Quote:
Originally Posted by Ovenmitts
I’ve been a 91 guy my entire career of 17 years. 3 weeks ago my company unexpectedly, and without warning shut down our 62 year old department. I’m out on the street and struggling with what to do with my life now. I cannot really relocate due to wife’s work. I have narrowed it down to three options.
1. Stay put and hang up the wings. Just go be a welder or electrician or something.
2. Stay put and try something like Net, Flex, DPJ (I have an interview this Thur) where I can home base but be gone every other week.
3. Force wife to move and chase the $$$ to another 91 department.
I’m moderately timed at
5200 TT
4700 MultiTurbine
3600 PIC
DA-7x, DA-2EASy, B300, RA-390s typed
Current in the 7x and B300. Current Chinese and Brazilian visas.
NA, Carib, SA, Euro, Pac, Asia experience.
Okay guys. Make me feel positive about getting ****-canned from my perfect 180hrs/year job.
....and go!
Hi Ovenmitts,
I was dismayed to hear of your sudden loss of a job, so much so that I wish you had put this in the Corporate forum.. People considering Part 91 Corporate Aviation need to know how fragile their jobs really are. Coming up in the dark, depressing 90’s, I remember running into corporate flight crews at FBO’s when I was working line service and later as a CFI.
I would meet a crew with a younger, dark-haired Captain and an older, silver-haired FO. The FO’s story was always the same; They had this great Part 91 Corporate job and then got a new CEO, CFO, etc., all with the same result; They got a small severance package with little to no notice and a type rating out of it. One pilot got fired because the Chief Pilot’s Wife did yoga with a lady whose husband was a pilot with a type in the airplane, so they fired him and hired the other guy. Because I heard this story so many times, I came up with the expression that Corporate flying is either really good or really bad, with little in between and developed an overall bad opinion of Corporate flying.
While there were always a few great Corporate flight departments run like airlines, there were so many 2 and 3 pilot operations that really couldn’t afford the airplane nor the Flight Department. You know... : The South Florida Corporate Flight Department that has two pilots and a $100,000/yr budget for payroll and the Captain pays himself $80,000 and the FO $20,000. And the Captain gets steak and lobster on the Company Amex while the FO is allowed a burger. There are so many of these operators that got a Baron, but switched to a Citation after the competing dealership got a King Air. So the competition one ups it to a Lear, and these guys get a Falcon only to realize that they can’t afford it so they shut the whole department down with no notice. Sadly, this happens all the time.
This is not to say that 121, 135, or 91K are bulletproof either, but you at least have strength in numbers. I feel your pain as I have also had 5 furlough resets in my career of 135, 121, then 91K and back to 135. So, no plan is foolproof but some are definitely more fragile.
Again, so sorry to hear that this has happened to you and I assume others. As a pilot involved in helping out recruiting for my company, I can’t tell you how often I hear your story but it is at least twice a month. And I often tell pilots that while they will often make 1.5 times or greater pay than Part 135 or 91K (but not 121), their job is so fragile.. Not only that, most Corporate gigs have a much less flexible schedule and basing options than 121/135; Generally, and until recently, You have to live where the plane is and you have to fly when the boss wants you to.. With luck written on ice and the Sun coming up. Pilots getting laid off because of their plane being sold or flight department shut down is so common that is certainly a stereotype and almost a meme...
Bottom Line: In this market, there is no reason for you to give up flying. There are so many jobs out there in 121 and Part 135 where you can be home based. And if you are fortunate enough to be hired by UPS or similar, I promise you that the commute will be worth it. And the absolute last thing I would do is to force your Wife to move and give up her good job to chase another Part 91 flying job that could disappear in instant. I say this because no matter where I worked, I could never earn more than my Wife does, so since my furlough in 2008 her job has become the primary by several times over. All the choices you mentioned are good ones, with NJA being at the top of that list. I would also consider XOJET, with their new, just announced pay scale paying better than DPJ and flyExclusive, where I am, that both offer home based 8/6 positions.
Best of luck to you and your family and I am sure that you will find something very soon. It might not pay what you were making at your former Corporate flight department, but I am pretty sure that you will have better job stability and almost certainly a better schedule that allows you to live wherever you want.. Not just where the Corporate jet is parked. Good Luck!
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01-07-2024
