blcampbell

I'm currently an FO on a CRJ200. I enjoy it but all I see is airline guys. I do not know anyone in the corporate world. I've talked to many people here to claim to have flown for corporate gigs and loved it. Then again they are still here....so I don't know.

Can I get a breakdown of pay comparisons for my experience level, QOL examples, etc. I'm open to corporate but I'm just ignorant about it. Can I get an overview?

How about some examples of the better corporate jobs out there? Currently I sit with about 1500 total 800 sic turbine and about 650 pic (non turbine). No other jet experience other than CRJ's - Would I be competitive in the corporate world - if not what is competitive?.....

Ziggy

Corporate vs Airlines is really an apples to oranges comparision. My pay and bennies are better in my opinion, but I don't have a hard schedule. Also my job requires alot more face time with the pax and alot of non flight related tasks.
When going for a corporate job, time is only used as a qualifier. After that it's who you know. And I hate to say it, but average time for most corporate drivers is 5000. Although entry is 2500.
Right now the industry as a whole is facing a downturn. In my opinion it could be a long one. If you have seniority, I would stick with your current employer until things turn around.

Pay is basically what you can negotiate. But various agencies do publish pay charts. Avcrew.com and Pro Pilot are the two that I use. Also NBAA publishes one.

Jetset0045

hey bud...it's nice to see that you have interest in the coporate side of aviation....however, as someone who decided to be a coporate pilot early on when all of my buddes ran to the regionals, it kind of bothers me that once the airlines hit some bumps, you are willing to bail on your decision and come fly "one of those little airplanes"....

Corporate flying is both exciting and rewarding....different destinations, genearlly better pay than the airlines, and better perks....however, since you made the early decision to fly for the airlines, it will be a total lifestlye change to you.....and you and everyone who considers this move should be very cautions as to what kind of changes will take place to your job, and to the market.....

First off, your job as a pilot....be willing to make huge changes in the way you operate....you WILL be dealing directly with the customers now, where as an airline pilot, you barely nodded to them....you WILL be loading and unloading bags, which you probably have never done before....you WILL be asked to make more educated and mission oriented weather decisions, where as the airline has always told you when you can and cannot go....you WILL be involved in doing your own flight planning....if you go part 91 corporate, you may be asked to work longer than airline duty days....this is a total lifestyle change...

Second, is the market.....when airlines furlough pilots, they flood the corporate market with apps....supply and demand dictates that when supply is plentiful, value will go down....you may think that by taking a corporate job with lower than standard pay, it will only affect you, however it drives down the market value of qualified corporate pilots.....making it harder for me to make MY living and get a raise....don't get me wrong, i hate to see pilots out of work, and when you're not working, you have to get some money flowing.....but please, don't be willing to undercut guys who have decided long ago to fly corporate airplanes and now have trouble getting compensated for it....it is essential you fight to make standard pay for the position you accept in the corporate world...it will only hurt everyone else if you bend.

As far as being competitive,....if you truly decide to change your lifestlye to corporate flying, then get out and meet as many corporate pilots as possible...insted of going to the hotel on your overnights, go to the fbo and talk to guys...you may get lucky...it's not all about hours, it's about attitude in our world....if you have a good one, you will get rewarded...once you've flown a jet, people know you can fly, but do you have the right attitude for the company you hope to work for?.....just be willing to make lots of changes, and stick with it for a while...but you have been warned....it will be very different than what you're used to!!!

Jetset0045

"And I hate to say it, but average time for most corporate drivers is 5000. Although entry is 2500. "


Don't buy these numbers...there are some who get to fly gulfstreams with 1500 hours....it's as nothing to do with hours!!! If you've flown one jet, you can fly any jet....it's up to your attitude to get you in the door, and your skills to keep you there!

Ziggy

I totally agree that attitude is a BIG factor. But as 91/135 operators we do have insurance and ARGUS/WYVERN standards that need to be met. The numbers I printed only refect those standards.

USMCFLYR

Point being.....he said average. I'm sure there are SOME that got the job with a lot less. I personally heard that one major flight department hired someone with VERY little time - for whatever reason. I'm not sure where the times above came from, they could just be his personal guess based on years of experience being around corporate pilots. I would believe he got the 2500 entry level from one (or some) of the fractionals out there that require that much time to apply. You may have a different experience. It SEEMS to be a fact though that if you don't have some inside connection, then the required times would tend to be significantly higher than those required in the -121 world.

USMCFLYR

Jetset0045

ok, for one thing one person does not know the average for the whole corporate world....

secondly, where will i learn more....flying a 172 around the pattern for 3000 hours?? Or or from somone willing to take a chance, hire a lower time pilot with 1500 or 2000 hours, put them in the right seat of a jet with a very qualified captain, and let them gain real world experience..??? I've seen more and more companies willing to take this chance and devlop pilots into what they want and need, insted of getting some high time guy who is alreay set in his ways and trying to clean up the garbage and bad habbits...

Ziggy

I understand your position, I was luck enough to be one of those pilots. But I tend to think those situations occur alot less that one might think. I am just trying to give him a general view on our world. I did not say it was impossible.

Jetset0045

ok, ziggy, i read what you're saying....

However, as you admit yourself, you were lucky enough to be presented and opportunity, and i assume you took advangate of your shot....situations like yours (and mine) happen everyday, and some make it, some don't last long....

the "geneal view of our world" is changing....in my opinion, for the better. Today, i think it's about quality of your flying expereince, not about quantity of it.

ZapBrannigan

I made the switch from 121 to 91 about 4 years ago and i've been generally pleased with the decision. Pay is about equal to what I made at the major I was furloughed from in 2002. Quality of life is substantially better.

Something to remember though is that corporations don't hire big classes of 20 or 30 at a time they way airlines do. They'll hire 1 or 2 pilots and maybe only once a decade! So they can afford to be a little bit more picky in terms of who they interview and who they hire. Don't let yourself get down if things don't move in this direction as quickly as you might like.