Originally Posted by
shrsailplanes
So, NetJets doesn’t mind captains flying together despite the extra cost to the company. There’s no real motivation to hire then other than if they ever start pushing that magic 4.7 pilots per airplane number.
Here's how to think of it - and again, not netjets, but another fractional which i'm sure is the same;
You want your operation to be robust - if everyone's a captain (in a large operation, they're not) then you never have crew pairing issues. imagine a case with 6 pilots, 3 planes, even split of FO's and captains. To cover the day's flight, you would hypothetically need all 6 pilots to crew 3 planes. if a sick day or vacation knocks one of those pilots out, you are now out 2 pilots (one pairing) and therefore one plane. you now need to cover the day with only 2 planes which might not be possible.
Not the best example, but you see where I'm going with this. there are training considerations (i,e, two captains, one is an IP), vacation times, mechanical issues, geographic coverage, weather, etc..., which all effect a schedule. Being able to create more crew pairings is beneficial to the company and greatly outweighs any cost to the company.
It sounds like you might be coming from the 121 world - remember, here in fractional paradise we're salaried. I get paid a fixed base yearly salary, even if I don't fly all year. The extra captain pay is insurance to crew scheduling that I can be used in any seat and in any airplane (in our company's case anyway.)
Hope this clears up any confusion!