How much to bill for Aviation Consulting

[FastPilot]

Situation: The owner of the company that my wife works for approached me about giving some advice on buying a first jet (first aircraft actually), since they had no pilots, and no aviation experience. My wife was up for a promotion, so in order to grease the skids, I graciously offered to put together some info for them, and lend a hand. Well, before it was over, I had set up an entire flight department from scratch, shopped for jets (ended up with a Falcon 10), and helped to screen pilots. In the end I spent a great deal of time on the project (which I had agreed to do for free), but I never actually tracked the time I worked on it. Recently their CFO approached me, and offered to pay me for my time and services, because I devoted so much energy to the project. When I replied that I didn't know what I should bill, they suggested $50 to $70 an hour, and to give them an estimate on the time I spent. He also said if I was unsure, to bill high. I ended up spending several hundred hours on this, though I am not really sure how much. They also offered me a type in the Falcon, and a possible job if they buy a second aircraft, which may or may not happen. I may be loosing my job in the near future, so money is tight, and I want to be paid fair market value for the work I performed, but I also don’t want to anger my wife’s company. I need to be able to justify/document going industry consulting rates (if they are higher than $70/hr), and also get some idea of how long it typically takes a consultant to complete a project like this. The last point is that this is the first time I have done something like this, so even though I have been around aviation for over fifteen years, it was new to me and I did have a learning curve. If anyone has any information, advice, or knows of resources pertaining to this that I can use, please respond. Thank You.

Steve

 

[LongBoarder]

Think about this.....

Commissions on aircraft sales run up to 5%, if they used a broker, then this has already been paid. And Headhunters can get 10% of the first years gross salary for placing employees. I think that $30-50/hr is a good number.

So take all that into account, and don't sell yourself short, but at the same time you are in a difficult position since your wife works for the company.

I might come up with a number, and then ask that he put it in saving bonds for your new child's college education. It will endear yourself to everyone, and you had fun doing the project anyway, and your kid will need it in the long run.

Just a thought.

BTW.... good job, I have done lots of proforma for flight departments, some that started and others that did not, and never got the offer for money.