Looking at going corporate!

[Seadogrun]

"My company has been flying airplanes and/ or helicopters consecutively for 61 years. We are as stable as any Legacy."

I don't think I'd use Sears/K-mart as an example of stability in the corporate world. Today's flight department is a vastly scaled down version of what it once was.

You are very brave with a statement like that. Hope you are knocking on wood.

 

[Shag McNasty]

You are very brave with a statement like that. Hope you are knocking on wood.

I agree, but I messed up the quote feature. I was quoting g159av8tor who I think works for Sears. He seems to forget the part of their 61 year history when Sears spun off Allstate and Dean Witter along with a few Gulfstreams and Falcons. Nothing is stable in this business. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[pilotyip]

"We are as stable as any Legacy." Those are words that would make most pilots run screaming

 

[jc3]

The more research and soul searching I do I keep coming to one major question. Do I want to spend more time away from home and my family then I have to? The answer for me is no. I'm a very flexible easy going guy who would only like to know that if I need a weekend off for a buddies wedding that I could get it off. I've looked around the jax area for jobs. I know one place is hiring, but you have to pay for your type, so I'm pretty sure that's a no-go. What's your opinion on paying for a type? Anyway I truely do appreciate all the feedback, it helps more than you think. I've been wrestling with this decision for awhile now.

 

[Say Again Over]

I worked in both jobs and would initially recommend staying where you are, get to the left seat and get PIC. Most corporate operators want PIC, if you think it's going to be a long time for your upgrade where you are now, don't think it will happen any sooner at a corporate flight department, in my opinion the corporation will need higher qualifications then where your presently at. Best of luck.

 

[Dep676]

Do not ever pay for your type. If the company is secure they should not be asking you to pay for your type, in the 91 world anyway. That would make me wonder why they are asking you to pay for your type.

 

[pilotyip]

Gotta move

Limiting yourself geographically before you have the resume fluff to be choosey restricts your ability to enhance your hirability index. It will take you approximately 10 years to get to a job that will allow you to start making QOL a goal in your job search. Pilots get hired at good places because they have Turbine PIC, you must build turbine PIC to have control over your career. You have to go wherever that job is that gets you turbine PIC. You stay in that job until you can get another job that gives you better turbine PIC, i.e. Bigger airplanes, Turbojet, 121, etc. It is called paying your dues everyone must do it. Some do it in the military, some do it at the regionals, and some do in the on-demand business. Everyone pays his or her dues. Kit Darby told a story at a job fair about two pilot, both wanted to live in ATL. Pilot A only applied to DAL, the only place he wanted to work. The other pilot B applied everywhere. 10 years later pilot A is 135-charter pilot on a CE-500 out of ATL, pilot B is a Capt at UAL flying out of ORD. Pilot B lives in ATL, is a major airline Captain, but he did not limit himself to a geographic area when looking for a job.

 

[rjpilot7667]

I can tell you one thing. You probably won't leave an airline to a cushy fortune 25 flight department or private individual. You will probably have to go to a charter company first to get some GA (for lack of a better term) experience. This part of the industry is alot different. If you do go to a charter company one thing you won't get is time at home. Think hard and make your self happy first.

 

[svcta]

I can think of a few other Kit Darby "jewels". Let's not pay that vulture any lip service.

 

[sperfly]

I'm currently doing the reverse. I started up a part 91 corp flight dept. flying a Piper Chieftain and soon moved into a King Air 200 single pilot operation. There are alot of benifits but as most everyone on this thread has said you will be on your bosses schedule 24/7. You will do alot of nonflying duties and probably won't fly as much as you would like to. I just finished my first week of BOI with a 121 company and I can't wait to get on line and see what the airline world holds in store for me. I'm pretty sure that I will fly alot more than I ever wanted to, but the way I see it I went to flight school to be a pilot and not a gutter repairman/landscaper/office handyman/etc... Never ever pay for your own training and just do alot of research on what ever company you go to work for.

 

[BenderGonzales]

"You probably won't leave an airline to a cushy fortune 25 flight department"

A lot of people have. Right place, right time, know the right people, and a little luck doesn't hurt either.

 

[54fighting]

but the way I see it I went to flight school to be a pilot and not a gutter repairman/landscaper/office handyman/etc...

Oh Boy.......

 

[willNOTfly4free]

If you do go to a charter company one thing you won't get is time at home.

I respectfully disagree with this broad statement. There are some pretty good charter operators out there, and I happen to work for one. I've been averaging 50-60 hours, 13-18 days, and 2 RON's each month. I may not log as many hours each month as a regional airline pilot, but I am home more hours and spend more nights in my own bed than if I worked for a regional.

Looking at some charter operators in your area wouldn't a bad idea. Flying 135 is an excellent way to get a type rating and experience in an aircraft.

I'm pretty sure my first Gulfstream job will be flying charter.

 

[snow-back]

"You probably won't leave an airline to a cushy fortune 25 flight department"

A lot of people have. Right place, right time, know the right people, and a little luck doesn't hurt either.

I got on with a Fortune 100 with all the items listed above. No previous corporate time and 10+ years of airline stink to boot!

 

[bbond]

A friend of mine said once that a GOOD corporate job will last 3 years, and a GREAT corporate job will last 5. A good luck finding the few and far between that actually have job security.

 

[Ty Webb]

You've got one good thing going for you already- you have a job. That gives you the ability to be selective, and to "interview" prospective corporate employers, just as they will interview you.

As Spaceball1 once said, "There are a few GREAT corporate jobs, there are some GOOD corporate jobs, and there are a bunch of "Shelters for Battered Pilots" . . . . . A GREAT corporate job, or a GOOD corporate job is worth leaving your current job for, but you don't want to leave for the aforementioned "shelter for battered pilots", so you need to learn the intelligent questions to ask so that you can separate #1 and #2 from #3.

I would offer this partial list, and current corporate guys can add to it:

1) Staffing- how many piltos per airplane? For domestic, anything less than 2.5 pilots per plane will not allow anyone a semblance of a schedule, and vacation and requested time off will almost certainly be a problem.

2) Jet usage- how much of it is for the company, and how much personal use? This ratio, along with the weekday/weekend flying ratio will determine your Misery Quotient.

3) Training- will you be typed in the aircraft right away? How often will you be going to recurrent training (91 only REQUIRES the PIC to go once per year). Better departments pay for more frequent training, IMHO. Never go to an operation that requires you to pay for your type. If they skimp on training, they'll skimp everywhere else, too.

4) The best job, IMHO, is at a real, bona fide corporate flight DEPARTMENT, and the worst job, again, IMHO, is the "rich guy with his own jet". That is the job where your personal life/family life doesn't mean squat, and you at his beck and call . . . . worse than being on reserve. That, and "Air Ambulance" are the jobs to avoid, at all costs.

Keep the list going, guys . . . . . .

 

[pilotyip]

The personal use of the company airplane is not only bad for scheduling; it makes the airplane the easiest thing to get rid of if the company experiences as slow down. Part 91 only requires a 61.58 PC every 24 months in type. My company only sent me to the sim every two years, because I was taking PC in the Navy reserves for my 12 month inst. Prof. ck under 61.58. So a 12-month sim visit is not all that bad

 

[Ty Webb]

Part 91 only requires a 61.58 PC every 24 months in type. My company only sent me to the sim every two years, because I was taking PC in the Navy reserves for my 12 month inst. Prof. ck under 61.58. So a 12-month sim visit is not all that bad

.

I rest my case. If you are only going for training for the airplane you are flying once every 24 months, that is probably a crappy company.

Also, at the "Shelter for Battered Pilots", the guy who is willing to do the stuff no one else is (fly broke airplanes, fly in questionable weather, fly fatigued, skimp out on training costs) usually ends up being promoted to Chief Pilot, and then they expect everyone else to do those things.


.

 

[pilotyip]

Not mention, wash the airplane, carry the bags, cabin service in flight, be available any time I want you and drive the rental car to the hotel to drop them off. Fly the airplane for their "friends" who are paying the owner money to use his airplane. But if you are building time it is part of paying your dues. I had already paid my dues. So I turned down Domino’s Pizza when I was unemployed, and when back picking USNR Active Duty