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Odd non-flying duties

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Groundpounder

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2003
Posts
704
Anyone here have, or have heard of odd non-flying duties assigned to corporate pilots? Like washing the owners car, cleaning his pool, banging his wife, so on.
 
Chores

There is one at PDK that does that. Wash cars, run errands, wash the houseboat, and so on. Because of this, when he can get a pilot to come to work, they almost never stay more than 6 months. When not doing chores, they were expected to sit at the airport or at the office. Whats even worse is he always buys brand new airplanes. Go figure.
 
Groundpounder said:
Anyone here have, or have heard of odd non-flying duties assigned to corporate pilots? Like washing the owners car, cleaning his pool, banging his wife, so on.

It's all in how you look at it. I know a company that, when the passengers (not just the principals) of the company depart for a trip, their cars are washed and detailed before they get home. Yes, they have a pretty good turn-over rate.

However, I also personally know a crew that, when not flying, work at the office (main office that is). One in supply, the other a painter. Sounds pretty sucky, huh? Certainly not a job I'd be happy with, but thats just me. However, the chief pilot has over 30 years, the co-captain has almost 30 and they couldn't be happier with their careers and lives.

Is your glass half full, or empty?

2000Flyer
 
Groundpounder said:
Anyone here have, or have heard of odd non-flying duties assigned to corporate pilots? Like washing the owners car, cleaning his pool, banging his wife, so on.
Years ago I had to accompany a former bosses' daughter on the slopes every day during a ski vacation he took because he sucked at skiing. Now those extra duties didnt suck, but she did, not as a skier, but as a person...but I better end this right here.
 
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With pretty much any small corporate flight dept you're going to have to do some sort of non-flying duties..simply because the flight department usually doesn't have other employees to do all of the things that have to be done. Some companies take it overboard though by requiring pilots to be at the hangar or main office every day that they don't have a trip, wash cars, etc etc. Larger corporate flight departments (such as Wal Mart) usually have lots of pilots and less time is spent doing odd jobs, but the arse kissing factor is usually a hassle in these operations. Unlike the airlines, upgrades usually are given to those that brown nose the most, rather than those with the most seniority.
 
I guess I can't complain - each 28 days or so I have to update our JEPS - South Pacific, Canada, All United States about 16 books.


Takes about 3 hours.


Boss said he is going to go to Jepp view when the subscription runs out...

No complaints here.
 
SkyBoy1981 said:
With pretty much any small corporate flight dept you're going to have to do some sort of non-flying duties..simply because the flight department usually doesn't have other employees to do all of the things that have to be done. Some companies take it overboard though by requiring pilots to be at the hangar or main office every day that they don't have a trip, wash cars, etc etc. Larger corporate flight departments (such as Wal Mart) usually have lots of pilots and less time is spent doing odd jobs, but the arse kissing factor is usually a hassle in these operations. Unlike the airlines, upgrades usually are given to those that brown nose the most, rather than those with the most seniority.
How come everytime I see a comment about guys who do extra duties they became ass-kissers and brown noisers. Sure there are some, but not all. When flying for a corporate you are treated like any other employee in that company. That is why you see people promoted by performance and not seniority. Example..an accountant is not promoted on years of service but how his performance is with that job. Why is it so hard for some to believe pilots should not be held to those standards.
 
My point is, if you're giving 110% to make yourself the safest, most efficient pilot that you can be, and are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure the FLIGHT department gets ahead, then by all means...you deserve a promotion. People must understand that we are PILOTS though, and we have to draw a line as to what is reasonable to be expected of us and what isn't. People who cross that line for the purpose of brown nosing to get an upgrade just drag the job down for everyone else. So, if the guy that washes and waxes the boss' car and makes frequent visits to the main office to do odd chores on his days off gets promoted over the guy with more hours, more seniority, and overall is a better pilot...THAT is a problem.
 
I think you both make valid points.

People who go above and beyond to ensure a smooth flight department usually cause the slackers to get ruffled feathers. That is good. Without it, you have 1 or 2 people doing everybody's work. BTW, this is usually how it works. These people generally get named as brown nosers. And, most of the time that's unfair.

On the other hand, I think it's silly to be washing people's cars. There is plenty of stuff to be done in the dept. to be wasting your time doing that. Still....If that's your bag, more power to ya. I'm not above doing anything they want me to do. As long as the paychecks keep clearing.

After reading my post, I realize that I flip-flopped that kinda Kerry-esque.
 
I have a friend that was flying a new 252 Mooney on the east coast for a small family owned jewelry manufacture. On the first week of employment, they flew into a medium size city with the president and top sales guy. After they landed, the guy handed my friend a case of sample jewelry, told him to borrow the crew car from the fbo, and go out and cold call on jewelry stores in the area.

My friend took the case, borrowed the crew car and went to lunch for 3 hrs or so.

Needless to say, they had a talk when they returned home that night on what his "job description" entailed. He ended up flying for the company for a couple more years but never did any more "selling".......

At my flight department, we are assigned a few side duties, -JEPS, a/c stock, lead pilot on our two airplanes, etc. But we are not required to come in when not flying.
 
Skyboy...I understand what you are saying and I agree. I also have trouble with alot of those duties. However, I am not opposed to aviation related duties either, which I think you agree with me on that.
 
My point is, if you're giving 110% to make yourself the safest, most efficient pilot that you can be, and are willing to do whatever it takes to make sure the FLIGHT department gets ahead, then by all means...you deserve a promotion. People must understand that we are PILOTS though, and we have to draw a line as to what is reasonable to be expected of us and what isn't. People who cross that line for the purpose of brown nosing to get an upgrade just drag the job down for everyone else. So, if the guy that washes and waxes the boss' car and makes frequent visits to the main office to do odd chores on his days off gets promoted over the guy with more hours, more seniority, and overall is a better pilot...THAT is a problem.





From a strictly mathematical viewpoint it goes like this:-

What makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about these people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to these meetings where someone wants you to give over 100% How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life?

Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these question.

If:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is represented as:

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.

Then:

H A R D W O R K

8+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%

K N O W L E D G E

11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%

But:

A T T I T U D E

1+20+20++9+20+21+4+5 = 100%

And:

B U L L S H I T

2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 =103%

AND, Look how far as s kissing will take you.

A S S K I S S I N G

1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 =118%

So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that whilst hard work and knowledge will get you close, and attitude will get you there, it's the bull**CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED****CENSORED** and ass kissing that will put you over the top.


Saving the best for last --

BROWN-NOSING
2+18+15+23+14+14+15+19+9+14+7 = 150%




 
Now that makes it perfectly clear why the brown-nosers get further...

Definitely interesting and humorous!
 
Extra Duties: Never had to do anything like that, not even expected to clean out the cockpit. An engine change once but nothing too taxing.

KIWI: the Jep View is excellent, but remember the need to have a print out. There is still some updating to be done, but well within your level of skills.......

Loved your flight deck photo.....your A-Z was most stimulating.

Bumz
 

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