DayJet Pilot Salaries!!!???!!!

[atpcliff]

Hi!

Here's the website:
http://www.dayjet.com/Careers/Jobs.aspx

It says that Eclipse 500 jets configured the way DayJet is ordering them will hold 2 pilots and 3 PAX!

What are the pilots going to be paid, and how can this possibly work economically?

The seats are supposed to sell for slightly more than full-coach fares.

It doesn't seem workable to me!

CLiff
MMIO

 

[mzaharis]

Let's run some numbers on the back of an envelope.

Say that pilot labor costs are 150,000 annually for 2 pilots (that's 75,000 per pilot, including health insurance and admin - my guess is that Dayjet's labor costs won't be that high, on average, but let's be generous). Let's say that you get a 7-7 schedule, or some similiar thing, so let's figure 175 days/year. Pilots fly 4 revenue legs per day, carrying an average of 2 passengers. That means that, on average, these two pilots service 1400 passenger-legs a year (4*2*175). Therefore, the cost per passenger per leg is 150,000/1400 = $107. There's a considerable margin between this and the cost of a full coach ticket, which can be over $1,000.

In short, although "squeezing" the pilots salarywise will probably happen at Dayjets , I don't think that pilot costs alone will determine whether their model is sustainable. The real questions are:

1. How much it costs to operate an Eclipse. Dayjet claims that they're not more expensive per-mile than a Baron - we'll see.
2. Like any other airline, can they keep their load factors high enough, and generate enough "missions" per day per aircraft (4 in my example).