Here’s the short version. I’m the IT Director for a construction company in Nebraska with no pilot experience. Back in January, my boss asked me if I wanted to be the corporate pilot to fly the PM’s to job sites around the Midwest and beyond, he would pay for all my training; private, instrument, commercial single-engine, commercial multi-engine, and CE-500 type rating. So far, it’s just pilot duties, nothing more. I’ll be flying a Cessna 206 for shorts trips and Citation Ultra for longer trips. I’m halfway through my instrument now and should be ready to fly for the company by next summer (just the 206). It’ll be a while until I’m in the Citation.

We’re about to negotiate the employment proposal and I want to know where the ballpark is. My pilot duties will be totally separate from my IT duties, so it’ll be like working 2 jobs. I’ve never been a pilot and they’ve never hired one, so neither of us know what it should look like. I just want to make sure I’m not getting low-balled, even if he is paying for my training. It’ll start with single engine piston, then SIC in the Citation, then eventually PIC. Curious about salary progression.

Also wondering what kind of stipulations should be in place; advance notice for flights, flying on weekends, final authority for cancelling a flight, anything else I can’t think of. Sorry, very new to this. Don’t really care about benefits, that’s covered under the IT gig.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

This is crazy. The pilot with no operational experience in owning, managing and operating a plane being asked by an equally untutored company asking for advice on an anonymous forum.

There are tons of pitfalls, advice, safety concerns here. Start with a knowledgeable management firm FIRST.


Gf

 

With all due respect none of what you are describing should be happening.

 

You will be dead by this next year if really go thru with this

 

Agreed,

ADP, Another Dead Pilot; I knew 2 dead low timers, killed on Citations. Careful, she'll beat you up and take your lunch money.

Ad Astra,

RadialGal

 

CaptDad,

This has (mostly) bad news written allover it.
Who will you be flying with gaining experience on the Citation?
For how long?
If we backtrack a little: even in a Single Engine your company WILL expect you to fly even when you are waaaay out of your comfort zone as far as night and/or weather that you’ll have no experience with. Because you have a Commercial and an instrument rating right? What do you mean you don’t want to take off into a low overcast with icing?
So you’ll refuse a flight, how is that going to feel when you come in for your day job and your boss missed a meeting?
Professional pilots get paid to say “No”.
This is not a minivan and it’s not just about getting a rating and turning a key.

 

Please don't. I assume you have kids, and they'd like their Dad to still be there.

There's a reason 135 requires 1200 hours to be PIC of anything.

Also a reason that 121 requires 1500 hours to be SIC, and another 1000 in 121 to be PIC.

But if you don't believe us, just ask the insurance company. I doubt you could even get insurance to do corporate flying (with pax and attendant liability) without about 1000 hours of professional supervision in the jet.

 

I heard of a situation like this. A company loved a guy performing line service duties for them. He had a PPL.

They paid to finish his training and type him in the company jet.

After that they realized there was an oversight. Every other pilot they had was brought up in a conventional manner and deserved to be there. Consequently, they all refused to fly with him.

By that point his line service job was filled and he was then out on the street with a fancy new type rating and not even 300 hours TT

 

The long and the short of it is that insurance companies and lawyers run this country and you will not be insurable because of the liability.

 

You are probably feeling like these guys don’t know you and you can do this if they just knew who you were. I mean you may have succeeded greatly in life and there’s nothing you can’t conquer but I am here to say listen to them. In this specific scenario you need to put a halt on this thing immediately. Your kids will be growing up without their dad if you go down this road.