that there are senior guys who are still willing to work for AMC after the company told them that they couldn't afford a length of service payscale, because to match what they're paying the new guys it would cost them over $50,000,000, and the OPEIU pushed it.

you're one of those guys so what does that say about you bro lol

It was a bitter pill to swallow when I, at 15 years in the Gulf of Mexico with a certain operator of yellow helos, realized that a new-hire could come in off the street and do basically the same job as me...for a lot less money.  We pilots like to think that there is big value in having a lot of flight time and longevity with a company.  The companies don't always see it that way.  Old guys are something of a liability.  Oh, there is "some" added value, but with the proper training and guidance, new-hires can do the job perfectly adequately.  Let's face it - helicopter flying is a young man's game.  Staying as a Line Pilot is a losing proposition.  It's a lesson I wish I had learned earlier.

can kill a few every few years and it's okay...that's what insurance is for.  Plus, the GiBs don't know enough to even question it.

that are crashing. this must be your first day bro

and into th leech field, with the rest of everyones crap

I guarantee you want nothing to do belng in management!  Best position in aviation is line pilot.  Don't like that?  Go work elsewhere, providing you are marketable in some other job.

Almost anyone can learn the company ways, base ways and basic routine of medical flying within a year. Other than that flying is flying no matter where you work. A bunch of hours in a logbook doesn't make you more valuable if you've done the same thing 100 hours or 1000 hours.

 With 20 years flying am I somehow more valuable then the guy with 10 or 5 or 1?

It probably depends whether or not that additional experience results in additional revenue flights.

In my experience...it does.

I agree.  Why you don't see too many Rob-Tards in IFR programs.

How does more experience result in additional revenue flights? Are you accepting riskier flights because you think you are more experienced to handle it or is there another reason? 

We could argue all day about how experience can get you out of sticky situations but if you are following the regulations and going from point A to point B, more experience is not going to get you more flights.

If you label riskier flights as flights completed well within legal weather minimums vs the guy who has much higher personal minimums, then yes, experience translates into revenue.

I would label riskier flights as flights right at the margin of legal. Or perhaps even lower. A scenario where they are flying and see conditions are actually lower than reported but the pilot keeps going because with "experience" that pilot thinks it could get done because he or she has flown in worse before. That would certainly add more flights and more revenue if successful.

If a new pilot has higher personal minimums and are not flying flights that others deem acceptable, someone better ask why. Are they not being provided the tools to safely do it, have they not been adequately trained, or is there a fear that needs to be addressed to be able to fly within the expected, safe envelope? Either way, it won't take thousands of hours of experience to get them trained to the expected standard.

Additionally, I know many lower hour pilots who can fly circles around "experienced" pilots and many experienced pilots have much higher personal minimums than the average pilot. So experience does not necessarily mean increased revenue.    

Regarding my experience, I will just say I have most likely flown more hours in horrible conditions than most on this board. I have also trained many inexperienced pilots to become comfortable flying safely in those same conditions. But that is long in my rearview mirror.

there's nobody to teach you how to be a commercial pilot at that point. too late.

Pilots are currently being hired in HEMS with very little commercial experience. Maybe you?

"The same hour, 2000 times" up and down the tourist strip or round and round the pattern, coupled with a heavy logbook pen. That sorta thing. Some seem to be very much in over their heads and don't have the self-confidence to complete anything but the simplest, local, private pilot-level flights. But hey, they work cheap!

Based on your question, I'm sure that you won't agree. And that's ok.

Sure. All ems pilots do then.

Most senior guys understand they only provide a marginal revenue improvement.  Other than the fact you can't find pilots so you would think they would want to reward length of service, but in better company times, I also would hire the younger guy doing the same job for less money.

That's not the problem at AMC.  They couldn't get pilots in the door.  To do so they added large incentives.  Based on seniority, the bottom 1/3rd are now being paid as much as 10-20% more (depending on stipends given to get them in the door) than the middle 1/3rd and in many cases equal to the top 1/3rd.

A retired pilot friend went through the interview process to see what the offer would be.  With more years aviation experience, but barely meeting flight minimums he was offered $10k more for the same job.

There lies the problem.

And if they do this at what number of years do things go flat?