How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School Ops?

Mattio

Well-Known Member
I have a meeting at my flight school coming up to create a position for myself as the director of flight school ops. Right now the school is pretty much headless because the owner spends the majority of his time in the corporate side of the business and there is a chief cfi but he only works a couple days a week. The school is relatively busy and has 12 airplanes. However, like I said, there's no real leadership at the school and there is a lot of room for growth and standardization. The area that the school is in has an extremely rapidly growing economy and it stands as the only flight school at the field, for now. Working in this position, my main jobs would be advertising, standardization (possible 141 certification), holding instructor meetings, working on other ventures for the company and coordinating with local colleges for possible flight programs, as well as continuing to flight instruct.

I'm considering making this my life's work and trying to have position grow with the company. My qual's are 2500 hours, 1000 instructing, and 2 years of airline experiene. What do you think I should ask for a starting salary? Any help is greatly appreciated.
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

One million dollars.

one_million_dr_evil.jpg
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

Riiight, work with me here, throw me a frikkin bone haha
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

One bone....coming up!

<embed src="http://www.spike.com/efp" quality="high" bgcolor="000000" name="efp" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer" flashvars="flvbaseclip=2807981" allowfullscreen="true" width="320" align="middle" height="240"> Night At The Museum - Throw The Bone | Movies & TV | SPIKE.com
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

I'd wait for what they have to offer. Problem is that their expectations may be far lower than what you perceive to be good compensation for the job there. With the amount of planes I assume a load of part time CFI's?
How many people will you oversee?
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

I'd wait for what they have to offer.

:yeahthat:

To quote another member's blog,

....who ever speaks first about salary level ..looses...that is , you always force the potential employer to raise the issue and the proposed salary numbers first..... you never do.
Another possibility you could consider is compensation based on a base salary + some sort of commission based on how much business you may be able to bring to the school. It might make it easier for them to bring you on in that kind of position if they have a low upfront investment and the rest of your compensation becomes effective when you are, especially if marketing and advertising will be in your portfolio.
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

The first guy to give a number loses.
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

Great, thanks guys! I will be working with about 11 instructors, most part time.
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

What kind of airplanes? I'm thinking you could make a reasonable argument of your value based on the income from what you manage.

For instance (I'm just throwing a bunch of numbers into a pot and seeing what cooks up):

Say the planes rent for $120/hr
Cost after fuel, maintenance, and financing is $90/hr ($43, $21 and $26 / hour ... I should re-read that article Eagle wrote about owning)
Two-thirds of the flying also has an instructor bringing in $10 for the school (beyond whatever they're paid).

That means ~$36/hour coming in after dispatching an airplane. Taxes eat maybe a quarter of that? ... $27/hour. (Now I'll really start pulling numbers out of the air).

12 airplanes averaging 700 billable hours is $227,000/year coming in. Say leases and fixed costs eat $90,000 of that (a WAG of $5,000/mo. rent and $2500 misc.), ~10% savings rate gets about another $31,000. That leaves $106,000 to divvy up among the people that make the operation run.

Any of you small business owners ... please be gentle while setting me straight. :D
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

Mattio: There are all sorts of different ways to figure it (commissions, percentages, salaries, etc.), but when it all boils down, I would want at least $50k/year to hold that position, and I don't think $60k/year is out of line. However you figure the numbers, make sure they reach a reasonable total at the end of the year.

I make about $30k/year doing those same types of duties, but our operation is much, much smaller (two planes / two instructors).

My pay includes a base salary, plus hourly pay for the instructional hours I bill, plus a rate for every hour the other instructors bill. PM me if you want the specifics.
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

what kind of beni's do you get? what good is an extra 500 a month if you have to buy your own insurance?

I'd fight for company paid med/dental, 401k match, and cell phone.
after that I would assume 40k to start? maybe.

It really depends on what the job description states... which on that note, don't take the job without one. Having a stated job description is the easiest way to get a raise when they want you to do more. Have it stated, that if your description is change or added to, that they must renegotiate before finalization.

many people don't realize that companies like employees that put high value on their time. It means they value the work they do, and understand what it means to be professional. (they just don't like to pay them though)
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

$55k, medical, dental, 401k and cost "rental" on the fleet.

-mini
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

How many hats will you wear in this position? Do you expect to be able to delegate so you can administrate? I would suggest low end $40k for a dozen planes- but with $20k a year in non taxable perks- housing, car, health insurance.
You're talking about going to "The Dark Side"- so get a contract with a Golden Parachute is my suggestion. Incentive bonuses prolly wouldn't hurt your feelings either once you attain certain goals.
Will you be affiliated with a local Community College and see your program be eligible for student loans? Certainly getting the 141 certification allowing Veteran's to use their benefits will help ensure success.
Who does the recuiting for new students now?
Are you over maintenance, too?
Must you oversee scheduling or does the part-time Chief do it? How many CFIs are check airmen?
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

Most people I know who work in management, or directing specific departments for a company - aviation and non-aviation, are starting between $40-$60K, plus benefits, and annual raises, depending on the business.

I would say between $40-$50K, plus benefits, annual raises (COL), as well as quarterly, and/or annual bonuses would not be out of line.
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

salary also deepends on the part of the country you live in. a flight school in silicon valley is going to have a dramatically different salary from mobile, alabama.

if i took a stab at the middle of the road, $60k with benes
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

How many hats will you wear in this position? Do you expect to be able to delegate so you can administrate? I would suggest low end $40k for a dozen planes- but with $20k a year in non taxable perks- housing, car, health insurance.
You're talking about going to "The Dark Side"- so get a contract with a Golden Parachute is my suggestion. Incentive bonuses prolly wouldn't hurt your feelings either once you attain certain goals.
Will you be affiliated with a local Community College and see your program be eligible for student loans? Certainly getting the 141 certification allowing Veteran's to use their benefits will help ensure success.
Who does the recuiting for new students now?
Are you over maintenance, too?
Must you oversee scheduling or does the part-time Chief do it? How many CFIs are check airmen?

Yea, 141 certification would be a big part of my initial agenda. Currently there is no check airmen, everybody kinda just does their own thing with their students and there's no checkrides, which is something I'd like to change. I would like to help get the school to the point where colleges would be interested in developing a program with us. As far as scheduling goes, it's all done online and with the help of the dispatcher. I won't oversee mx but maybe help out if I have down time.
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

did you create a job description already? if not, you should do that...then give yourself a range of salary along with ala carte items....

if you want the position, you could start out on the low end in order to reel them in....then the first 6 months, bump yourself up depending on how effective you are...after that, annually bump yourself up if you plan to mke this a lifetime commitment. but i think you're going to need to prove worth before you get top of the line pay.

if there are benefits at the school, then get the monetary figure for those annual costs and subtract them
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

Sounds like you have excellent intentions and know how to set goals. What area of the country is this?
 
Re: How much should I ask for as Director of Flight School O

I would wait till you see what they offer. Example.

A couple years ago I was asked to be the CP of a smaller part 91 company. About 7 172's and I'm guessing 10 pilots. I was told to think about what kind of pay I would like. Duties would be to fly practically 7 days a week, cover anybody who called in sick, office work, scheduling, parking planes, fueling planes, etc...

After talking with several people, I finally came up with what I thought would be a fair number, 60K/year. I was told, "What!! We were thinking something like an extra $1/hr, (at the time I was at $18/hr), and possibly maybe swing you an extra $300 a month on top your pay. Would have been a grand total of around $27k per year. Needless to say, I didn't take it. Then 2 months later I started working for Airnet, getting multi-time in a Baron, home by 10pm every night, weekends and holidays off, and making over 45k. Worked out well......that is, till I got furloughed:D

My former bosses seemed a bit offended when I asked for that much, and though they never said anything, I think it caused some hurt feelings, on both sides. So I'm thinking you should ask them what they plan to pay you, and see if it's worth it to you. Just my humble advise.:dunno:
 
Back
Top