The Encore Air Cargo Iron Curtain

[Tommay85]

I'm really curious about this company based on the incredibly limited information I've found on them.

What I've got so far:
-One of the highest paying cargo outfits out there(potentially hearsay)
-Bought by Landmark a few years ago
-Cessna 402s and Metroliners(which I have a SERIOUS fettish for! haha)
-HQ in Sioux Falls(pilots mainly outstation based?)
-Ameriflight almost shut them down back in the day(heard from a guy who knew a guy kind of rumor), and now Martinaire has taken a few runs
-Unrelated to the company itself, but I talked to a guy that flew from BIS to FSD with a snow drift on the wingtip of a metro. He thought it would blowoff. I asked him what that was like and his response was "Flew like S&*$!". I've been laughing at that ever since.

I'd love to shoot a resume' over to these guys in the near future, but they seem shrouded in secrecy. That or my internet stalking skills are diminishing... I'm curious as to what they typically look for for mins and what it's like to work there.

Thanks!

 

[Avalon781ML]

From what I understand they are a class act and pretty difficult to get into... heck I've been trying for years and still no success... doesn't Hugz work for them?

 

[Blip16]

I used to
Pay is good yes, but i make more now flying for a FedEx feeder with a better schedule and qol. Good company though i quit before i wanted too due to family reasons

 

[Maurus]

They have job postings every once in a while. Definitely helps to know someone there. Great place to work at however they could be one UPS shuffle away from extinction. Sad to see but true.

Best part of the job. No monkey suit and still getting payed well.

 

[Blip16]

They have job postings every once in a while. Definitely helps to know someone there. Great place to work at however they could be one UPS shuffle away from extinction. Sad to see but true.

Best part of the job. No monkey suit and still getting payed well.

Almost happened 4 months ago. They don't do only ups though

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk

 

[jhugz]

From what I understand they are a class act and pretty difficult to get into... heck I've been trying for years and still no success... doesn't Hugz work for them?

I love my job here, management is awesome and pay is real good. I've said it before but will say it again I cant give specifics on pay due to a company policy. Our turnover is usually very low, a couple pilots a year if that. Internals help, though they're not needed. We don't have the 402 routes we used to so most of our hiring is straight into the metro. You can PM me questions if you want or I'll answer them on here.

 

[Avalon781ML]

I love my job here, management is awesome and pay is real good. I've said it before but will say it again I cant give specifics on pay due to a company policy. Our turnover is usually very low, a couple pilots a year if that. Internals help, though they're not needed. We don't have the 402 routes we used to so most of our hiring is straight into the metro. You can PM me questions if you want or I'll answer them on here.

Now if you could only get the GFK-BIS run from Alpine... that would be the awesome.... I would drop everything just to work for these guys... never heard any complaints. Can't say that for most places these days.

 

[jhugz]

That run is awful. They'd have to pay me a lot of money to even consider it. I've heard a lot of good things about Alpine but some of those USPS runs are 7 days a week with a low QoL.

 

[Tommay85]

That run is awful. They'd have to pay me a lot of money to even consider it. I've heard a lot of good things about Alpine but some of those USPS runs are 7 days a week with a low QoL.

Are you based in GFK now?

 

[jhugz]

Yea

 

[Tommay85]

Yea

Oh boy, spent 6 and half years up there. You had a pretty mild winter this year it looks like.

My question is, have you been to Parrots Cay on Washington St. yet? Those are the absolute best hot wings I've ever had. I'm convinced they must put crack in the sauce as well because I go through withdrawals and it draws me up to Grand Forks about once a month. haha

 

[Tommay85]

They have job postings every once in a while. Definitely helps to know someone there. Great place to work at however they could be one UPS shuffle away from extinction. Sad to see but true.

Best part of the job. No monkey suit and still getting payed well.

From what I heard, Ameriflight just about took over absolutely everything but someone dropped the ball. Scary! Isn't freight supposed to be the stable side of aviation?

 

[Ozelot]

Oh boy, spent 6 and half years up there. You had a pretty mild winter this year it looks like.

My question is, have you been to Parrots Cay on Washington St. yet? Those are the absolute best hot wings I've ever had. I'm convinced they must put crack in the sauce as well because I go through withdrawals and it draws me up to Grand Forks about once a month. haha

Parrots Cay Is AWESOME!

I miss that place.

 

[Blip16]

Parrots Cay Is AWESOME!

I miss that place.

I'm ashamed to admit I've never had their wings, we might need to change that

 

[Maurus]

Isn't freight supposed to be the stable side of aviation?

Kind of. The UPS shuffle can be no fun. Especially for smaller operators. The thing that makes cargo a little more stable is that the runs typically don't dissapear for cargo feeder stuff. Because cargo doesn't really have seniority and the runs don't just vanish a lateral job change can easily be done. Me being at a large company that has never officially furloughed is a bonus.

 

[gomntwins]

I've worked at EAC for 6 years now and love it. The pay is private information, and I respect that. We were bought by Landmark about 4-5 years ago, prior to that we were Business Aviation Courier. Our management within the freight depart, however, is still from the old BA days, and they are great people. The bulk of our fleet are 402's and Metroliners, and we do have 1 404 as well (that plane has been based out of Aberdeen SD for about 20 years now, pretty sure she knows where she's going by now).

Stability, who knows with anything anymore? Honestly, I think it's more stable than a lot of people will lead you to believe. I don't forsee any large aircraft/route changes in the near future, but who knows? Sioux Falls has limited resources to offer other operators. There really is not much hangar space, and of the hangars that do exist, very, very few can be utilized for mx. Martinaire does have some routes out of FSD and they are utiizing the only other good mx. option on the field, and I believe those facilities are essentially full now, so I don't know how a different operator could really make it work to take over routes in bulk. Is it possible? I'm sure there's a way, but I can't for the life of me think it's cost effective. That's probably why it hasn't worked out for other operators attempting to fly the routes.

We have very, very low turnover. For 25 pilots, it seems like we lose 2-3 per year. The majority of pilots that do leave are the least senior and either don't like the type of work, don't get an upgrade, or don't like the location. I've been here 6 years and am only about half way up the seniority list (the bulk of people over me are lifers, and provided I keep my route, I will be as well).

The majority of us either are from the Dakotas or Minnesota and love living up here. I love living in the Dakotas and have zero desire to leave, ever. We usually like to hire people that are from up here... they usually enjoy the job better and stay for more than 1 year. We feel the crunch in the good hiring times like every other 135 operator (when regionals are hiring at 250 hours, there aren't a whole ot of 1200 hour CFIs to hire). Internal recommendations help a lot. I've recommended a number of people, the majority of which are from JC, and most have gotten interviews. Due to something that has come up in the past, I will no longer be doing that unfortunately, but that's how it goes. It seems that whenever we have job openings they get posted on here, so if anybody has any questions more, send me a PM.

 

[Maurus]

Due to something that has come up in the past

It was jhugs falling and hurting himself right before his checkride wasn't it?

 

[Avalon781ML]

That run is awful. They'd have to pay me a lot of money to even consider it. I've heard a lot of good things about Alpine but some of those USPS runs are 7 days a week with a low QoL.

Compared to my current job that would be a very very cush run... Less than 8 hours duty and no chinese kids to hit that late at night... The same amount of money and no whiny pax... Don't get me wrong because I love what I do for a living but dealing with the same hulabaloo every single day at cjc is wearing me out.

 

[ppragman]

I don't think you trulu understand how much work is involved in that run. Just saying.

 

[Tommay85]

Thanks for all the info guys! Oh, and I mean no disrespect with the thread title. EAC is just so mysterious!