IFL group is looking for a few Falcon 20 and Convair FO's. A buddy of mine was just hired for the falcon 20 with 1800tt. 700multi. about 300single engine turbine. His old roomate is currently a FO in their 727. He's going to be leaving to fly a BBJ. Amazingly he was hired with 2500hrs. Kinda fell into the position. They won't have anyone to take his place as the Falcon capts are pulling over 100k and don't want to leave their jobs.

 

Why don't you do it Duck? Don't want to live in Michigan? Also I doubt the Captains in the Falcons are making over 100K. It's possible for them to do it, but with last year being so slow I doubt they got anywhere near that. The only one that probably made over 100k would be the Chief Pilot since he regularly flies the Falcons and is paid his milage ON TOP OF his Chief Pilot pay. They hire guys relatively low time. If you go to work there though, just know the last couple years they haven't been flying much so you'll probably only fly 3-400hs a year and be living off Garauntee, which was about $25K.

 

I doubt there are many Capt's, on the DA20 at IFL, that are making 100K. Their 20's do fly...but not that much to make that kind of money; Pretty sure even the 727 Capt's don't make that kind of money there.

Maybe back in the 90's when the Big Three was making money instead of sheading thousands of jobs?

I surely would not want to work/live at PTK.

 

Well my bud that went to work there asked them in the interview. They are based out of Harlengen Texas. They said they made $130k last year the two captains there because they get paid sal. then .08 per mile then they get an additional $150 or something like that each time they hop the border which is a lot.

That's just what they said. Redguy I have don't have anything against Michigan I just don't have the time. I only have about 140hrs multi. I would do it. These two jets are in Texas though.

 

I doubt the MI DA20 guys make that....I guess the guys in TX might do better. I see the 20's sitting around a lot as well as the 72.

 

I spent the last year and half working in ptk, instructing and then flying at IFL before I left for a regional. IFL is an awesome company, the people are cool there and they hire pretty much soley based on internal recs so you know for the most part its a tight knit club. Everyone gets along pretty well and you'll have a good time on the trips and overnights (south Texas is pretty sweet despite what you might hear).

They are pretty meticulous with their maintenance on all the planes and their falcons are in immaculate shape. If they were busy I would have stayed, the captains are all cool and their training is very thorough but it can take some time to get online. It took everyone in my class 7+ months to get our checkrides.

During training you make 1k a month flat rate then once you are checked out you get 1.5k a month for the next 6 months, after that 6 month period you would get another raise to top out at 2k a month and thats where you stayed. The bonuses for border crossings were good and you would also make mileage pay. If you broke your monthly guarantee in mileage then you were paid accordingly. It was pretty much impossible to break the guarantee when I was working there because things were so slow. Captains probably make around 50-65k a year now, I'm not sure what their guarantee is but I know they get raises yearly. A captain to make 100k is pretty much absurd, they used to make that back when they flew part 125 but now its a new ball game and less pay.

I spoke with many of the fo's hired before me and they were said that they were getting 300-400 hours a year in the convairs, not worth the wait if you ask me.

My best freind stayed at the company, he got hired same time as me but into the falcon with 700 hours tt (pays to know people there) and he is rocking out for pay and hours. They have one da-20 based in mfe(where my friend got transferred to eventually), not hrl, and there is no possible way that the two captains flying it down there are making over 100k, they may make close to 80-85 but triple digits there are unheard of as of now, not the way it was when they flew part 125. The 72 guys if they are busy might make close to that but not anymore.

I'm not sure how much the falcons or convairs are flying now out of ptk since I left but I doubt as much as the falcon out of mfe. They have a 727 and 2 convairs based in pil but they are managed by another company, the pilots there aren't even on the payroll at ifl.

I really enjoyed working there, made some good friends and got a little 121 experience flying a classic. What wore me out was the 20 minute call out, living in ptk, and not being trained in a timely manner. Also, in my opinion, ptk is an absolute miserable area to live in unless you are from there. Flying at night alot wasn't that bad, the 20 minute call out is not fun at all, it is basically drop whatever you are doing and get there asap. I turned down several other good jobs at that airport before I made my decision to leave the area and go to a regional, partly because I wanted to leave ptk and also because I wanted a better qol.

I hope this gives you some info on the company, I'm not trying to persuade people one way or the other, just higlighting my experience there. Like I said had they been busy I would still be there but right now at my stage it just wasn't what I wanted. I would look at the other on demand companies around the country as well as their upgrade times are much quicker also if you are chasing pic time.

 

Whats the schedule like at IFL for both DA-20 & B727 crews? Any Hard days off?

Appreciate any info

 

I'm not sure how the schedule worked for the da-20, they ran it 135, I want to say something like maybe 1-2 weekends off a month the rest of the time your on call, the 727 and convairs are part 121 so you at least get 24 hours off every 7 day period. Basically your phone rang at am and you were notified at that point of your 24 off. During training they were pretty good to us and gave us weekend off, after the checkrides you are on call 24/7 and probably have 3 weekends off a month, the rest of the time you are on the 20 minute leash. We got a week of unpaid vaca the first year, a week paid the second yead and after two years you get two paid weeks vaca. 6 personal days a year also. They were pretty good about getting you off the board if you had a dr.s appointment or needed some time, usually someone is always willing to pick up a weekend or extra time.

 

It always cracks me up when people ask about a schedule at on-demand companies. There is none. 121 they have 1 hard day off because they have to. 135 the schedule is when the pager goes off it's time to come to work.

BTW Duck, there have been many people hired into IFL with far less multi than you. If you really want to get out of instructing and into the real world I would highly sugest getting your resume in to them, have your friend recomend you. Also those 2 captains in texas are probably the "Bob's" they own a separate company and fly basically independantly for IFL.

 

Redguy, I think I met you before, I went shooting with you and all the royal dudes back in the early summer, my good friend is still there flying the bandit. I guess if people want more time off try usa jet or kalitta they do the 8/5 and 14/7 schedules. The bobs manage the 2 convairs and the 72, they dont have a thing to do with the falcon in mfe. There is two fo's and two ca's in mfe that are directly employed with ifl that run the falcon down there.