Whats up Gents,

Writing to you as a former employee of TOA. I've read what you've had to say above and I agree with some of the statements regarding the pay. Yes a Part 135 IFR Amphib Captain should absolutely be making 90K a year hands down. That is what Shoreline and Fly the Whale are paying and if they want to be competitors thats easily something they need to do.

With regards to management, the guys are honestly great. Their C.O.O. Chief Pilot and Director of Operations are top notch dudes. Even Rob is a great guy. He has this don't give up mentality and drive which is honestly awesome comparable to all others out there who just may give up when the cards aren't in their favor.
Sure theres some issues with other aspects of the company but what 135 operation doesn't have those issues. The company is growing rapidly but it's honestly a good group of guys to work for. Yes the pay does need to increase but the workload is honestly not that bad. If you signed up for a 135 you should know what youre going to get. Long hours (some days its less than 2 hours flying on a 6 hour duty day), but thats what a 135 job is.

For someone that wants an opportunity to fly floats (as a 2 pilot crew as they do on all legs) it's fun and you get to see some amazing places. The PICs are all pretty good, some teach different than others. I recommend 3 gentleman, Tony, Will and Nano . They are all amazing captains and have a lot of experiance. Learn from them as they are awesome teachers and have a lot of good seaplane techniques they can teach you.

Yes I would recommend this company to a friend.

the wages for a new PIC Amphib Captian is 54k a year...
every year it goes up but not by a whole lot...
if they want to keep guys around they are going to have to start paying 90k a year period.

The only thing you'll learn at Tropic is how to do office work, or as Rob likes to calls it, collateral duties.

Tropic is one FAA investigation away from becoming another defunct ****-box airline from South Florida.

Is gearing up at FLL a normal procedure in the Tropic SOP these days? or was that gear up on 10R a couple days ago just for fun?

Terrible management, terrible schedule, terrible pay. Run for the hills, amigo.

I still have my doubts that one can live on $90k/yr in South Florida

I live in South Florida and I can assure you that 90k is comfortable living here. Heck, 60k will get you by. 40k-50k is definitely pushing it. Depends on how you live, of course. With 90k, you can get a place close to UM or just outside of downtown, easy.

Contract
 

Hello sir, I was looking at a few good places to fly sea planes in south Florida, however I’m not sure where to go. I wanted a good place I can fly but do you know how the contract works at TOA? Also if you decide to leave early can you terminate the contract and just pay the fee? Would appreciate any info you have on this and also if they are willing to sign FO’s without a contract! Cheers

This should sufficiently answer your questions:
https://seaplanemagazine.com/2018/11...nd-two-pilots/

Hello amphibian. I understand the lawsuit and non compete and nda agreements, but is there a contract and time frame that you have to fly for the company and if so can you get out of it fairly easy by quitting or paying a fee to be realeased from contract to fly for a different company (not a seaplane operator)? Cheers

Frankly, I am not familiar with the convenants of Tropic Ocean’s employment contract. I apologize if I misrepresented myself.

Good luck paying off Tropic Ocean Airways with the $20,000/year you make a year flying seaplanes in Fort Lauderdale.

If you're asking these questions, do you really understand the lawsuit? Go take your 250 hours and go to Alaska. If Alaska doesn't fit your lifestyle, then go fly aerial surveying or cargo where you can actually learn something and then not be on the hook (or in court) when you decide the smartest thing to do is to make a living in the airlines.

The non-compete is for two years... not sure it will hold up in the court, but do you think you can afford a lawyer to find out the answer to that question?