Initial is quite expensive. No airline is going to devote scarce resources to recruit and train part time pilots. If I were to take a WAG I would say the break even number is around 50 hours a month which is a far cry from what the OP is proposing.

 

I don't think it's close to that.

The sim is the major cost here. I don't know what the actual sim cost is, but lets just say its 1k/hour for grins.

I'm going to do some really backwoods math so bear with me here. I'll try to stay on the expensive side so we stay conservative.

Lets say 8 hours a year in the sim. 8k. We'll cut that in half since you'll have a partner in there with you. So there's 4k a year.

2, maybe 3 nights in a hotel at 150/night. 450/year.

Instructor for 8 hours divided by 2 for the partner again at 150/hour. 600/year.

Pilot hourly rate 100/hr for 8 hours. 800/year

perdiem at 2/hour for 8 hours. 16/year.

Grand Total. $5416/year.

Now that is at sim time being 1k per hour. I'd be willing to bet the actual cost for an airline to run the sim is less than that, especially if the own the sim themselves.

This is pure speculation of course and I could be not even close to the ballpark.

 

Initial is for sure more expensive.

I think this is a more valid reason than your recurrent one but.....

How much does it cost an airline to cancel a flight? 5k? 10k? I don't know the answer but I'm sure it's up there.

At some point doing initial for part time employees could simply be cheaper than canceling a bunch of flights every day.

Again, there is a point where this would make sense. Some bean counter just needs to come up with the number.

 

Plenty of airlines in other parts of the world such as Europe and Asia offer part time at 75% or 50% schedules. I have a friend at British Airways who flies maybe 6 days a month on a part time basis, and he still makes double what I do!

 

75% and 50% schedules are a far cry from "2 days a month". Apples and oranges. I tried to give a serious reply in regards to reduced schedules but the OP only wants to fly around 10 hours a month. It's a fantasy.

I know nurses who work 1 week on/2 weeks off. I'm not saying the idea of flexible schedules is unheard of I'm just trying to bring the discussion back down to earth. The OP is proposing moonlighting a couple of days a month as an airline pilot. I can't think of a nicer way to say it just isn't going to happen.

 

EXACTLY!!

Two 4 day trips per month is enough for me! No babysitting required!

 

Makes sense if the airline can't hire enough full time pilots! A rather creative solution to some of the regional shortage.
Please think "outside the box" (apologies to LaQuinta ads).

 

35-50 hrs a month would be more than enough for me and is much less than some reserve pilots pilots who are paid min guarantee! If the company can afford that, they certainly can afford part time pilots. It's a no brainer.

Consider the cost of a senior capt that bids reserve and rarely flies yet still is paid guarantee with full benefits.

The cost argument just doesn't wash.

 

The military already does this with the Guard and Reserves. Full timers support the operation, and part timers fill in a few days a month. No issues with currency or recency, and you typically do an IOE to get you comfortable with the aircraft.

I think the key is to have a minimum and maximum amount of flight time each month, and an option to return to full time work when there is an opening.

 

Because they are on reserve. That's what reserve is. Jeesh.

I'm just going to back off from this thread because I can see this is just going to keep going around in circles. Best of luck.