25,000 flight hours and counting

[Bear]

"Ed Kilkeary Sr., company founder and CEO of L.J. Aviation, spends about half of his days in the air.

As a pilot, Kilkeary has racked up more than 25,000 flight hours and continues to add about 400 each year.

“I've been a lot of places,” he said. “I've been through Europe, and I spend a lot of time in Asia.”

From L.J.'s base at Arnold Palmer Regional Airport in Unity, PA, flight destinations can include anywhere from St. Petersburg, Russia, to Tanzania or Naples, Italy.

“I go through customs so often, when they pull out the screen and my name is there, they know a lot about me,” Kilkeary said.

http://triblive.com/local/westmorel...ins-nata-award-has-accrued-25000-flight-hours

 

[trafficinsight]

Logbook or it didn't happen.

Sent from my XT1650 using Tapatalk

 

[Crockrocket94]

Old boss. Can confirm he probably has lol.

 

[JordanD]

That sounds awful

 

[Flying Saluki]

That sounds awful

What's awful about it? Spending his life doing something he's passionate about, owning his own aviation business, seeing the world, sharing it with, and then passing it on to his family? Sounds like a life well lived to me.

 

[bucksmith]

Sounds like a great guy. An aviator, not just a pilot. Good for him

 

[JordanD]

What's awful about it? Spending his life doing something he's passionate about, owning his own aviation business, seeing the world, sharing it with, and then passing it on to his family? Sounds like a life well lived to me.

I love flying as much as the next guy, but that's a LOT of time to spend in airplanes. Doing other stuff is nice too.

 

[Roger Roger]

I love flying as much as the next guy, but that's a LOT of time to spend in airplanes. Doing other stuff is nice too.

Eh, if a guy starts flying at 25 and works until retirement that's only 625 hours a year which is hardly busting your butt (depending on the type of flying of course)

 

[killbilly]

I sat on a Delta flight the other night next to a pilot on his way to a checkride in ATL.

He flies the 747 (ex NWA guy) and transitioning to the A350. He had some great stories, said he stopped keeping a logbook around 28,000 hours.

Repeatedly advised me never to marry a stripper.

 

[MikeOH58]

What's awful about it? Spending his life doing something he's passionate about, owning his own aviation business, seeing the world, sharing it with, and then passing it on to his family? Sounds like a life well lived to me.

No offense but............ so says the dispatcher who sleeps in his own bed every night. 25 thousand hours in business jets sounds freaking terrible.

 

[Flying Saluki]

No offense but............ so says the dispatcher who sleeps in his own bed every night. 25 thousand hours in business jets sounds freaking terrible.

Actually, I don't, but that's a different discussion. 25,000 hours over 40+ years is not much different from an airline schedule. And I bet he spent the majority of nights in his own bed. Corporate doesn't tend to have as many overnights as airlines do.

But this guy isn't just a corporate pilot. He owns his own aviation business, and it's no mom and pop operation. Check out the website. https://www.ljaviation.com/

Guys like him are not motivated by MMMTO.

 

[milleR]

I don't get the hate here. It's a number.

As an aviation business owner I have to imagine operating the aircraft is an incredibly convenient excuse to get out of the office, and I would capitalize on that as much as possible in his shoes. That man is still probably working 50-60 hours per week, so getting in a plane has to be spectacular compared to the office. I know it's something I look forward to. And even if he's flying because he has to (in lieu of hiring another pilot or filling in when someone calls out sick etc.) the difference between being the owner and an employee is huge.

The fact that he has run a successful aircraft management and 135 operation for almost 40 years and has managed to incorporate his children into the business is amazing in my opinion. @Crockrocket94 can put me in my place if I'm wrong about the whole thing and the guy's a slave driver, but it certainly doesn't look that way from the outside.

And the dude flew choppers in 'Nam, that's pretty cool too.

 

[MikeOH58]

Actually, I don't, but that's a different discussion. 25,000 hours over 40+ years is not much different from an airline schedule. And I bet he spent the majority of nights in his own bed. Corporate doesn't tend to have as many overnights as airlines do.

But this guy isn't just a corporate pilot. He owns his own aviation business, and it's no mom and pop operation. Check out the website. https://www.ljaviation.com/

Guys like him are not motivated by MMMTO.

Hahahahahahahahhahahaha. You sir are either a funny man or have no idea what you are talking about. Either way, thanks for the laugh. That was pretty good right there.

 

[MikeOH58]

I don't get the hate here. It's a number.

As an aviation business owner I have to imagine operating the aircraft is an incredibly convenient excuse to get out of the office, and I would capitalize on that as much as possible in his shoes. That man is still probably working 50-60 hours per week, so getting in a plane has to be spectacular compared to the office. I know it's something I look forward to. And even if he's flying because he has to (in lieu of hiring another pilot or filling in when someone calls out sick etc.) the difference between being the owner and an employee is huge.

The fact that he has run a successful aircraft management and 135 operation for almost 40 years and has managed to incorporate his children into the business is amazing in my opinion. @Crockrocket94 can put me in my place if I'm wrong about the whole thing and the guy's a slave driver, but it certainly doesn't look that way from the outside.

And the dude flew choppers in 'Nam, that's pretty cool too.

50-60 hour work week in office PLUS flying on top of that? You look forward to that? Sir, are you crazy?

And can you explain to me the difference between flying as a charter bioch as the owner versus an employee? Is the owner going to the Ritz while the rest of the crew go to a courtyard? Is he getting his own individual rental car, a Mercedes perhaps while the rest of the crew uses a Camry? How exactly is it different when the passengers show up 4 hours late etc.

No doubt this guy is an amazing success story and I'm sure he is an awesome person, but I'm telling you definitively, the average person flying a business jet, whether they fly corporate or charter (there is a difference) has no interest in obtaining 25,000 flight hours. You may want to, but the majority of your colleagues do not.

Even Paris gets old after a while, I'll leave it with that.

 

[milleR]

50-60 hour work week in office PLUS flying on top of that? You look forward to that? Sir, are you crazy?

I'd hazard to guess flying is rolled into that work week but I really don't know. Personally speaking, yes, I consistently work 50-60+ hours a week and yes, I look forward to flying on top of that. But for me the plane is a tool, the alternative would be spending hours in my truck on the road. It's also one of the few times I get to be completely inaccessible.

And can you explain to me the difference between flying as a charter bioch as the owner versus an employee? Is the owner going to the Ritz while the rest of the crew go to a courtyard? Is he getting his own individual rental car, a Mercedes perhaps while the rest of the crew uses a Camry? How exactly is it different when the passengers show up 4 hours late etc.

Cherry picking trips is a perk usually only the owner gets to take advantage of.

No doubt this guy is an amazing success story and I'm sure he is an awesome person, but I'm telling you definitively, the average person flying a business jet, whether they fly corporate or charter (there is a difference) has no interest in obtaining 25,000 flight hours. You may want to, but the majority of your colleagues do not.
Even Paris gets old after a while, I'll leave it with that.

I genuinely don't care about flight hours (my logbook is the back of an old fltplan.com printout) as I'm sure is true in most cases which is why I find the outrage here so amusing. I've never in my life met a group of professionals that get so worked up into a lather when they see somebody they perceive as having worked too hard throughout their career.

 

[CFI A&P]

If you think someone with 25,000 or 30,000 hours of flying worked too much, you should consider the hours spent for someone in a 9-5 position. Those jobs work out to about 2,000 hours a year. Then think about that over the course of a thirty or more year career.

Many of us have had non-aviation jobs and some of those sucked real bad. I'll take 25,000 hours of flying over 60,000 hours of digging ditches, sucking the saliva out of someone's mouth as a dental hygienist, or 30 years stuck in a cubicle doing someone else's taxes.

YMMV.

 

[Flying Saluki]

Hahahahahahahahhahahaha. You sir are either a funny man or have no idea what you are talking about. Either way, thanks for the laugh. That was pretty good right there.

In my admittedly limited corporate flight department experience with a 3 airplane operation, I recall one trip, in a 3 month period, that was an R.O.N. All the rest were out-and-backs.

 

[Mattyg36]

Man I'd kill to have 2,500 hours let alone 25,000

 

[Roger Roger]

I've never in my life met a group of professionals that get so worked up into a lather when they see somebody they perceive as having worked too hard throughout their career.

Or about what other people wear both on and off the job..or the luggage they carry...or other people's hobbies...or other people's career goals...

 

[Crockrocket94]

He wasn't a slave driver. He actually worked more than anyone else in the company. He enjoys flying no doubt, he has exceptionally high standards for his airplanes and make sure they are in excellent condition. Some people may not agree with his style, and thats a conversation for another time. He definitely knows how to run a business.