Cargo or corporate

[208starcheck]

Cargo or Small Factional question

Looking for some advise please. I'm currently with a cargo airline (not hard to figure out which one) flying a caravan. I'm only a couple people away from a Lear 35 position. I got a call on Wed for an interview with a small local fraction company that flies Beechjets. I'm not sure which way to go on this if they offer me the job.

On one side I can fly nights and get a ton of Lear time and make alot more money (although I don't spend much of the money I have now). After a year I'll get type rated. I'll have to keep moving every 18-24 months or so. I really like my current company and have enough seniority that I don't have to worry about furloughs.

Or I can get half to a third of the flight time in a Beech jet flying days (oh that would be nice) for less money and get a type rating immediately. Both places have slow update time to Capt but the fractional is made up of mostly furloughed airline guys. They seem to be extremely busy whenever I look at the fuel orders for the day. All their pilots I have talked to seem very nice. Most trips are out and back or an overnight. They have 5 or 6 planes.

Does people vs cargo make a diffence when trying to move on in a couple of years? I have 3500 hours, 1300 multi, 1200 single engine turbine, should I worry about getting the maximum flight time to make myself more competitive? I have friends that are just getting on with the regionals, should I wait till I can get recommendation from them? I would love to get on with SWA, Netjets, or Options when things start to open up. Ultimate goal is to get back to Seattle.

Thanks in advance.

 

[banned username 2]

I got a call on Wed for an interview with a small local fraction company that flies Beechjets.

Don't confuse the two, Fractional is NOT Corporate.

 

[208starcheck]

Ok sorry for the confusion. This is a small fractional company that flies people around. They sell partial shares to customers.

 

[freightdoggie]

My two cents, QUIT. Take the beechjet job, that way, there is one less person between me and the lear, hahaha

J/K, if I were you, I would stay with Airnet, while the prospect of flying during normal hours sounds nice, the extra time and money are much more valuable to you at this point, I believe anyways. It all depends on where you want to be in the future. If the other job was corporate, and not a fractional, you may have a chance to move to captain quicker, due to the fact that upgrades would not be based on seniority (Which would be nice, they should be performance based in my opinion.)

Tough decision, I would hang on a few more months, the lear is not that much further and a much better machine in my opinion.

Go starcheckers

 

[Rick1128]

It depends on where you want to go further on in your career. While many charter operators like freight dogs, mine included, most corporate and high end charter operators have a mind set against them. Most due to their reputation for how they fly the aircraft. While it is not true of all freight dogs, there are many out there that fly like they're in a F14 or hotter. On the corporate end, the guy paying the bills doesn't like even ripples in his drink.

The mind set is much different also. Freight is b@lls to the wall, right to the limits all the time. Corporate is strictly passenger convenience and comfort.

One other note, the first type rating is the hardest. After that it is down hill.

 

[LR25]

Stay with Airnet.

You have invested your time wiselt there, you need to take the upgrade in the lear and build you time up and experience.

After a while of getting up early in the morning you will wish you were back flying freight anyway.

Good luck.

 

[USC***]

I was in the same situation a couple months ago. I worked for AirNet for two years and was a couple names on the seniority list from getting to the lear. I had a job offer from a 135 company to fly Citations, and BeechJets.

Here are the pluses and minuses I've found.

Pluses to charter:

1)Flying in the day. First time I got to sleep with my wife in the last two years. I've had a couple overnights, but not many.

2)Always flying to different airports. You get to see different places, and can actually see where you're going in the day.

3)Dispatch doensn't encourage you to fly through T-storms and other bad weather. You'd lose customers fast. I guess this could be a negative if you are one of the crazy freight guys who enjoy flying through T-storms.

4) Don't have to move to different cities for future upgrades.

Negatives for charter:

1)Less flight time flying charter. In 3 months I've logged about 110 hours. At Airnet I did about 90-100 per month. Though after 1500 hours in a Caravan whats another 100 when you could get some jet time some where.

2)Unknown scheduling and occasional last minute pop up trips. Makes planning family outings in advance difficult sometimes.

3)Less pay. I was making close to 40K flying the Caravan with Airnet 5 days a week. I now make between 30-35K, but also work less. I work between 2-5 days per week depending how busy they are.

I have no regrets about leaving Airnet and I love flying charter. I would love to get on with one of the big Fractional operators if given an opportunity, or a job with a corporate operator. I thought flying 135 charter resembled the type of flight time more closely than flying freight. I now have experience doing both which make make me a little more rounded candidate, but who really knows what the interviewers look for.

I do really miss alot of my friends from Airnet. There are a lot of great people at that company. Other than the lack of communication among all the departments, it is a well run company. Sometimes I wish I had stayed to fly for their charter department Jet Ride, but it would have taken a while to get there, because they actually pay decent salaries, so it's a more popular position. But I would have had to move to do it, and my family likes where we are.

Good Luck,
PM me if you want any other opinions on the differences of charter vs freight.

 

[cvsfly]

Ok sorry for the confusion. This is a small fractional company that flies people around. They sell partial shares to customers.

Stay with your current job. Much more stable. I know a group who started a small fractional. They worked hard and got it going despite all the naysayers, but then one of their investors wasn't happy with the profit margins (small) and pulled the plug. Brought the whole show to an end. He could of started up again after he got ride of the original start up people (may even be the same company with 5-6 airplanes and Beechjets). The frac owners lost out too. Find out their history and get a contract in writing if you decide to change. Scheduled 135 is better if you want the airline route.

 

[USC***]

AirNet is Unscheduled 135. Yes, I know most of their runs have set schedules, but since they are unpublished to the public, they are considered "Unscheduled 135" as far as the regulations are concerned.