Home often?

gromm44

Well-Known Member
I'm trying to fly and be home with my family often.
How often are you corporate/ charter guys home? Any suggestions?
 
There can be a huge difference from one operator to another. Personally, I've worked for a small 135 operator with light jets and a corporate flight department with 2 large cabin jets.

I averaged 11 overnights per month charter (lots of day trips) and average 5 per month with my current corporate job. We choose to leave the airplane at destination for long duration trips and airline home.

I know people that do more, and less. Best thing to do is talk to the current flight crews at desired place of employment.
 
Flying pt91 with two owners it can go from very little flying to being gone for a couple weeks at a time. We schedule two one night over nights and one 3 night over night per month done in three weeks. So two days one week, 4 the next and two the next with owner #1. That is like clock work every month. Owner two is the wild card. We can go a couple months without seeing him. Which means we are home a lot! Then there are the times owner two calls. This past November we had 9 days off. Two stretches of 11 consecutive days, plus a few more thrown in.
The up side to that is that #2 is usually a trip for fun, not business.

As long as your flexible this type of flying is fun. If you have a lot of commitments and need hard days at home, it wouldn't be so great.
 
I'm trying to fly and be home with my family often.
How often are you corporate/ charter guys home? Any suggestions?
Like every one says, it all depends. I work in a two captain, part 91 Lear 45 operation. The last four years we've averaged about 10-11 days of duty a month with about 5-6 overnights a month. Never on call. We know our schedule at least a week out, most of the time months in advance. It can change a little as we get closer to the trip. If we need a day off we get 3 weeks of vacation and we hire a contract pilot to fill in as needed. I feel super lucky to be where I'm at. Not sure if I'd leave for a major even if I was guaranteed to not have to sit reserve.
 
That all sounds pretty positive. Im considering part 135, but this sounds a little bit better. I don't have scheduled commitments, just don't really want to miss out on too many things or be gone 4 days a week every week. How hard is it really to get a spot. I heard part 91 is all about who you know. Is that an exaggeration?
 
That all sounds pretty positive. Im considering part 135, but this sounds a little bit better. I don't have scheduled commitments, just don't really want to miss out on too many things or be gone 4 days a week every week. How hard is it really to get a spot. I heard part 91 is all about who you know. Is that an exaggeration?


Not an exaggeration at all. If a part 91 operation has to advertise on job boards to hire pilots, you probably don't want to work there. Most good jobs will never be advertised. Especially the big part 91 operators. They're full of pilots who will know others that are looking for work. People that are known to at least one or more of the pilots in the flight department. It's not like the airlines where if you don't like flying with some one you just have to wait a few days for the pairing to end and you'll get some one different the next time. In the corp/charter world it could be just you and another guy/girl. You'll eat together, fly together, wait around FBO's together and besides your significant other spend the most time with. Being able to get along with others is waaaaaaay more important than just about any thing else. I can teach some one to fly better and be smooth. It's hard to teach some one not to be a tard.

I lucked into my spot because a guy I knew gave me the phone number of my current employer. At the time they were just using contract FO's. I gave them a call and ended up doing a couple contract trips. One of the other FO's they were using got a full time job with another company and I moved up to the full time contract guy. Did that for about 10 months then they hired me full time. Now they didn't know me from Adam when I first started flying with them. So if I started acting like a complete tool, showing up late, looking a mess and not knowing the airplane, I'm sure I wouldn't have done more than one or two trips. So if you do get a break, even if it's part time, give it you best and don't be "that guy".

That's why this site is so great. You can network and get to know people that might help you get a break. I've not had a chance to attend NJC but I hope to next time. I highly recommend it, just from the good things I've heard over the years.

Sorry for the rambling. Hope it helps a little. If you have other questions feel free to ask.
 
I appreciate the rambling and the input, I feel like this is something to shoot for. Got to start networking. Thanks. If this shortage actually happens do you think it will have an effect on part 91?
 
Not an exaggeration at all. If a part 91 operation has to advertise on job boards to hire pilots, you probably don't want to work there. Most good jobs will never be advertised. Especially the big part 91 operators. They're full of pilots who will know others that are looking for work. People that are known to at least one or more of the pilots in the flight department. It's not like the airlines where if you don't like flying with some one you just have to wait a few days for the pairing to end and you'll get some one different the next time. In the corp/charter world it could be just you and another guy/girl. You'll eat together, fly together, wait around FBO's together and besides your significant other spend the most time with. Being able to get along with others is waaaaaaay more important than just about any thing else. I can teach some one to fly better and be smooth. It's hard to teach some one not to be a tard.

I lucked into my spot because a guy I knew gave me the phone number of my current employer. At the time they were just using contract FO's. I gave them a call and ended up doing a couple contract trips. One of the other FO's they were using got a full time job with another company and I moved up to the full time contract guy. Did that for about 10 months then they hired me full time. Now they didn't know me from Adam when I first started flying with them. So if I started acting like a complete tool, showing up late, looking a mess and not knowing the airplane, I'm sure I wouldn't have done more than one or two trips. So if you do get a break, even if it's part time, give it you best and don't be "that guy".

That's why this site is so great. You can network and get to know people that might help you get a break. I've not had a chance to attend NJC but I hope to next time. I highly recommend it, just from the good things I've heard over the years.

Sorry for the rambling. Hope it helps a little. If you have other questions feel free to ask.

This.

My part 91 job I can count overnights (excluding training) on one hand per year. My pay is good and the benefits are excellent. To me my family is the most important thing in my life and comes first. I'm perfectly happy flying a Kingair around.
 
My schedule varies widely. We do both 91 corporate and 135 charter. My schedule can be gone for 25 days a month with a bunch of overnights to sleeping in my own bed every night for 6 weeks, with only a few day trips. It all depends on the need and demand at the time.
 
It really depends on the operator. I have a 4/3 schedule, which I find to be a perfect mix of work and off time. My hard days off are Monday-Wednesday each week, which can be tough at times, but I can't really complain. My company doesn't have many overnight trips either, which is another plus.
 
We work a 12 on call 2 off call schedule that we really only know a day or 2 ahead of time. It can be a pain, but we usually know when we are coming home on trips. Some charter ops will have you fly PAX to a destination and then sit on call until they can charter something. That doesnt happen with me so I feel fairly lucky. We probably average 15 days a month working with 4 to 6 overnights. Charter/91 operator in the NE
 
I've had three part 91/135 gigs over the last 15 years all of which I landed through reputation and a friend. It took 14 of those 15 years to "luck up" and get a descent paying job with excellent benefits, good people, averaging 12 duty days a month maybe 4 of which are overnight, 25 flying hours a month in a great piece of equipment, to multiple and continuously changing destinations, but most importantly NOT ON CALL.

I think the ideal percentage formula is about 80% business to 20% pleasure. The business guys and gals like to leave @ 8:00 am and be back home no later than 6:00 pm. and
the pleasure trips are good because you get to hang out in Aspen or the Bahamas for four days. But like they said above the numbers are always fluid, sometimes less, sometimes more.

But if Q.O.L. with the family is important to you, as it has been for me, the right part 91 or 135 gig is good way to achieve that goal. I know I've been uncommonly lucky, but in 15 years with maybe two exceptions, I've never missed a Thanksgiving, Christmas morning, a birthday party, dance recital or softball game.

And the overnight trips I've done have allowed me to experience hiking in the Yellowstone, Yosemite, Carlsbad Caverns, Mojave , and Joshua Tree National Parks. I've toured Chicago, New York, Philly, Boston, D.C., Miami, San Fran, Bozeman and a lot of awesome cities and towns in between. I've walked the beaches of the Pacific, Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and multiple locations throughout the Caribbean. I've sampled Mexican, Chinese, pizza, shushi and more at local restaurants in 46 of the 50 of these Great states, which is why I'm 30 lbs thicker now than I was 15 years ago, but its been a delicious thirty lbs.

I hope all this doesn't come across as pretentious bragging, because that's not my intent, just trying to give you one pilot's experiences in Corporate/ Charter aviation.
 
"I hope all this doesn't come across as pretentious bragging, because that's not my intent, just trying to give you one pilot's experiences in Corporate/ Charter aviation."

It doesn't , I appreciate it.


Thanks everybody for all your input. It does sound like Part 91/ 135 is what Im looking for. I think that's the first option Im going to look into when it comes up.
 
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