How to break it to employer?

[RichardFitzwell]

low&slow,

I agree with UALX727. He is taking advantage of your situation. You clearly have the necessary flight time to be competitive when the hiring starts again. I don't think a little more C414 time will help you get back to the airlines.

If I were this guy, I would be truly embarrassed asking you to fly with me and not offering you fair compensation for your time. Being a 'family friend' makes it even worse!

Tell him you need paid. If he doesn't want to pay you then he wasn't worth flying for anyway. Take pride in your abilities and he will too.

 

[Corbon]

He can afford to own/operate a 414 but can't dish out a few bucks to an UNEMPLOYED professional pilot, who also happens to be a friend of his? That's crazy!! You need to inform this guy right now that if you aren't compensated for your services, he will be flying alone from now on. As UALX727 mentioned, he is taking advantage of you. If you had a friend who was an unemployed mechanic, would you "help him out" by letting him come over and work on your car for free and expect him to do so whenever you needed him? Of course not.
Something similar happened to me one time and I believe it cost me a potential job. I was furloughed and had applied for a 135 job flying a Baron. The company was interested in me and called me and told me what they expected to do with me, and that sort of thing. Then a few nights later, they guy calls up and said a client "suddenly" changed his mind and wanted a co-pilot on a two day trip the next day in the 421. I was interested, until he told me that he couldn't pay me because it would be illegal since I wasn't 135 certified, which is true. I declined because I thought it was ridiculous for a company to want somebody to fly for free. Of course, as I expected, I never heard from them again. But, I have my airline job back now and everything seems to have worked out for the best.
You can find something better than flying this unsafe jerks 414 around. If he makes stupid decisions in the cockpit now, he's going to keep doing it and it only takes one to end up in a smoking pit.
Walk away from him, get some business cards made up, and deliver them to various flight departments around your area and tell them you are available for pilot service. From my experience, here is a good chance that you will get a call sometime, especially if they fly King Airs with two pilots. I made more money sitting in the right seat of a King Air 300 while I was on furlough than I did in the airlines. Thats just my $.02.

 

[bayoubandit]

UALX727,

Very nice thoughts, straight and to the point. Some excellent input has been laid out in these posts.

 

[Freight Dog]

I'll offer my .02 cents. I think UALX727 nailed it on the money.

Here's how I would go about it:

I'd offer to take him out for a happy hour, and ask to talk to him. Then tell him straight: I really enjoy flying with you, but there is safe and there's cheap. Cheapest is not always the safest either, and then give him some examples on where he made you feel uncomfortable. Then also tell him you can't fly with him since it occupies your time that you could be getting paid to do. Tell him straight - I'm a professional pilot and I need to make a living doing this just like I have been prior to getting furloughed. His time is money to him, you should make your time money to you, and let him know that.

There is nothing wrong with helping a friend, but a true friend would not take advantage of you.

 

[bobbysamd]

UALX727 is indeed correct. Another point that comes to mind is while it's always nice to be flying your time would be better spent hustling up paid work. You also need to be making X number of contacts a week to keep up your UI benies. You can stay in the air with your CFI - another good reason why a CFI is such a valuable credential.

Good luck with this situation.

 

[Timebuilder]

I'll bet the ego aspect figures prominently in this situation. I have been in instructional situations with older physicians and lawyers. They are not comfortable in situations where they are not the Jedi Master, and often don't take kindly to deferring to a Young Skywalker, even if you are over forty.

Maybe a trip to the happy hour isn't a bad idea, unless you already know he is a Mean Drunk. Relatives and friends often feel comfortable taking advantage of us (sorry to sound like Dr. Laura..) but he probably realizes that he couldn't get away with this with anyone else.

Let us know how this works out.

 

[low&slow]

I will certainly let you all know how this plays out. I am flying with him Monday. Everyone has given me great advice on how I should deal with this. I feel much more confident approaching him now. I wish I had only done this a long time ago... rather then putting up with it.

Also, you are all very correct. I have felt all along that he has been using me, and that it wasn't fair. I just didn't know how to go about changing it. He is a very successful executive-type, and I am over 30 years younger then him, so I'm sure there's a bit of an ego issue here (maybe why I haven't approached him before, intimidated by him?). Some of the flights he's proposed I haven't felt comfortable with (wx, route, etc) and have recommended alternative actions. He has responded to this by saying that they would cost him more money, that the plane isn't cheap to operate, and that I'm not the one paying the bills!!! He owns an expensive plane, but complains about how much it costs him to operate??? Sounds to me like he shouldn't be owning an airplane, and that he truly has done a cost analysis and determined that he can use me for free rather then pay someone $20 an hour to babysit him. I don't dig that, dude(<--- i told you i'm young). That just ain't right.

Thanks for the ammo to use, I was wondering if I was maybe being greedy or something. Obviously I deserve it, and it's time I stop putting up with it. The 414 time truly isn't worth it. Enough is enough.

-low&slow
somewhere in the U.S.A. (looking for work again)

 

[flint4xx]

If he is a friend then does he deserve at least an explanation? Maybe you'll save his life, too.

As far as pay, tell him you can't fly because you're working for minimum wage flipping burgers that day.

 

[208pilot]

sounds better

The later points sound a lot better. Particularly about just needing time to beet the bushes. I've never had a CRM class for a two man crew position but it sounds like there is where most of the friction between you two lies.
Good luck in getting a job. I know Commutair has been interviewing but there is alot of competition and their new hires have more time now than they use too. I recently asked my friends who work at Commutair about Colgan and they said Commutair was alot better.