out oddballpilotnetwork.com for an interview with their chief pilot. PM Aidan at OPN for more current info. When I spoke with him he said that things are slowing down just now . . .

Any latest on Lynden and pilot positions?

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Not much has changed from what I hear. They did pick up a WFP contract in Ethiopia/Sudan & recalled their furloughed FOs - only one returned. They've had a few folks leave for greener pastures, so hiring was just to fill holes. They did pick up a plane from First Air, but had previously parked another. I believe they also have a plane dedicated to Forestry with 2 crews who don't do anything else. Scheduling is not optimal. Pay is low. Company is pretty good. But if you love the Herk and want a good group of guys to fly with, it ain't bad.

ME......LOVE........HERK!!!


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Commuter Schedules?

Pay?

Bennies?

Have you every been to Africa, Indonesia, New Guinea? Ever been shot at, taken hostage? Read about how some of the herc crews have fared in the Dark Continent. Many herc crews have um, died in Africa.

It's dangerous and hard work. The pay is very low and they furlough and recall all the time. Reminds me of the old supplementals in the 80s, Transamerica to be exact. Two herc crews were taken hostage in Africa. One or two died.

Lynden is not going to get you shot at. A few of the pilots got Malaria in PNG; but they weren't taking their Doxycycline (not mandated like the BP boys). You stay in a guarded compound away from town of Lae. You are driven to work, by guards in PNG. They take good care of their crews. You are in a safe area in Ethiopia. The gigs in Dubai are private beach front bungalos, like something out of a Bond move. Huge French doors. no noise but the waves to fall asleep to. This isn't Air America. Nor is it FedEx. I may be able to fill in some questions if you PM me, a very good friend works there.

RadialGal

Yes, in fact I dropped some grenades off my 727 that got loaded right into a Lynden plane to go to HGU when I was in POM earlier this month.

Yes on the first, no on the second.

Got something more than hearsay? Not saying you're making this up, but the facts would be nice.

See above, can't find a single news story or post which says any of those things.

Hey HI;

PM me and I can stear you out of the TB of BS. this is becoming'

Ok here ya go then. If it' so great why did only one furlougheee come back?

Not much has changed from what I hear. They did pick up a WFP contract in Ethiopia/Sudan & recalled their furloughed FOs - only one returned. They've had a few folks leave for greener pastures, so hiring was just to fill holes. They did pick up a plane from First Air, but had previously parked another. I believe they also have a plane dedicated to Forestry with 2 crews who don't do anything else. Scheduling is not optimal. Pay is low. Company is pretty good. But if you love the Herk and want a good group of guys to fly with, it ain't bad.

ASN Aircraft accident Lockheed L-100-30 Hercules N24ST Cafunfo Airport (CFF). An Incident. Took me two mins AviatorHi. Must be different internets in PHNL.

http://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/a...nden_air_cargo. The Pay

Interview: Rick Zerkel, Lynden Air Cargo | Oddball Pilot. The Story

First Officer - Employment | Lynden Inc.
"precarious places"!

July 18, 2007 : L-100-30 N401LC of Lynden Cargo, Alaska, over-rotated on take-off from gravel airstrip 24 miles (38 km) west-northwest of McGrath, Alaska, suffering tail strike and substantial damage, including puncture of main cabin pressure vessel. Four crew uninjured.[38]

December 29, 1984 : L-100 c/n 4101, first flown September 17, 1965, leased to Continental Air Services, N9260R, September 1965, then sold to the Government of Zambia, registered 9J-RCV, August 1966. Leased to Zambian Air Cargoes, August 1966, then sold to National Aircraft Leasing, registered N920NA, March 1969, in an FAA series usually reserved for aircraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, same January 1977. Leased to Alaska Airlines, April 1969. Leased to Saturn Airways, N24ST, June 1972, modified to L-100-30, November 1972. Leased to TIA, December 1976, port wing and engines damaged in explosion, May 1977, repaired; sold to TIA, April 1979. To Transamerica, October 1979, green and white scheme, Transamerica T on green tail in white – destroyed on ground as it landed Cafunfo, Angola during UNITA guerrilla attack. Electric buss panel fire due to gunfire spread, hull burnt out. Pilot, flight engineer survive groundfire and are captured by UNITA, repatriated through the Red Cross after a month; first officer, two Diamang couriers, killed by gunfire.[22]

Just for the record, I have said nothing bad about Lynden just that the type or work is hard and dangerous. Lynden has put it in the ad themselves. I have always been a big fan of the Herc and applied to Lynden and have done that kind of work. In the past ten years that I have been following Lynden they have furloughed and recalled a number of times. It is not BS RadialGal, it's facts. Please read your own post about being exposed to malaria, compounds, guards etc...

Must be different internet because it didn't say Lynden anywhere in that report.

From 2013, do you have current info? Are there international assignment overrides not being reflected? That stuff adds up. SAI was bad on paper a few years back but I knew guys making 9000/month as FOs there in their 2nd year.

I must have missed the parts where the crews got taken hostage and killed.

A gravel bar can be precarious...

In any case, while you may have good intentions I think you have some kind of a grudge against LAC, I don't know much about the pay, QoL, etc., and I'm just trying to find out more as I'm looking for a place where I can work a 4 week/4 week or 40/20 type schedule, which seems to be more realistic at LAC than at any of the Regionals or Majors.

Oh boy, aviatorhi please re-read my posts. I DO NOT hold any grudge about Lynden at all. The post is that it is in fact dangerous and hard work that is all. The incident(s) were proof that you wanted. You could not find it, I did. So good luck on your job hunt but I have just, as most do on this site, provided a perspective to flying for these kinds of companies in those, less than desirable, parts of the world. Sign up to climbto350.com. Tons of jobs with 4/4 type of work. Most is Africa/Overseas (China) stuff.

http://www.zimex.ch/home/jobs--career/pilots.aspx
https://www.pilotcareercentre.com/Ai...Niger+Aviation



Have you every been to Africa, Indonesia, New Guinea? Ever been shot at, taken hostage? Read about how some of the herc crews have fared in the Dark Continent. Many herc crews have um, died in Africa.

It's dangerous and hard work. The pay is very low and they furlough and recall all the time. Reminds me of the old supplementals in the 80s, Transamerica to be exact. Two herc crews were taken hostage in Africa. One or two died.

Most of the "herk" incidents in Africa are courtesy of the Angolian company "Air Afrique".... they make Lynden look like Delta Airlines by comparison. Its not run of the mill airline flying thats for sure. ymmv

aviatorhi - sent you a PM

[QUOTE=Braniff DC8;1881022]Ok here ya go then. If it' so great why did only one furlougheee come back?

Not much has changed from what I hear. They did pick up a WFP contract in Ethiopia/Sudan & recalled their furloughed FOs - only one returned. They've had a few folks leave for greener pastures, so hiring was just to fill holes. They did pick up a plane from First Air, but had previously parked another. I believe they also have a plane dedicated to Forestry with 2 crews who don't do anything else. Scheduling is not optimal. Pay is low. Company is pretty good. But if you love the Herk and want a good group of guys to fly with, it ain't bad.

Hi Braniff, am I claiming it's a place free of BS? Heck no, just calling BS on folks saying you are in danger of being kidnapped or shot at here. That is total BS. This is Alaska Braniff, there is no such creature as a BS free Freight hauler! ;)

RadialGal

There was a story in the ALPA magazine in the '80's about an civil American Herc being captured by rebels in Angola. Thought at least one crew member died and the aircraft was destroyed.

Pretty sure it was Transamerica, but I'd have to look for the article.

It was TransAmerica. I knew the F/E. The F/O was killed when he ran back into the airplane.


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December 29, 1984 : L-100 c/n 4101, first flown September 17, 1965, leased to Continental Air Services, N9260R, September 1965, then sold to the Government of Zambia, registered 9J-RCV, August 1966. Leased to Zambian Air Cargoes, August 1966, then sold to National Aircraft Leasing, registered N920NA, March 1969, in an FAA series usually reserved for aircraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, same January 1977. Leased to Alaska Airlines, April 1969. Leased to Saturn Airways, N24ST, June 1972, modified to L-100-30, November 1972. Leased to TIA, December 1976, port wing and engines damaged in explosion, May 1977, repaired; sold to TIA, April 1979. To Transamerica, October 1979, green and white scheme, Transamerica T on green tail in white – destroyed on ground as it landed Cafunfo, Angola during UNITA guerrilla attack. Electric buss panel fire due to gunfire spread, hull burnt out. Pilot, flight engineer survive groundfire and are captured by UNITA, repatriated through the Red Cross after a month; first officer, two Diamang couriers, killed by gunfire.[22]

There were at least two confirmed shoot downs in Angola - one in the early 80s and one in the late 90s, which was, I think, TransAfrik...and another suspected shoot down. Africa isn't always a nice place. Look up GSPC and AQIM...along with state dept notifications for the countries LAC is flying to. I think it's a bit riskier than the stuff they're doing elsewhere...

Not many operators of L100s left. TransAfrik has pretty much gotten out of the business. Maximus is out. SAFAIR is mainly "sitting" their planes on oil spill alert contracts, as is IAR (A-models) and I think First Air just sold their plane to Lynden. That leaves Prescott (one plane), Tepper, and Lynden - for the most part. Good luck getting on with Prescott or Tepper. A few foreign countries have L100 vs C130, but not many. I hear rumors Tepper may switch to J-models, but we'll see. Lynden would like to, I hear, but it's a lot of money.

Of note, only Lynden has been changing center wing boxes to my knowledge. The rest are running out of hours (why Transafrik quit flying them and why SAFAIR is mostly sitting theirs).

I am one of the furloughees who did not accept the recall. I'd be happy to answer any questions any perspective employees may have about LAC via pm.

Yes, but you live in paradise now...hardly unbiased. ;)

I'm not sure that it's accurate to say that they furlough and hire "all the time". They furloughed 10 pilots and 8 FEs in two stages in the last couple of years, so I guess you could count that as 2 furloughs if you like. There has only been one furlough prior to that, sometime around 2002. That one was pretty brief. Not to be dismissive of the furloughs, those are never good, but it's not like there's a constant cycle of laying off and rehiring of flight crew as you seem to be suggesting.

Yes, Ethiopia is relatively secure. However the flying was into South Sudan which is a bit less secure. There is a civil war going on there with opposition forces holding some of the territory in the country. A helicopter on contract to the UN was shot down by opposition forces in South Sudan last summer. The UN initially tried to claim that it was an accident. It wasn't. The flights into one refugee camp were suspended for several days a during the contract for what the WFP euphemistically called "civil unrest". They admitted to the deaths of around 25 people in the camp. People actually on the ground there reported that death toll was actually more like 100. When your flight paperwork includes security reports on where the rebel forces are thought to be and what anti-aircraft weapons they are believed to possess, and your flying into a location where 100+ people got killed a few weeks ago, you're not exactly in Kansas any more, Toto.

Not sure who you've been talking to, but they've been blowing smoke up your tailpipe. There are no luxurious private "bungalows". And they are not in Dubai, it's one of the other, poorer emirates. They are apartments in a multi story apartment building, a little larger than a typical hotel room. The "luxury" level is probably comparable to a Holiday Inn Express. The idea that the crews are living in James Bond style opulence is pure fantasy.

Looking again. Look here on APC as well.

First Officer - Employment | Lynde Inc.