Clue32

I just got back from a week at SimuFlite and there were a few gentelmen from the FAA Flight Check in ground school with me. They said that there are a lot of retirements coming up in the next 12 to 24 months and that jobs will be posted on USA Jobs, so keep on the lookout.

I spent a lot of time listening to what they had to say and here are the cliff notes.

1. They want to hire military pilots and with veterans preference military pilots or folks in the FAA already are really the only competitive applicants.

2. "It is the best goverment flying job." All of them came to the FAA from various backgrounds (all prior military) and when they landed the FAA Job they found no reason to leave.

3. Pay is GS11 -13. Locations: Oklahoma City, Battle Creek, Atlantic City, Sacramento, Anchorage, Atlanta.

4. Typical trip schedule is Monday thru Thursday two weeks in a row and then office work for a week. Flight time is 400-500 hours per year.

5. Aircraft: B300/350 and Challengers.

I'm sure there is more information out there, so please add to what I picked up.

Jughead

Maybe a great job for some, but it seems like way too much flying to me.

Clue32

I should proof better. Make that per year.

USMCFLYR

Clue -

I've been looking into this for a few months and your info looks right on track with what I have been told. There have been some good threads on the forum in the past here.

USMCFLYR

jdodge

What is entailed in a flight check? One came though my local airport this week. ie what is the FAA doing? thanks

rickair7777

But seriously...it looked good until you get to the office work. Four day trips plus a week of "ready"? I can do better at a regional.

Or do you get those mondays off on the weeks you fly? That might make the difference.

Is GS11-13 just the starting range, or is that the max? I suspect the latter.

Of course with all military pilots they either have retired pay or are reserve/guard double-dippers.

rickair7777

Testing NAVAIDS for accuracy against some other reference.

USMCFLYR

http://www.naco.faa.gov/index.asp?xml=fioo/index

Hey Clue32. Here is an update / clarification on your original post:
At least in the recent hiring you are correct. External announcements are very competitive and due to Federal hiring guidelines it is nearly impossible to get past HR ithout Veteran's Preference points. If already a FEDERAL employee (not necessarily FAA), then a person can apply during an INTERNAL announcement. It seems that in my office inparticular, there are a majority retired AF who are coming from the Active Duty Combat Flight Check squadron upstairs.

Positions actually go to the GS-14 (PIC) level. Can take around 3 yers to get there though. I don't know of anyone being sent to AK right off the bat though. They don't even have any airplanes of their own I believe and the office gets heavily augmented from other offices for the missions.

Mon-Thurs or Tues-Fri - ONE week at a time right now, 99% of weekends/holidays off and then if you do work it is overtime or holiday overtime, and if you even work at night doing the BIG airports there is a little extra pay there too. Those schedules are flexible though. We recently had the Antarctica mission back in October and one guy that ended up going was given about 3 days notice. He was asked and jumped at the opportunity.

Yes - - King Air 300Fs (18 I think spread across the country), Lear 60s in a few bases, and Challenger 601s, a 604 not yet Flight Check capable, and a few 605s coming in the future. The 300s are *finally* showing up with the ProLine 21 cockpit but will still be quite a bit longer before any of them hit the line I'm sure. Right now they have the EFIS cockpits.

I hope you are still applying Clue32.
I've been keeping my eye open on USA but haven't seen anything of late.

USMCFLYR

Note: I see that RickAir7777 has said that he could do better at the Regionals. Rick - if what I read on these boards is accurate then I'm not sure I can see how the stability, work/rest rules, pay, benefits, vacation time/ weekends and holidays off, time away from home (to include the ability to telecommute on those weeks you are not working) can be beat since those seem to be the most common complaints here at APC.
It is still a flying job and comes with many of the asociated complaints at times and I even hear complaining in my office (which proves that the grass is always greener mentality is alive and well), but so far so good from where I sit. Of course I still have starry eyes and am glad to have been given this opportunity during these times.

rickair7777

Somehow I missed that you had started this job, I was thinking you still doing the tactical stuff. Congrats!

It looked like I could do better with flexible time off, I assumed that flight checking could wait until after the holidays but didn't really know.

GS-14 makes a difference on pay, and of course the benefits are better than most airlines.

Even with federal job cuts threatened, I can't imagine a lot of downsizing in this field. They are not getting rid of ground-based NAVAIDs, so a definite win on stability.

I also tend to consider location, government/corporate jobs which don't allow me to home base or commute lose points in my eyes...I don't want to move (you know where I live).

USMCFLYR

Yeah - started in late Sep and even though I'm happy to be here - I won't say that I'm not missing my old job!!! Especially learning a new form of aviation in the training here at SimuFlite. It truly is a different world.

The schedule is not as flexible as the military and of course I don't know much about the Regional airline schedule. Typically this is much more of a 8.5 hr a day job. Personally I go in around 0630 and take off at 1500. The Feds certainly account for their time though. Not as flexible as the military was in my opinion.

You have to apply for and be selected for a GS-14 position. Rules are changing as of recent, but that is still the end game for the line pilot even if it might take a little longer.

That is how I looked at it. Even with the advent of the numerous GPS approaches (the approach itself doesn't have to be checked again) but other checks like ROC checks still haev to be conducted periodically. Our threat like many others out there I guess is having the job contracted out. This seems to be a long shot though, but alays a possibility.

It would be nice if some of the locations were - - different , overall I think they are some desirable locations compared to another popular form of gov't flying - the CBP!

USMCFLYR