How much am I worth

[flyingmonkey]

Sounds like a deal you could work with. Not having a training contract and having the employer pay for training is a big step in the right direction. Maybe you could press for just a little more money and some sort of mechanism to ensure a raise after the first year. Good luck whatever you decide!

 

[siucavflight]

Sounds like a deal you could work with. Not having a training contract and having the employer pay for training is a big step in the right direction. Maybe you could press for just a little more money and some sort of mechanism to ensure a raise after the first year. Good luck whatever you decide!

Thanks for the advice, I am seriously considering it. I have also had an offer from a good regional so I am not sure which way I am going to go.

 

[Freight Dog]

One BIG question:

Do you have hard days off with this guy? Here's the thing... you'll get 13-16 days off or so with a regional as a line holder with a good airline. Now, on those days, you are free to go wherever you want, and do whatever you want, and you don't have to answer your phone or Blackberry.

Now... with this guy, do you get time off like that? Sure, he may say you'll fly 15 days, but are you on call the rest of the month? Are you free to turn off your Blackberry or your cell? If the answer is no... your answer should be no f**king way.

 

[siucavflight]

One BIG question:

Do you have hard days off with this guy? Here's the thing... you'll get 13-16 days off or so with a regional as a line holder with a good airline. Now, on those days, you are free to go wherever you want, and do whatever you want, and you don't have to answer your phone or Blackberry.

Now... with this guy, do you get time off like that? Sure, he may say you'll fly 15 days, but are you on call the rest of the month? Are you free to turn off your Blackberry or your cell? If the answer is no... your answer should be no f**king way.

He said five hard days off a month.

 

[SMOOTHRIDE]

My experience for the last 1 year 3 months:

4 days off and being on call 24/7 the rest of the time = no life.

You end up not doing a lot of stuff. Your friends/wife are less than impressed because you can't go anywhere that's more than a half hour away.

Beer = only when off, or within 2 hours after you duty off from a flight. (10 hour crew rest - 8 hour bottle to throttle = 2 hour legal beer window).

You end up sitting around. You are a limo driver. You drop off a client, and sit at the FBO for 8 hours. Then you fly them back and do paperwork.

It's feast or famine. When you fly a lot, you are more or less happy.

When you don't fly a lot (most of the time) you sit around in your house. On call = no life. If you are a home fix it up guy you have died and gone to heaven.

On demand charter = dirty word. Short notice pop up flights suck really bad.

You cringe when a cell phone goes off because it might be dispatch with a pop up. I'm gun shy of cell phones now.

 

[Rokit88]

You cringe when a cell phone goes off because it might be dispatch with a pop up. I'm gun shy of cell phones now.

So you probaly shoudn't have that machine gun ringtone then, eh??

 

[Freight Dog]

Like I said... for that salary, don't walk away - run!

I understand entry-level, but the money he's offering is not worth the hassles, not to mention he is trying to extremely lowball you.

Let's summarize this. This owner thinks you're qualified for the job otherwise I can guarantee you that he wouldn't want to hire you. Yet, he's trying to make it sound like he's doing you a favor and he's willing to pay you what you'd make at a regional. Now, he wants to work you way harder than you would at a regional, but still wants to pay you regional straight pay without the overtime you'd get for working as hard and without travel benefits. This is not even including side duties that come with being a charter pilot.

I'm not saying that there's anything bad about charter flying, quite the contrary, the flying is definitely better than the airline flying, but you can attach a dollar figure to everything we're talking about.

OK... so if he wants to negotiate a regional airline equivalent of 5 hard days off, he needs to pay you something around 5 flight hours per day average at a regional X 10 more days days of work than a regional X 150% of regular rate as overtime you'd get at a regional to get what you should be paid. Otherwise, your wage is not gonna be anywhere remotely near what the regional guys make because they'll be working a whole lot less for the same money.

When you add it all up, charter company or even a private individual need to pay substantially more than your counterpart at a regional makes in order to be competitive for pilots simply because the working conditions are different and more demanding.

Like I said, nothing wrong with working harder, but it needs to be compensated for. If I were you, I wouldn't even talk to the guy for under 40k. That'd be the starting point.

The guy wants to compare your job to a regional pilot job. I think you should compare it to NetJets, and ask him for the equivalent of NetJets+ because he expects you to fly 3 airplanes instead of just one. Bear in mind, guys on reserve at NJA can only fly up to 18 days a month with 4 hard days off. Their 1st year base pay is 46k, they only fly 1 plane, and they all get type rated in training. So what separates you from them? 300 hours according to your profile? Plus you'd fly 3 planes instead of 1? There's your answer.

Self-respect, my friend...

 

[SMOOTHRIDE]

Rokit;

Yup, I think I'll take it out back and shoot it. Serves it right for ringin' at me. :uzi:

 

[El Bucho]

Isn't there a limit to the number of types you can fly on 135? I thought it was 2. Might want to look into that too. It's either that your you can use 2 type ratings. It might just be a PIC thing too. I don't really know, would have to look it up to be certain.

 

[T-1GUY]

I say suck it up for a year. The cost of training you in three airplanes would cost you over $50,000 if you were to pay for this yourself. Go to training, work hard, get typed, get 1 year of experience under your belt.

You will have an easy time finding a $50,000 a year position in no time. While on the road, Network, Network, Network. While at training, Network, Network, Network.

I understand the pay is low, but this job could set you up for something much better.

Ask about the training. How soon will you be trained in all three? Is there per diem involved?? Ask the question "If I do a good job, and get trained in all three aircraft, will I see an increase in my compensation?" The key is "When?"

Call Simuflite or Flight Safety, Ask them the cost of this training. It might open your eyes....