Hey guys, need a little help to put some things in perspective....

I work for a part 91 corporate operator that flies typically around 400 hours a year. We operate one airplane, and the pay is not bad, but could always be better. Last year we did about 80 overnights each. We had a three pilot rotating schedule, that allowed every third week off. Quality of life was pretty good.

Due to economic times, and some other unfortuante circumstances, the number of pilots on staff for the airplane has dwindled down to two. There is absolutely no hard time off. The company is unwilling to pay contract pilots. There is more flying and RON's, way less time at home, and no more compensation. Quality of life is getting pretty bad, because there is no homelife, or time away from the airplane.

I believe that the quality of life you have at a job is just as important as the salary. However, when you try to defend your position to your employers, they give you replies such as; "your on vacation every time you fly somewhere."..."you're just sitting in a hotel when you're on the road, we're out working!"....or "well, you didn't get called to fly yesterday, you had that day off".....

Have i made a huge mistake making my living in corporate aviation, expecting a decent salary, and an overall good quality of life? Or is this a universal attitude from companies, and this is how the world works...Let me know your thoughts!

That definitely is not the norm in corporate aviation. They think you're on vacation while on the road??? Wow.

Find a new corporate job! I'm on my 7th but complaining got me nowhere and switching jobs got me what I was looking for. A 30 year career in corporate aviation consists of 10, 3 year, careers. Some of those jobs left me but 4 I left for better QOL. I have found the smaller the airplane the happier I have been.

[quote=Jetset0045;476820]Hey guys, need a little help to put some things in perspective....


1..... "your on vacation every time you fly somewhere."..."you're just sitting in a hotel when you're on the road, we're out working!"....

2.......or "well, you didn't get called to fly yesterday, you had that day off".....

quote]



1..... Cool, start taking your wife and children, if you have them, on long overnights. Thats what vacation is all about... right?

2.... Thats fine, dont worry then when you wish for a cold one. If the phone rings for a trip you can claim that since they had not call yet you assumed you were "off" and decided to have a beer.

Unfortunately this will probably lead to you demise but it sounds like you're screwed anyway. It also sounds like that if things get much worse the plane will probably go away so as much as it sucks, start looking for something else.

If the current operation is working for Them... then ask yourself.. will they keep it this way when things get better or will they add the 3rd pilot back and start giving you days off again.

[quote=Formerbuspilot;477214]Ha ha ha. Classic.

Thanks for the insight guys,....i figured i was just being young and naive, and that not all companies could be this way!

We operate one airplane with two pilots, also flying about 400 hours per year.

Our owner, however, doesn't worry too much about contract pilots when we are using our company-standard PDOs. The PDOs are part of our compensation package and we lose them if we don't use them, so...they get used. If we take a vacation week right after the airplane gets out of a 3 week heavy check he'll probably have a little heartburn about that, but we don't get static about taking time off.

Your Chief Pilot should have the stones to set the owner straight if the boss makes snide comments like "you're on vacation every time you fly somewhere" and "you're just sitting on the road".

Additionally, something to look at is the cost of the crew RON for multiple days at a time vs. airlining back home. In most metros with airline service, the break-even can be anywhere from 2 to 5 days. This may save your owner some money while giving you more time at home...

hey boiler, would you care to elaborate a little more on what your company PDO's are..>?? i've never heard the term before!..

PDO - Personal Day Off.

We don't get "normal" vacation like 2 weeks per year, we get 17 PDO days (until 5 years in, then it goes to 24). The 17 days are basically broken down as 14 vacation and 3 sick days, but you can use them anyway you like for any reason at all. You can take them one day or all 17 at a time.

For the company pilots, if we want time off but aren't scheduled to fly then we aren't charged a PDO. If we are scheduled to fly and want time off, we're charged a PDO and we hire a contract pilot for that trip ($400/day for SIC).

When my grandfather died this spring, I had about 20 hours notice on a trip; called the boss and the CP they got a contract guy arranged to cover so I could go to the funeral. I was charged a single PDO for that. In a few weeks there is the opening weekend of deer season, and we're supposed to drop some folks to get ready for a conference. Weekends aren't normal work days for us but I had already requested that time off as PDO just in case, so I'll be charged one PDO for that day and we'll hire a contract pilot for the day trip. If I get the flu and miss a 3 day trip, then I'll be charged 3 PDOs.

Pop-up trips don't really exist where I work and we're not required to sit "hot standby", but in the case of a family or business emergency we may get called by the owner. IF that call comes in, and you're not available to fly for any reason (out of town, drinking, sick, etc), then we hire a contract pilot and you're charged a PDO. That policy has been fought because WE DON'T SIT STANDBY but in the grand scheme, being charged 1 day PDO in such a situation is a pretty small deal.

The boss likes it because there aren't questions asked and people don't get into a situation where they're out of sick and/or vacation days and need to be away.

I'm only going to use a few PDOs this year because my wife and I work and we haven't had an opportunity to vacation, but the boss encourages everybody (even us @ 400/day for contract guys) to use them if there's something we want or need to do.

Maybe smaller airplane jobs are safer, but in today's market I wouldn't be pushing QOL issues at all. A 45million dollar airplane doesn't go fly because a particular person wants/needs a day off ... market is tough. It isn't changing for the better anytime soon either ... be careful out there!

TransMach