Jet Professionals for Contract Pilot Work?

msw

msw

Well-Known Member
I am considering doing some Gulfstream contract flying with a particular operator, and was asked to sign up with Jet Professionals. Is anyone on here familiar with utilizing them for part time contract pilot work? What are the pros and cons? The good, the bad, and the ugly? Is the contract pilot's daily rate set by JP, the owner/operator, or the contract pilot? Does Jet Professionals' "cut" come out of the owner/operator's end or out of the contract pilot's end? Any info or experiences appreciated.
 
If you're going to be an independent contractor why would you want someone taking a portion of your earnings? I've worked as a contractor before, as a mechanic, and sometimes I'd work with people working for an agency. It never made sense to me, you can't negotiate. If you're "working for yourself" just do it yourself, it takes a certain amount of discipline, especially regarding the IRS. They aren't going to provide anything that the operator is required to comply with, drug test, recurrent/135 ride. These people ride on the coat tails of people who are actually out there doing the work and profit having hardly lifted a finger. If you want to contract my advice is to talk to your tax guy and stay independent.
ETA: I have no idea who Jet Professionals are or what they do, but I doubt their business model is based on just helping pilots because they just want to help. They will take a cut.
 
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A lot of time clients want their pilots vetted, which is something JPI does. People normally don't care about mechanics that much.

JPI will take out taxes and workmens comp, but they take their cut from what they charge the client. I.e. Mr Bigg wants a Gulfstream pilot, so JPI charges him $1500 a day for a pilot, and then they pay you $1300. Or something like that. As far as the rate, it is what you negotiate.

What kind of airplane are you flying?
 
GIV and GV. A buddy said he could use some contract help on the GIV he flies, but they apparently staff it via Jet Professionals. I've never had an operator/client I've flown for before that used them, so just trying to find out a bit about them.
 
msw said:
GIV and GV. A buddy said he could use some contract help on the GIV he flies, but they apparently staff it via Jet Professionals. I've never had an operator/client I've flown for before that used them, so just trying to find out a bit about them.
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It should be as simple as your buddy calling JPI and saying "here is my friend MSW, we want to use him as a contractor". JPI then calls you, and you do their paperwork. I would imagine they have a rate set up with that client already. If you don't like the rate, you can try to negotiate something different, but chances are they may decide not to use you.
 
Jimmy_Norton said:
A lot of time clients want their pilots vetted, which is something JPI does. People normally don't care about co pilots that much.

JPI will take out taxes and workmens comp, but they take their cut from what they charge the client. I.e. Mr Bigg wants a Gulfstream pilot, so JPI charges him $1500 a day for a pilot, and then they pay you $1300. Or something like that. As far as the rate, it is what you negotiate.

What kind of airplane are you flying?
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FTFY. A good captain and crew chief can make all the difference.
 
Jimmy_Norton said:
It should be as simple as your buddy calling JPI and saying "here is my friend MSW, we want to use him as a contractor". JPI then calls you, and you do their paperwork. I would imagine they have a rate set up with that client already........
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Yeah, that's exactly what happened. I got the email today from the Jet Professionals rep requesting the usual documents. I'm on a trip now and won't be able to email them the paperwork till I get home in a few days, so I thought I'd see what folks had to say about JP in the interim. Thanks for the info.
 
I always wonder about an owner that won't staff an airplane, these things cost as much as a building. If their plan is to staff it with contractors I'd politely decline.
 
knot4u said:
I always wonder about an owner that won't staff an airplane, these things cost as much as a building. If their plan is to staff it with contractors I'd politely decline.
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1. Might be filling in for someone on vacation, or some other reason for a job vacancy

2. There could be 100 other reasons for doing something that you just won't understand.
 
The Gulfstream operators I've done flying for in the past typically have 2 (sometimes 3) full time pilots per airplane. Trusted contract pilots are utilized when needed, when a full time pilot is unavailable due to days off, vacation, sick, a scheduled Recurrent training event, etc. Using contract pilots is pretty common in the bizjet world. What was (is) new to me is the use of a staffing agency like Jet Professionals as an intermediary for the "hiring" and vetting of a potential contract pilot. After a bit of "due diligence" the last couple days, it seems that the use of a staffing agency to do this - and for pay & admin stuff (W-2, Workers Comp, etc.) - is not uncommon. And Jet Professions is one of the Big Dawgz in this arena. Thanks for all the input, guys (especially thanks to Jimmy_Norton).
 
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