Is this for Honey B corp? I know they operate a Citation and a Conquest on the west coast....
Nope, it's not Honey B corp. I think there are lots of Conquest/Citation duos out there!
That being said, 100-150/day would be a good salary, or $35/hr wouldn't be bad for an SIC slot either.
I mean at a mininum, How can you do these trips for anything less than you would make in a day as a CFI, plus some?
Funny, that's exactly the formula I used to come up with what I said my rate would be, which was $150. If all my students show up and fly as scheduled, that's what I make. I was worried I was asking too much; I'm glad to hear many folks here think it's way too little.
This isn't the regional airlines people who can afford a jet can afford to pay well.
Also, with regard to your buddy not wanting to "give them a bill" for your services, it's my guess that they've ALWAYS paid for the SIC and expect it.
A good friend of mine was an insurance-required SIC and he was paid $250 per day. So here is my question: Since they are required to use a second pilot, who are they using instead of you? They must obviously be using someone.
You might be surprised to find out that this company has a history of access to SICs that will fly for free. The person who is doing most of the SIC flying right now used to be an instructor at my flight school; he quit about a year ago, bought himself an A320 type rating, and tried to get in on the whole Asian Airline boom. It hasn't worked out for him so far, and he needs whatever flying he can find to stay current, so he's been willing to fly for no compensation. There have been others, too - I could tell that when I asked to be paid, it was a bit of a surprise for them.
I'm not so sure how involved the bosses are in the flight department. I get the impression they are very hands-off. My friend has stated that a big part of his job description is to "keep the bosses happy," so I think he is loathe to present them with any "extra" bills if he can avoid it, which he is currently able to do without much trouble. I can't imagine, however that the bosses wouldn't want to pay for the pilots who are flying them around and in whose hands they are trusting their lives.
When i'm flying, whether its severe clear VFR, or icing and emergency's, my passengers expect me to be the best pilot they've ever had, and I will be paid accordingly.
Excellent point. A very large part of our job as pilots is to be there when things go wrong. Given that I know my SIC checkout with this company would probably consist of the bare minimum required under 61.55, it's questionable whether I would really be qualified in the case of an engine fire, TR deployment, depressurization, or any of the other myriad emergencies that I don't regularly encounter teaching in Cessnas and Pipers.
If in doubt review calcapt's roundtable comments. They really are timeless truths for this industry, and he stated them very eloquently.
I read them a few days ago, and I agree, his comments were a stupendous piece of writing. I really hope to be able to make NJC next year!
you may find that neither he nor the corporation or people you really want to work for -if in fact they're looking for someone to do it for free. Just my .02.
The more I think about this situation, the more I think you're right. There's more I could say about this operation, but I think I'll just say the following: I'm happy with my job right now, and when the time is right to fly a jet, I'll be very excited to do it under proper professional circumstances.