Originally Posted by
trafly
Hmmm, did you get hired in to the ERJ with 250 hrs? 91/135 pilots don't get to decide when or where they go any more than 121 does. The boss or customer has somewhere to be and they generally don't give a crap about anything other than you getting them where they want, when they want. 91/135 pilots also don't generally have massive resources in terms of company dispatchers and weather folks to help them out. I've never seen a bunch of GA aircraft just sitting around because the weather was iffy. Just like you, they launch when it's safe and deal with the weather the best they can. You think they frac/charter/GA pilots just pack it in when the weather is crappy in the northeast on a summertime Friday, and every rich a*#*hole wants to get to his place at MVY or ACK?!? Give me a break.
Although MVY and ACK are exceptions I would disagree with you in general on the frac perspective. Most of my owners when told there is a weather issue will voluntarily delay their flight until things are better. That is not to say there aren't bad apples but that is the exception. My company doesn't do Cat II because we just don't fly then (explanation I was given). On top of that you have hundreds of more airports at your disposal, while you are limited with an island like MVY if a storm is sitting over ATL you go to FFC, PDK, 4A7, or FTY. Along with the fact that we tend to carry a lot more fuel for holding when conditions are iffy I have found frac flying to be a lot less bad weather flying and much less stress than 121. I doubt you will ever hear a FlexJet, FiveStar or ExecJet being a path finder. This could also just be the Beechjet, because if there is bad weather you can probably find a chart that says you can't go if you actually run the performance charts. Just my 2 cents.