Dream Job?

[MikeD]

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[Mike D,
I hope you don't mind me condensing your post. Too much wisdom to be lost in a long post.

Thanks for being over there. Hope you guys are back in The States soon. Take care.

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Appreciate the kind words NJA. Hope things are going good back on the homeground too.

BTW, happy upcoming new year to you, Tired, and FalconCapt.

 

[IPad (10)]

Falconcapt,

For the reasons you have stated that's why I think you have a dream job. All I've ever seen corporate pilots around here do is work their asses off. Whether it be washing the planes every day they don't fly or doing Jepps. The company I fly with requires that their full time employees be at the airport Mon-Fri whether or not they're flying. They're also in charge of maintence and basically every thing. The two pilots run the whole operation on their own. The way you talk about corporate aviation it sounds like the second you get in it you're in a job flying a GIV or a Falcon 900, making the big bucks, rmemeber the pilots down there in Navajo's and Bonanza's are corporate pilots too.....

 

[Tired]

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. The company I fly with requires that their full time employees be at the airport Mon-Fri whether or not they're flying.

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I can't stand these types of operations. I don't mind managing stuff, but REQUIRING that you be at the airport certian hours is wrong.

 

[MikeD]

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. The company I fly with requires that their full time employees be at the airport Mon-Fri whether or not they're flying.

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I can't stand these types of operations. I don't mind managing stuff, but REQUIRING that you be at the airport certian hours is wrong.

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Agree. To me, in civilian flying, when you're hired as a pilot, that's what you should be expected to do: be a work at times appropriate for your flights, since that's your job. If the company expects you to do management-type ops and be a pilot, then that's what you should've been hired to do up front (or have agreed to later), and you should be duly compensated for that time. Same as the difference between the line pilots and the management pilots at an airline.

The military is the opposite of this. In the AF, you're expected to be an officer first, pilot second. So in truth, as a pilot your primary job isn't flying, it's whatever squadron/unit job you're assigned to do (scheduling, training, safety, mobility, etc); and in addition, it's mostly performance in these "additional duties" that make up the brunt of your performance reports (read: promotions), not the flying part.

Same crap.

MD

 

[mtsu_av8er]

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Falconcapt, . . .

. . .rememeber the pilots down there in Navajos and Bonanzas are corporate pilots too.....

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Very good point, kid.

 

[FalconCapt]

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BTW, happy upcoming new year to you, Tired, and FalconCapt.

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Mike, Happy New Year to you too! (And everyone else here!)

Thanks for being over there to support our country!

 

[flycanuck]

the corporate and fractional jobs do sound extremely intriguing to go after, but I still love the atmosphere of the airlines and the busy congested airports.

 

[FalconCapt]

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Falconcapt,

The way you talk about corporate aviation it sounds like the second you get in it you're in a job flying a GIV or a Falcon 900, making the big bucks, rmemeber the pilots down there in Navajo's and Bonanza's are corporate pilots too.....

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Kid,

It all depends on the point you decide to enter "Corporate Aviation"... This job I have now IS my first Corporate job. Prior to this I was flying Charter in King Air's, Lear's and Falcon 20's... Prior to that I was a Flight Instructor...

I intentionally stayed working as a CFI a little longer than others to build my time so I could jump right into that Charter job flying Turbo-Props and Jets... I flew a lot in my Charter job and stayed until I found the Corporate job I wanted. I wasn't going to leave Charter as a Lear/Falcon 20 Captain to go to some Corporate job as a Navajo Captain. Honestly, most Charter (jet) jobs are far better than most of the piston Corporate jobs.

It all depends on where you want to end up. I passed up several job offers when I was flying Charter because they were crappy Corporate jobs... I was a Lear Captain/Falcon 20 Captain flying Charter and was offered a Gulfstream II Captain/Lear Captain job (they would pay for the G-II Type) and it would have been about a $15,000/year raise, I turned the job down. It was one of those jobs where they did a LOT of personal trips and the pilots did a lot of extra crap, not to mention they were understaffed.

Most of the "Corporate" Bonanza and Navajo jobs you are referring to are most likely a guy who owns a company and decided he wants a plane. It is probably his personal transportation.

 

[EatSleepFly]

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rmemeber the pilots down there in Navajo's and Bonanza's are corporate pilots too.....



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Like me.

Though some would argue that its not a corporate gig because it doesn't burn Jet-A. And that its their "personal transportation." Even though its registered to the company. And it flies 80% of the time on company business only. And we fly all over the eastern 1/3 of the U.S. (not bad for a Bonanza). And my job title at a multi-million dollar, publicly traded company is "pilot". But yeah, you get used to being looked down upon for "being a wannabe corporate pilot" or "acting like a corporate pilot" flying a little bug smasher.

 

[Boltonpilot]

Well, this whole thing goes back to the basic words of wisdom that any job has its ups and downs. I would love to fly for Netjets 'cause, hell, I live right here in Columbus OH, and there's not much based around here except AirNet! (Not to bash AirNet, though). Netjets seems to be a great company; I was able to meet with Brian Hart, a staff flight instructor at Port Columbus, who showed me some of the facilities. He showed me the flight center, (very impressive place), the maintenance hangers, and some of the flight simulators at their Flight Safety building. If I was able to stay longer, I would have been able to try out the Citation Excel simulator,

, but I couldn't.

Anyway, I had a question for NJA Capt: do you know if the Citation VII has much more of a future with the company? I've had this suspicion that Netjets may phase them out with Hawker 800XPs, and I'd hate to see them leave; I see quite a few of them at Bolton Field, just SW of CMH.

 

[IPad (10)]

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rmemeber the pilots down there in Navajo's and Bonanza's are corporate pilots too.....



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Like me.

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I was thinking of you when I wrote that

 

[FalconCapt]

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Like me.

Though some would argue that its not a corporate gig because it doesn't burn Jet-A. And that its their "personal transportation." Even though its registered to the company. And it flies 80% of the time on company business only. And we fly all over the eastern 1/3 of the U.S. (not bad for a Bonanza). And my job title at a multi-million dollar, publicly traded company is "pilot". But yeah, you get used to being looked down upon for "being a wannabe corporate pilot" or "acting like a corporate pilot" flying a little bug smasher.

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You are a Corporate Pilot... You are employed by the company, fly the companies airplane for company business (which is not related to directly making money with the airplane). It isn't about what you fly, it is about the job you do. However, people aspiring to be a "typical" Corporate Pilot should not compare the Bonanza or Navajo jobs to the higher paying jobs when trying to compare apples to apples. Usually a Bonanza or Navajo job is not even close to a "retirement" type job.

 

[jonnyb]

You guys are crackin' me up! Oh yeah, mine is bigger than all you guys!

Just kiddin'. Even though you guys got into that stupid game of "who's is bigger, faster....", whatever it was. I think Mike D is the most accurate of all.

However, I also have to agree with FalconCapt. on most of the "points" made in the earlier posts.

Although I don't think it's really necessary how FalconCapt. constantly has to define the line between corporate and fractional,,,,, he's right! Fractional pilots' jobs are closer to airline flying than corporate flying. Their salaries are pitiful (sorry NJACapt., but it's the truth

) and don't compare to those of most corporate flight departments operating the same or similar equipment. I personally think it's ridiculous that NJA and Flight Options pilots are working for those salaries. I mean, if you NEED a job, you gotta do what you gotta do. I understand that. However, I cannot understand sticking around and being "satisfied" with those numbers. It's just not good for the industry. Just to end this fairly, every single NJA pilot I've met, was a very nice, cordial and professional individual. They (NJA) somehow manage to keep some really good people.

 

[FalconCapt]

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Although I don't think it's really necessary how FalconCapt. constantly has to define the line between corporate and fractional,,,,, he's right!

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The "Devil is in the Details"... This site isn't so much for the general public (who lumps all pilots together in one group that all make $200k+ per year)... It is for up and coming pilots who should strive for accuracy in the information they are seeking.

 

[jonnyb]

RIGHT! I just had to give you guys a hard time.

I agree completely. New and prospective career pilots need to know how it really works. Corporate flying can be great, however, 2000 hours and some turbine experience won't get you there (in most cases). Most large corporate flight departments are looking for extensive PIC jet time in "type" and very desirable personal attributes (among many other things).

In other words, it isn't as easy as some make it sound. Dues will be paid, but all in all, that's what makes it so cool when you finally "arrive". It doesn't really matter what you love to do or what field you're in, these rules (steps,,,whatever you want to call them) usually apply.

 

[FLYMcDoofer]

For the Question about the Cit VII future I have been told by a VII driver with NetJets as long as GE keeps using them they will stay in the fleet or something to that effect. GE is a big NJA customer...might be the biggest.
This was over the summer when he told us that and we had 3 at one time on the ramp. I know there aren't too many in the fleet so it was funny to see so many at once here! This info could have changed or the guy could have been way off...I'm sure NJA Capt. will know better.

 

[NJA_Capt]

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...NJA Capt: do you know if the Citation VII has much more of a future with the company? I've had this suspicion that Netjets may phase them out with Hawker 800XPs.

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I have no official answer, but in my personal opinion, I'm surprised they are still here. It is the smallest mature fleet, with just over a dozen aircraft. It has good speed but no range. The Excel has filled most of the void. Not as fast as the VII, but it has more interior volume and A LOT more baggage space, with about the same range. I would be shocked if it is here more than two more years.

 

[FLYMcDoofer]

NJA Capt or anyothers in the know......

Will the new Hawker 400s yall just ordered be outfitted with Single Point? As a ramper the beauty and ease of NetJets is that 99.9% of the fleet (I think there are like 6 if that Ultras w/o Single Pt.) have them.
Its a pain in the arse to hear "top the wings 300 in the trunk"

Also will they have APUs?

 

[Windchill]

Being a devoted Washington Redskins fan, and glad to see Steve Spurrier gone, I would have to say as an aspiring pilot, right now my dream job would be to fly for Dan Snyder and fly him around the country to meet with potential coaches, fly potential coaches to him, and all of the players Snyder will ferry in during free agency.

 

[JEP]

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right now my dream job would be to fly for Dan Snyder

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Are you crazy? Have you seen how he tries to run the ENTIRE team. He would be in the cockpit telling you how to fly the plane.