Opinions wanted: what would be the appropriate annual salary for a part 135 Eclipse captain position based in a Colorado ski town? Aircraft will be operated single pilot. Thanks

Tom Jensen

 

I'm going to answer this question assuming you are the employer.

It's hard to say Tom. If you wanted to hire me I would demand about $200K/yr plus overnight expenses. That may sound like a lot to you but I'm in my 40's, already have a good job and a family and retirement to think about. I imagine you could hire an inexperienced ski bum/pilot in his/her 20's for 50K/yr or there abouts.

A pilot's current station in life determines their salary requirements. Your best bet is probably a recently retired airline pilot. Good luck finding one who is not burned out and angry at losing their pension. How reliable do you need this pilot to be? How many days away will they spend from their family. Are you willing to pay the training? Does your insurance company have any requirements? If you advertise you will get many responses but I'm willing to bet most will not stay with you very long unless you are willing to pay to keep them.

 

VLJ's IMHO should be paying similar to what a King Air pays for any given operation (91/135, single pilot/crew, location, etc).

That puts Captain pay around $60K.

Here's 2006 NBAA numbers (from the 07 Survey):

Turboprop Twin I (< 12,500 MTOW) Base Salary
53 respondents
Average: 59,745
Minimum: 32,500
10th Percentile: $42,000
25th Percentile: $48,000
50th Percentile: $60,000
75th Percentile: $67,000
90th Percentile: $80,000
Maximum: $112,000

 

No offense to those that don't, but why is it that retired airline guys seem the most willing to "wh0re" themselves out to corporate and charter operators at the expense of the rest of us who have fought to keep our pay above typical airline pay?

A perfect example:

Base Salary (Captain): (Average, Minimum, Maximum)

Jet III (20,000 < 45,000 MTOW): $91,648, $22,211, $165,000
Jet IV (45,000 < 80,000 MTOW): $111,009, $50,000, $181,000
Jet V (80,000 < 120,000 MTOW): $128,351, $84,192, $185,000
Jet VI (> 120,000 MTOW): $106,950, $52,000, $155,000

Note how the guys driving heavy iron (BBJs) are getting paid less than folks flying other equipment.

 

I would have to agree 100% with mike734. Let me ask you this Tom, Is your A$$ any less important that the guy sitting in the back of a GV?

 

Single pilot operation in a Colorado ski town in a VLJ...

If you value your life (or that of your customers), you are going to need an experienced pilot. Just because a VLJ is about the same size as a King Air, the type of pilot who normally flies a King Air is typically less experienced than the kind of pilot who flies a Gulfstream.

I would say $110k-$130k for an experienced pilot to fly a VLJ single pilot in mountainous terrain, in winter weather and icing, and get you there as safe as possible.

 

I would say that the VLJ and LJ payscales should be considered the same. So $70,000 - $80,000 should not be out of the question for an experienced CA. Ofcourse I'm basing this off an area that has a "moderate" cost of living. Otherwise, expect to pay more if they are required to live in a high cost area.

 

I see this at Cape Air. We get guys who have retired from major airline X, they're already drawing a pension or whatever retirement they created for themselves, and they don't give a **** about what they make. You could pay them in Wendy's Frosty coupons and they'd probably be fine with it. They're there cuz retirement was a lot more boring than they anticipated and it's "fun" to fly a 402.

Someone else mentioned a VLJ is about the same size as a King Air...not quite. You could PUT AN ECLIPSE INTO A KING AIR if you could figure out how to fold the wings back. The Eclipse 500 has a cabin not too dissimilar from a Cherokee 6 in volume.

Tom, if you want a benchmark, check out DayJet in Florida. They appear to be the first "airline" looking to do scheduled/on-demand with Eclipses. If you're the owner, my advice would be to interview your candidates without regard to salary. Find the right candidate and pay them whatever they require.

 

An eclipse is a lot like a Baron. A Baron actually has a longer cabin, and is the same height. The Eclipse is wider.

Eclipse Interior Dimensions:

148 inches long (12'4"), 50 inches high (4'2"), 56 inches wide (4'8")

Baron Interior Dimensions:

12'7" long (151 inches), 4'2" high (50 inches), 3'6" wide (42 inches)

Sources:

http://www.eclipseaviation.com/eclip...fications.html

http://www.hawkerbeechcraft.com/beec...fications.aspx

 

Tom,

That question has way too many variables for a quick answer. From a pilot's perspective, annual salary is but one small piece of the puzzle in the pilot world. Will the candidate be required to be rated in model before being hired? Who pays for initial training? Recurrent? Benifits? How many airplanes/pilots? What is the daily/weekly/monthly workload expectation, which translates directly to QOL. Most pilots will horse trade some QOL issues for $(the trade goes both ways), it is a delicate balance though.

Something else to consider for now is, supply and demand, right now the supply (gene pool) of qualified Eclipse pilots is pretty shallow, any operator will have to pay a premium for that supply as demand is expected to skyrocket shortly. Once your pilot gets qualified and "experienced" you might have to pay a premium to keep him/her in place, or have in place a non-compete contract, and that should come at a cost as well.

Good Luck in your quest.

SD