By design, says Ricci, the ranks of senior flight officers will be reserved for the top-notch people. No more than 30% of the company's pilots will be admitted to the program. And once you're promoted, there's an understanding that your job is secure -- as long as you maintain safety, health, and personal-conduct standards.
Since the new program took effect in 1986, 4 of Corporate Wings' 32 pilots have applied to be senior flight officers. So far, all have been accepted. They don't make $150,000 like the top jet pilots at the majors. But they do make significantly more than the company's other pilots -- and more than those at most other charter companies. Upon promotion, they get a salary hike from $42,000 to $48,000. They also get more health and life insurance, more paid vacation time, and deferred compensation of up to $100,000, payable at retirement, at age 62. There are also new policies designed to mitigate the on-demand schedules: once pilots have flown 15 days in a given month, they get additional pay (up to $200 per day); and after 20 days of flying, they get the option of declining an assignment -- or taking as much as $400 per diem. Yet payroll and benefits as a percentage of total costs have gone from 14% in 1986 to only 18% today.
It's much too soon to know how all this will play out over time, but Ricci and his colleagues are thrilled about the effects so far. "We used to lose six or seven pilots a year," says Ricci, "but we've lost only two in the past year." What's more, the caliber of applicants for pilot positions has significantly improved. "Instead of getting kids without experience," says Vince Criswell, the company's chief pilot, "we're getting the cr?me de la cr?me -- guys who have been flying jets for 20 or 25 years.'
Now that turnover is under control, customers are benefiting too. These days, says Ricci, it's usually possible to give clients at least one of the two or three pilots they know. "We can offer some consistency." This consistency will be important as Corporate Wings, currently an $8.8-million business operating in four cities besides Cleveland, expands into new places. The system is working so well that Ricci is in the process of extending some of the same benefits to other hard-to-retain employees -- his maintenance people.
Of course, there are some questions that the company hasn't yet addressed. What happens when it hits its quota for senior flight officers? And what if business slows down? Does it keep the highest-paid pilots -- or let some of them go? As time goes on, Ricci offers, it will inevitably become harder for good pilots to get promoted. And there's no getting around the fact, he agrees, that a downturn would require layoffs. "The extent of the problem," Ricci says, "would determine how far we had to go with cuts.'
But for now, the program is doing just what Ricci wants it to. "We're getting extremely capable pilots," he says, "and we think we can keep them.'
THE TENURE TRACK
How to develop a two-tiered personnel system
Corporate Wings Inc.'s system can be followed by almost any company searching for -- and wanting to hold onto -- employees with special skills.
* Pinpoint the need. If customers hadn't cared who flew their airplanes, president Ken Ricci wouldn't have had a problem. But they did care. The challenge was to attract seasoned pilots who could make a commitment and provide a sense of stability. Hence the need for an upper tier of compensation.
* Know the market. Whatever changes in pay and benefits you are considering, make them attractive. "It's stupid if you're only matching your competition," Ricci says. "Ideally, you want to appeal to people on the outside as well as to the people who are already working for you."
* Don't make the lower tier too attractive. Remember, says Ricci, that you can't possibly afford to pay all your employees more than they could make elsewhere. If you need salaries to average out at $30,000, you have to pay someone $15,000 for every person you pay $45,000. What you can offer at the lower end is experience.
* Find a way to control quality. At Corporate Wings, flight officers are closely monitored by the Federal Aviation Agency. Pilots who receive safety warnings or who have health problems will be relieved of their duties. If your industry has no regulatory controls, figure out a method for ongoing evaluations. Otherwise, says Ricci, you may be stuck, like many universities, with people you don't want. n
LAST UPDATED: OCT 1, 1988
