Part 91K ops require two pilots. Autopilot or not.
Not many flights at Avantair are flown Part 135. All flights that go international (Canada, Mexico, Carib,) are Part 135 at Avantair because of the Customs regs that require all such fract flights to be listed as "commercial"; hence the Part 135 quals of its pilots.
Sitting for 9 months to a year doing crappy paperwork/etc is not as conducive to actually flying the line. In a month or two on the "line" you as a pilot will become fully knowledgeable about the company's ops/procedures, etc. You do not need to sit at a desk to learn this, unless you were eventually angling for a managemment slot within Avantair. And I contend that a management pilot should have extensive line experience before he/she sits at a management desk.
25K for Avantair's FOs is crappy, you will work hard here (as well at other
frax), the "line" is the best way to learn this side of aviation, on the line you will see what the company is failing to do to support the crews, you will deal "first hand" with pissed off pax who show up at the plane and find out that things requested by them for their trips was not done or specified to the crews, you will deal with ATC delays, tight turnaround times between legs, etc, etc.
I would like to see "retired" or "seasoned" pilots go to the office duties and do flight following, pilot services, travel, catering, customs, owner services, etc. These people have been there, done that, and got the T-shirt on the line. They know what the "line" crews are going through on a daily basis to move that plane. Unfortunately by the time you have finished a career on the line, you are burned out and have no desire to continue in an office "support" role.
I know, I have no desire to do those things. Maybe others do. A good office support staff would be nice to have, as the "line" pilots have to sort out the errors and unrealistic tempo when they get briefed for the next days flying in the frax world. But to put low time pilots in that role just doesn't make sense; its not going to help them in the line; to me flying skills and the operational things that go with it (flt plans/customs/notams/pax relations/catering/etc, etc, etc) are more important. You can always sit at a desk later.
My 2 cents.
Not many flights at Avantair are flown Part 135. All flights that go international (Canada, Mexico, Carib,) are Part 135 at Avantair because of the Customs regs that require all such fract flights to be listed as "commercial"; hence the Part 135 quals of its pilots.
Sitting for 9 months to a year doing crappy paperwork/etc is not as conducive to actually flying the line. In a month or two on the "line" you as a pilot will become fully knowledgeable about the company's ops/procedures, etc. You do not need to sit at a desk to learn this, unless you were eventually angling for a managemment slot within Avantair. And I contend that a management pilot should have extensive line experience before he/she sits at a management desk.
25K for Avantair's FOs is crappy, you will work hard here (as well at other
frax), the "line" is the best way to learn this side of aviation, on the line you will see what the company is failing to do to support the crews, you will deal "first hand" with pissed off pax who show up at the plane and find out that things requested by them for their trips was not done or specified to the crews, you will deal with ATC delays, tight turnaround times between legs, etc, etc.
I would like to see "retired" or "seasoned" pilots go to the office duties and do flight following, pilot services, travel, catering, customs, owner services, etc. These people have been there, done that, and got the T-shirt on the line. They know what the "line" crews are going through on a daily basis to move that plane. Unfortunately by the time you have finished a career on the line, you are burned out and have no desire to continue in an office "support" role.
I know, I have no desire to do those things. Maybe others do. A good office support staff would be nice to have, as the "line" pilots have to sort out the errors and unrealistic tempo when they get briefed for the next days flying in the frax world. But to put low time pilots in that role just doesn't make sense; its not going to help them in the line; to me flying skills and the operational things that go with it (flt plans/customs/notams/pax relations/catering/etc, etc, etc) are more important. You can always sit at a desk later.
My 2 cents.
