jtf560

There is no typical week flying fractional and never will be. There will be weeks you spend at home on home standby. There will be weeks you fly 40+ hours and have many min rest nights and are freakin burned out. There is usually something in between. I believe the average fractional pilot puts in about 400 to 450 hours of flying a year. That has been my average in about 3.5 years, though the first year was over 700, the second 450, and the 3rd 250. There will usually be at least one day of doing nothing much either at an FBO or at the hotel on duty when a plane breaks or there just isn't anything for you to do. You will rarely wait for a customer to fly them back to wherever you picked them up unless it is the same day and nothing else pops up for you. Good luck with getting the job if it is what you want and if you can wait a few years to start. Unfortunately we are about to voluntarily remove hundreds of pilots and if not enough volunteer, the company will be furloughing however many more are needed. The main man has basically told us he will be happy if we have the same amount of customers as we do today in three years so there is only shrinkage expected on the pilot side for the near future.

ERJF15

That's good info too. Even though most companies aren't hiring, I'm still sending out resumes. We'll see what happens in the future. I gotta make more money and find a better/faster track to capt; you know what I mean?

Archie Bunker

What JTF560 says above explains very well what life could be like for you at Netjets. I think a lot of it depends on the fleet you're flying. I was on the slave ship (Citation X), and they worked us pretty hard. I didn't experience any sitting at the hotel on call, or hanging around the FBO watching TV. Other fleets at Netjets were different...your mileage may vary.

You don't bid lines of travel (city pairs, etc) at Netjets, like you do at a Pt 121 airline. You basically bid for how many days you want to work. They have a 7 on, 7 off schedule, a 15 day schedule, and a 18 day reserve schedule (last I heard).

At Netjets, you never know where you could end up the next day. You might be positioning somewhere on a commercial flight, or you might be flying multiple legs to places you'd never imagine in your lifetime that you would see. Your Blackberry is the company leash around your neck that tells you the "who, what, where and when" of your next duty day. If you like knowing that you're spending Thursday night in Cleveland at the Holiday Inn, then Netjets is the wrong company for you. If you have a sense of adventure, and actually enjoy not knowing where you will spend the night until that same day, then Netjets is right up your alley.

The home basing issue is a huge deal, and if Netjets would have had it instead of the 5 domicile cities that I had to choose from, I just might have stayed.

With regard to management/pilot relations, I feel that Netjets was head and shoulders above what I experienced at either Delta or UPS. At Delta, relations were so-so, and at UPS, relations between the two groups is adversarial. I actually felt like the company cared about the pilots at Netjets...I can't say the same about Delta, and UPS...well...they are off scale high in the opposite direction.

Can't think of much more to say. If you have any other questions, post them here. Good luck.

ERJF15

Do they give you a choice of which aircraft or where the company needs you? I live in Dallas. As a matter of fact, I live directly in between DAL and DFW. I would like to fly the Gulfstream or Falcon (large cabin I guess).

BoilerUP

Most would like to fly the large cabin...but those tend to be pretty senior as I understand.

As a newhire you'll be assigned an airframe or given a choice between a couple; I know folks that got to choose between the Excel or Sovereign while others were assigned straightaway to the 800XP-C.

Everything under the 2000EASy pays the same anyway...

ERJF15

Really, if any company treats me with respect, it doesn't matter what aircraft I fly. I would like to fly large cabin. Hell, I wanna fly a 747. But at this piont, it doesn't matter too much. This flying thing is better than spending 4 months to a year sleeping in a tent in the Middle East and working 13 hour shifts turning wrenches. Those of you that have those t-shirts know what I mean.

Thanks for the info fellas. Keep it coming!!!

VAviator

thanks for the post faipsrule - exactly what i was looking for! hope to hear how that lunch and the rest of your week turns out. thanks!

Navajo31

True story that is typical of fractionals:

Enroute from SUN to APA on a repositioning leg:
SLC ARTCC: Fractional, 101. Your company wants you to call them. Can you do that?
Frac 101: Affirmative, we have a sat phone.
SLC: Do you need the number?
Frac 101: Negative. We got it.
(Dial Dispatch)
Frac 101: Hey, guys. Frac 101 here enroute to APA.
Dispatch: Hey guys, thanks for calling. Say, do you have enough fuel to go to Phoenix?
Frac 101: Stand by a minute. (F/O to CA: They want to know if we have gas to get to Phoenix. CA: Do we? ...F/O plugs numbers in FMS... F/O: We'll land with at least 2000 pounds. CA: Tell 'em yes.)
Frac 101: Yeah, Dispatch, we can do that.
Dispatch: OK, Go to ABC FBO at Sky Harbor. YOu're covering a live leg to Vegas for a plane that has a maintenance issue. Paperwork will be there.

Got off the phone, asked SLC for a re-route, and off we went. This doesn't happen every week, but once in a while. It's one of the things I love about the job. In 600 hours BF (before furlough) I think I did three out-and-backs. Total! My first year, I actually counted: 34 states, 7 countries, God only knows how many different airports.

It's a blast. Sure, I'm on furlough and will never make what a UPS pilot makes - but I think the flying is a BLAST! And when I head to the hotel at night knowing I gave the folks in the back a great customer service experience, I rest well.

I'm hoping there will be call-backs this fall in anticipation of the busy season. In the meantime, ...well.... I'll just tell stories....

Flaps20

Disclaimer......I am not an English teacher, I fly planes.....nuff said?

Here is my take.

Experience.
1. Regional 121
2. Private Corp. (King Airs and small stuff)
3. Flight Instruction

What I like about NJA vs the 121 world.

1. The boring and mundane flying of the hub and spoke system.

2. I missed the people interaction that comes with private flying. Almost all of the owners are very cool to be around.

3. Although some days can be really rushed, most days are fairly laid back. My favorite day so far. TEB, TNCA(Aruba), MPTO (Panama City, Panama), SDL ........yea the "X" can do that. Worst... TEB, LAX, TEB, SJC.

4. Not switching planes five times a day.

5. FBOs' are far nicer than airport terminals.

6. Frequent flier miles, Diamond Hilton member, Atlantic Bucks, AvTip points, and all the SLC Million Air shirts you want

7. No longer packing my own food for six days to save money.

8. Crew food

9. Being able to work out on short 10 hour turns so number 8 doesn't come back as the freshman 15. Or in some I have seen the sophomore 30.

10. No more commuting.

11. Working for a company that treats all their employees with great respect.

I love this job and I know that I am very blessed to be here. If we do furlough, I don't think it will happen, I know they will call me back some day.

Now if we can only stop the media/congress from bashing private aviation

ERJF15

Everything you wrote sounds good to me. But what does number 9 mean? Also, who cleans the crapper? I always wanted to know that