Hi guys, I’ve been flying for a regional for about 2 months now. Corporate/GA flying was always my goal when I started flying. However, with the way regionals have been hiring, and the money, I decided to do that first and see how I liked it. Anyway, I don’t mind airline flying, but I still have that passion for corporate flying. Just wondering if anyone can give me a good idea of what exactly corporate flying entails. Differences/similarities versus regional flying. I do enjoy the airline flying but at the moment, wouldn’t mind picking up about 1,000 hours of turbine time and then seeing what else is open on the private side of aviation. I would say the one thing I hate about airline flying so far is the down time between legs, I would much rather just put in “work” and be done, rather then drag it out. Specifically anyone that flies for net jets/ flex jets or anything similar, their help would be much appreciated! Thanks, I appreciate it!!

The fractional pilots are known to routinely be required to sit at FBOs for 12 hours if they're at an outstation with no current flight assignment. They want them to be able to get the plane moving on a repositioning flight within minutes of getting an assignment.

At one point (the low point for airlines) I intended to gut out regionals until I retired from the military reserve and then do corporate or fractionals.

But the tables have turned, airline compensation is through the roof and opportunities abound due to growth, but primarily retirements.

Your safest path to money and QOL will be the airlines (majors of course). Fractionals would be a consolation prize if you can't get a good major job.

There are some good gigs in corporate, but the ones that are equivalent to top major airlines are typically rare and require either tremendous luck or years of experience and networking in the corporate world. Those jobs are competitive. There are also a wide variety of not so great corporate jobs available.

The silver lining is that airlines are pulling some of the more qualified pilots out of the corporate world, so there will be more openings than usual if you want to go there. But the very best jobs are probably still going to be hard to get, since those are the only corporate guys NOT going to airlines.

Right now, there’s huge opportunities in corporate aviation, if you’re decided in that direction. What were “unicorn” jobs are now opening up, even desperate for pilots. I’d stay away from fractional, as Rickair777 says, you could spend a lot of time in FBOs—not pleasant. A good Challenger 300/605, Global/GLF job should be obtainable.

Life varies from great to okay to miserable, you need to interview them carefully. Networking is vital.

GF