Hello.

I'm looking for some pointers on how to attract a corporate-ish or 91-ish gig with some schedule flexibility. I suppose, who isn't?

Me in brief:

CFI, CFII, MEI, A&P. 2nd class. Current IFR and VFR. Active instructor.

~2,240 TT, ~278 ME, ~24 Turbine. Own and fly a Baron. Based PDX.

Everyone I know is on a mad dash for 121 stuff, but I'm not really looking for that (tried it, didn't like the iron grip on my schedule)

My dream gig is to be either #2 or #3 on a call list for some King Air work (or similar plane), OR, have an off/on schedule like 2 weeks on, 2 weeks off.

I have a friend who does corporate in CJ3 like this, but I'd like to start out lower on the food chain if possible. Unfortunately all of my network and hookups are in Los Angeles, and I'm in Portland -- and my connections aren't very current/relevant to this sort of niche.

Money is secondary, travel is okay. I know it's discouraged, but I don't mind owning my own currency/types in exchange for a higher rate as a freelancer.

I wouldn't mind being "SIC/Mentor" dude after awhile, that seems mellow. Are there other sorts of gigs like these that allow me to maintain some autonomy that I could be searching for?

I have run across a LOT of gigs that want me to be their pilot, but when I'm not flying the plane, I'm doing office work, paperwork, or FAA interfacing (ugh). It's worse if they want me to be their regular mechanic too. I don't mind stuff that's directly germane to the piloting, nor turning a wrench to get myself and clients out of a bad spot -- but... I don't wanna be an office or hangar canary for the other 1600-1800 hours/yr. Ya know?

Thanks for any ideas.

Cheers,

- Mike

 

Two weeks on and two off? 135 and some fractionals.

This one comes close...

https://www.airlinepilotcentral.com/...tional/flexjet

 

For the most part, pt91 isn’t going to give you ANY schedule autonomy at all.
I flew pt 91 for 17 years until recently my department was closed down. I had LOTS of time off, flying maybe 180hrs a year. I mean some months I only flew 5 or 6 days. Sounds awesome and it was. Problem though is most operations are on a standby type schedule. You could have all kinds of stuff planned and get a 8pm call for a 0600 show. Cancelling stuff, rearranging things, and missing important events was the norm. I had tons of days off at home, but never knew it was a day off until the next day when I could look back and say “I didn’t have to work yesterday.” Don’t get me wrong, 3x fractional PIC pay was pretty sweet for working a handful of days a month, but understand you are trading $$$ for your personal life.

 

Mike,

Your OP seems a little wish washy. You start out claiming you want “schedule flexibility” and poo-poo the 121 “iron grip” on your schedule, but then state your dream gig could include an “off/on schedule” like two weeks on, two weeks off? I’m not sure you have really defined what YOU mean by schedule flexibility.

I agree with [MENTION=93050]Ovenmitts[/MENTION] that Part 91 is probably the least “flexible” because you have to go when the owner/client wants to. If you don’t, you’ll be looking for another gig really soon. NetJets, FlexJet, and XOJET all offer fixed schedules (7/7, 8/6, 15/13, etc.) and flexible, biddable schedules. Even on a fixed schedule, you can swap with another similarly qualified crewmember to get particular days off, as needed.

Perhaps you could think about it more and ask us about what you REALLY want?

 

Exclusive Jets out of Kinston NC has a 2-2 schedule.
So do most of the ACMI’s.

* You day you tried 121, not very hard I’m guessing with 24 hrs turbine

I have an acquaintance with a similar affliction, he likes flying he just doesn’t like being a pilot.

 

I'm not trying to be a jerk, but it doesn't seem like you have the experience to be very picky. Do you have jet time?

Maybe a good option for you would be to work the summer seasons in Alaska. That way you only have to work for 5 months and can get the rest of the year off. If you get a good operator up there, they will also let you take a couple weeks off during the summer season when it is not busy.

There are some small part 135 freight operators who will let you work part time, but they are getting harder to find anymore because it is hard for them to cover their schedules that way.

If you get a lot more experience you could work as a contract pilot. To cover vacations and etc smaller operators will hire a contract pilot with a type rating and current recurrent to fly there plane for a couple days at $1000 a day.

 

Only clear way-ahead I see is start your own charter operation and try to get it running to the point where it can run itself for two weeks without you.

That works in any field, not just aviation, but often requires years (decades) of hard work to get there and is risky.

Of if you get well established as an on-call contract pilot, you could probably get away with clearly posting/communicating your availability to manage operator's expectations (if you just turn down calls for no apparent reason, they'll stop calling soon enough). You'd be competing with pilots who will are pretty responsive to the customer.

 

Babysitting somebody wealthy enough to own his own airplane that requires a type rating is far from.....mellow.

 

Thanks gents. This explains why I'm having trouble in my searches, it seems what I'm after is weird. That FlexJet link was a good "base" to work from, I'll keep an eye peeled for similar things.

Perhaps what I'm after is a "predictable" schedule that is appx 50% time without filling the other 50% with busywork.

I actually started a gig that was 135 and the recruiter indicated it was 2 on/2 off schedule. I got all the way through indoc and was about to complete in-plane training at my new base when I discovered "no, this is a 5 day/week gig". Oops. I feel bad how that turned out, but the training and flying was great. There was just a lot more of it than I wanted.

I mentioned the CJ3 gig because I've been asked twice to join my friend's pt91 pilot roster. I had to politely decline. As someone astutely noticed, I'm not jet ready. It's why I was wanting to aim at King Airs or similar as a step-up.

Perhaps my friend was offering me something rarer than I thought. I'll see him next week and chat him up about it in earnest.

Cheers for the ideas,

- Mike

 

Most majors and many regionals can provide that. It takes a little seniority though, so there's some dues paying to get there. As quickly as a few months or a year or three unless you get into a really senior base.

That's normally working 3-4 days/week. If you wanted two week on/two weeks off, most majors can provide that and a few regionals, but it will take more seniority.

Might need to take a longer-term view. There are very few great deals in life where just anybody can walk right into it... otherwise everyone would.