For those experienced corporate guys out there, I have the opportunity to fly a G450 or G550 as a Captain overseas but the pay seems like it's on the low side possibly due to the fact that the company will pay to type me.

Question 1 - What is a G450/550 type rating cost/worth?

Question 2 - What is a typical salary for a G450/G550 Captain?

Question 3 - How marketable would I be in the U.S. later with the rating and time in type and how much time would I need? I have plenty of PIC experience but it's all airline to date.

 

Sounds like an odd deal...do they require some kind of long contract? are you on the line for the cost of training if they disappear in 2 months? There are always a million things wrong with these quirky overseas deals...be careful!

What is the type rating worth? I never found any type ratings to be worth a whole lot really...its all good experience and will build connections, friends....but the value upon return and looking for work? Places that strictly care about the type rating and time in type usually suck to work for. Being rated and having strong Intl corp experience will certainly help, just not as much as one thinks. Your real connections and friends will help FAR more - and not people on the pilot internet web boards. Most of the job info taken from these is usually pretty inaccurate, save your $10 a year.

Salary? - huge range. I know G450 pilots who make 85K, I know ones that make 250K. Most G5/Global/etc type pilots around me are in the 150K range, give or take bonuses..

How marketable would you be? I guess that all depends on the market! Right now - not very marketable..there is a real odd perception out there that type ratings make you marketable. Its just not true for the most part.

IMHO there has never really been a shortage of "typed/current" pilots in any aircraft (except for the lowest of jobs)...what there is ALWAYS a shortage of is stable/local/experienced/qualified/highly recommended pilots. This I have seen first hand over the last few years. I have seen equally qualified Gulf/Glex pilots laid off from the same job...one gets a great job 24hrs later, the other 12+months later and cant get anything but overseas part-time contracts...so again, dont think any rating makes you marketable.

Good Luck with the gig!

 

The G550 type is on average about 50k. When you say overseas is it a rotational deal ie 6 weeks on 6 weeks off or are you relocating over there. If you are moving you need to take into consideration that you are not paying us taxes which is huge obviously. Is there other compensation you are being offered like housing, car, travel back home. All things considered and no type rating or time in type I would imagine starting between 110 and 120 is reasonable to start but an experienced GV guy (500-1000 hours in type) should be approaching 150. Contract GV captains in the US go for around $1500 a day if you come back and can't find a full time gig.

 

Give CAE Simuflight a call, they recently quoted me a 550 type for 39k.
For a guy with no experience in type 110 -120 is very reasonable, when times where good that was closer to 130-140 but the downturn in the economy lowered that.
Good Luck

 

Wow 39k? Its come down quite a bit I guess. They must be struggling to fill those slots down there. Personally I think thats still a lot for a type in any a/c but its better than 50-55.

 

The fact that the company is willing to pay for the type suggests they are a cut above many, if not most. As others have noted, the type is not cheap. So the real questions then become pay and the working conditions (location, hours, etc)

 

Thanks for the replies so far gentleman (or ladies).

The job is in Asia. I'd have to live there but I already do flying for a Chinese airline so that's not an issue.

I'd be on the hook for the type pro-rated if I left w/in 24 months.

The company seems reputable. They've been around for awhile, are growing and I have a friend flying the G150 for them as an FO.

I'd love to get out of the airline business. The pay is less than I'm making now...it's around 125K plus perdiems, but I'm trying to decide if the 30K pay cut would be worth it in the long run. Decisions, decisions.....

Any more thoughts?

 

Here's my advice:

Get the G450/550 type rating. Get 2 years of experience with this operator flying throughout Asia. Return to the US (after some networking) and find a quality Part 91 G450/550 job with the great international experience you have accrued on the aircraft. Simple as that.

 

If it were only "simple" to find a quality 91 job in the US with only two years of overseas corporate experience and little/no networking...

 

No kidding!

There's a great shortage of type rated Gulfstream guys with a few years of Intl experience....