Pay for cost of employment check ride?

av8tr1

av8tr1

"Never tell me the odds!"
I am looking to pick up a side side gig doing helicopter instruction with a school. Its brand new school. They have one instructor with zero given. Just got his CFI with another school. They were considering me for a part time chief instructor position. They don't have any students and no program so part of the job would be to build a program. I'm cool with that as a side gig for the helicopter time and I can pick my hours.

Had an interview today and they want me to pay for a employment check ride. I have to pay for the helicopter at $400 an hour (DOC is around $200 so I am paying the customer rate no less). Then pay for a check airman who doesn't work for the school to do my check ride because there isn't anyone there who can do it.

Anyone ever heard of this? This a run don't walk in the other direction?
 
RUN RUN RUN AS FAST AS YOU CAN....If they are being this cheap now it will only get worse....

I have taken 2 pre employment checkride and both times the company paid 100% of the costs. Any company that does is red flag.... One even bought me lunch afterwards...
 
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LOL leave it to the JC pistachio gallery to come up with all sorts of funny ways to say no.

While I agree wholeheartedly this is nuts, keep in mind this is helicopters. There are about 600 pilots for every helicopter job so flight schools can and readily do so take advantage of people. They will find guys lined up to pay them $400 to see if the company wants to hire them to be a pilot. I am not one of them but I know they have already found suckers who are desperate for the chance to throw their money away. Helicopters right now are like the airlines were up till about 4 years ago.

Other than one single and very unfortunate training contract (I'll never do that again) not one of my employers has ever asked me to pay for a checkride. In point of fact the last one paid for me to fly out, spend three nights in a hotel and fly for nearly 3 hours in a expensive turbine airplane. AND paid me for my meals.

But helicopters being what they are and being different I thought MAYBE(?) I was the one who didn't know how the industry worked?
 
You're a professional aviator are you not? You spent whatever hard earned money and time for your education and training as one. Never, ever settle for being treated like anything less than a professional. Never ever go to work for a company that is not professional as well. You will live to regret it. If this is how they want to treat you and what they expect you to pay for, for the privilege of working for them, enhancing their reputation and making them money, what do you imagine working for them will be like? The answer is NO.

I don't care if there are more helicopter pilots than jobs right now. The only way that operators get away with short changing their employees is finding employees who condone this and allow them to do it. Don't be a part of that issue and propagate such behavior and treatment. If they balk, tell them to look up the definition of "ethics" and move on.
 
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What if they ask you pitch in some $30 an hour when you fly with the client? After all there's like 600 pilots per job
 
av8tr1 said:
Had an interview today and they want me to pay for a employment check ride. I have to pay for the helicopter at $400 an hour (DOC is around $200 so I am paying the customer rate no less). Then pay for a check airman who doesn't work for the school to do my check ride because there isn't anyone there who can do it.

Anyone ever heard of this? This a run don't walk in the other direction?
Click to expand...

Related: interviewing commercial rotary wingers then convincing them to pay $400 an hour for a check ride may be a more steady revenue stream than air tours, charter work, or flight instruction....
 
Best part was the first 1/2 hour of the guy pontificating about how well they treat their employees and how they go out of their way to make it a good place to work. And they are building something great and I would want to be a part of it. Then they drop that steaming pile of dung at the end of the interview.

Yeah, no thanks.
 
No I take it back the best part was the story of the other pilot they want to get rid of who regularly isn't available for flights because he would rather drive for Uber then fly their helicopter.

Why did I even post this thread. Obviously this is a big fat hairy NO.

Took me a bit for my brain to process this i guess......you all will have to excuse me, I do fly helicopters afterall. Aviations equivilancy of the "short bus".
 
av8tr1 said:
I am looking to pick up a side side gig doing helicopter instruction with a school. Its brand new school. They have one instructor with zero given. Just got his CFI with another school. They were considering me for a part time chief instructor position. They don't have any students and no program so part of the job would be to build a program. I'm cool with that as a side gig for the helicopter time and I can pick my hours.

Had an interview today and they want me to pay for a employment check ride. I have to pay for the helicopter at $400 an hour (DOC is around $200 so I am paying the customer rate no less). Then pay for a check airman who doesn't work for the school to do my check ride because there isn't anyone there who can do it.

Anyone ever heard of this? This a run don't walk in the other direction?
Click to expand...

I'd say "later skater but call me when you actually need help"
 
av8tr1 said:
No I take it back the best part was the story of the other pilot they want to get rid of who regularly isn't available for flights because he would rather drive for Uber then fly their helicopter.

Why did I even post this thread. Obviously this is a big fat hairy NO.

Took me a bit for my brain to process this i guess......you all will have to excuse me, I do fly helicopters afterall. Aviations equivilancy of the "short bus".
Click to expand...

No, no, and aw, HELL NO. It doesn't matter that there are many pilots out there. Let somebody else deal with this one.

As for the "short bus," comment, don't sell yourself short (unless you did pay for the flight) because that designation still goes to f/w pilots.

Little-Airbus-A3--128174.jpg
 
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