How do I find opportunities to fly corp?

[rezultz]

I currently live in the Los Angeles area. I have a total of 1200 hours with 238 hours multi. I'm currently flying traffic watch but, would like to know how I can get my foot in the door to fly corporate flying? I don't want to go to the majors because I am more concerned about the quality of life and no longer concerned about flying wide bodies. If you have any tips or people you can recommend me any pertinent information that would be a great help. Thank you ahead of time!!

rezultz!

 

[banned username 2]

Corporate flying can be a very rewarding experience...

With your experience level what you should be doing is seek out some Charter operators who have both turbo-props and jets. Working for a Charter operator will build the experience in Corporate type airplanes that you need to land a good Corporate job.

Get into a Charter operator and fly as many different type of planes as they will let you fly. If the operator has both turbo-props and jet, they will most likely hire people with FAR Part 135 minimums (1200 TT).... You would most likely start off as an F/O on the turbo-prop and would probably be an F/O on a light jet relatively quickly. Having turbo-props gives you the chance to upgrade to PIC sooner than if they had an all jet fleet. After upgrading in the turbo-prop you would then be better situated to upgrade in the jet....

After you build up your experience by working at the Charter operator for a couple years, you will be very marketable for a position with a good Corporate Operator....

Good Luck!

 

[naviator]

I'm in the same boat as you.

I've been instructing in Florida for about a year now, and I would really like to try a "different kind of flying".

With a 1000 hours of total time and 700 multi I know I might be a little short on the total time, but if anyone can give some good pointers and advises on how to get a corporate flying job it would be greatly appreciated.

I also want to thank you "senior" guys for sharing your wisdom with us "juniors" on this board.

Naviator

 

[AZaviator]

Yea, thanks Falcon Capt. for your words of wisdom. What you said made a lot of sense and helped provide some career guidance for us 1,000+ hour CFIs, looking to possibly go corporate in the future.

Just curious as what kind of career path did you take to get to your corporate flying job. Did you fly turboprops for a charter prior to going corporate or did you do something else?

Thanks in advance for anymore feedback you might have.

 

[banned username 2]

Ok, you asked for it... as per your request, here is my career path.....

Went to ERAU and did all training and earned my Bachelor Degree (Aeronautical Science)....

Went for a year without a flying job after graduation because of the recession and Gulf War (1990-1991)

Got a job CFI-ing at a flight school that had singles (C-172) and a twin (BE-76) (this was important to get the all mighty multi-time)

At that time everyones hiring minimums were very high, most commuters wouldn't even look at a person for F/O on a BE-1900 with less than 2,500 hours, plus Pay-for-Training was rampant in the industry. I had no desire to pay $10,000 (for BE-1900 F/O training) to get a job making $13,000/yr. At that point I decided to keep instructing until I could get hired by my local Charter Operator.

After almost 3 years of Instructing and 2400 TT (850 Multi) I got hired flying Charter (I was already flying their C-414A a bit part time) I was hired as a C-414 Capt., KingAir 100 F/O and Lear 35 F/O (Starting salary was $25,000 and no pay for training!) After about 4 months I upgraded to King Air 100 Capt got a pay raise to $33,000 (this was back in 1994, that was pretty good money back then!)

After about another year I got the opportunity to become F/O in a Falcon 20. A couple months later I upgraded to PIC in the Lear 35 (at this point I dropped the C-414 and was PIC in the King Air and Lear, SIC in the Falcon 20).... About 6 months later we obtained a Falcon 10, I was offered a PIC position in it immediately. After becoming PIC in the Falcon 10, I dropped the King Air.... Several months later I was offered PIC in the Falcon 20....

My Charter career spanned about 3 years, at the end of it I had 3 jet type ratings, about 4,500 TT and 1,700 turbine (1,300 of which was jet)... I had applied at some local Corporate operators on the field, and any that showed the least bit of interest I focused on. Well my persistence paid off and I was hired by a Fortune 50 company as a Citation III F/O (This was a pay raise over being a Charter Falcon 20 PIC) and no, I didn't know anyone at the company, just persistence and a lot of luck!

After 6 months as Citation III F/O I upgraded to PIC, about a year later we sold the Citation III's and got Falcon 50EX's, I was put in the 50EX as a PIC, about 2 years later we added Falcon 900EX's to our fleet, I was also put in the 900EX as an International Captain.

Well I am 33 years old and have been at my current company for 5 years now, I am flying the Falcon 900EX and 50EX all over the world for them. I work with a great bunch of guys and we have a lot of fun. I really enjoy the variety of destination and the great equipment we get to fly (the 900EX's even have the HGS Heads-Up System in them). They don't work us too hard (I average 10-12 days of flying per month, 3-4 RON's per month) and we know our trips well in advance. When I am not flying I am at home, which is great because I get to spend a LOT of time with my daughter.

I hope I didn't bore you with this, if you have any more specific questions feel free to send me a private message....

Good Luck!

 

[publisher]

Good Advice

They are giving you good advice. When we had a corporate/135 flight department, there were a number of part timers who we would use for night flights, weekends, etc. As we came to know them and became confident in their abilities, we gave them more and more opportunities to fly the King Air's and eventually a full time deal.

Corporate is networking and networking and footwork at every airport near you. Only as you get to the bigger and jet equipment does the hiring ring expand.

 

[hawkerjet]

Hey rezultz, You're in one of the best area's for corporate flying. I'm guessing you fly out of VNY if so there are over 100 jets on the field. Give me a PM and I'll give you the names of some charter outfits in the LA area.

 

[AZaviator]

Hey, Hawkerjet, do you think corporate/charter flight depts. are hiring people with as low of flight time as 1,200hrs or so? I would imagine they'd be looking for people with atleast 2-3,000hrs, unless you have an IN.

Just curious as to your opinion on this. Thanks in advance. I'll definetly agree with you that VNY is probably one of the airports in the country with the most charter/corporate outfits!

 

[jocolo]

same boat too

I live in central florida and currently instructing, got hired by mesaba but will not get a class date till they call the other guy first , If i could get a nice job flying charter with good equipment I will definitly stay a few year. I would appreciate any input. I based at the kissimmee airport
total time 2500/ 350
i went to a Bay Air charter in tampa but they ask 750 multi to fly navajos .
H>E>L>P

 

[na265]

Falcon Capt has some great advice. You are in the door with your total time. I was lucky in that I had a great corp dept move into my hanger where I was CFIing. The first day they moved in, I was here meeting all of them. From that time on, I darkened their door as much as I could, and got to know all the people pretty well. When the time came to hire a part-timer, I was lucky and got the call. From that point, it was about a year before they brought me on full-time. The point is, corporate is all about who you know, the way you present yourself, the way you handle people, and about flying. It's a great job with many rewards. Good luck!!!!