Please Advise: Long-Range Aircraft and Salary

[ShyFlyGuy]

I just got hired to head up a brand new flight department for a rapidly growing company. We're looking to do a lot of flying throughout the lower 48; coast-to-coast nonstop, as well as a little flying in Mexico and boarder-to-coast (North-South) flying.

The boss has done a little homework and is pretty impressed with the Gulfstream IISP. Its low acquisition cost vs. high operating cost is going to make it more expensive at some point, but I don't know how much flying will cross that line. I'm guessing that we're going to be flying 300-500 hours a year, and while I'm not married to the GII, I want to make sure that he gets the most bang for his buck.

I also have to compose my own compensation package. He says that people that work with him are always happy, and he wants me to be happy. His life, business, and family are all going to be in my hands, so he wants me to be compensated properly.

This leads me to my questions:

-What would be the best aircraft for this type of mission flying? He'd love to get into the Gulfstream family for $2.5-4 million and have a comfortable ride and that's pretty good value up front.

-As the new Chief Pilot/Director of this company's flight department, what should I be asking for in compensation? As a note, we WERE talking about a single-engine turboprop (think TBM) and the number thrown around at that point was $85k. The GII-type plane is going to be a significant increase in work to keep it in shape for all the flying he is going to want to do. I am also in charge of hiring. Should I hire another captain or go after part-time copilots? What kind of salary should I expect to pay either?

Thank you so much for any and all help, folks. I'm so excited about this new position and I feel extremely blessed. This is all going to happen really fast, so if you have any insight, let me know.

Shy

P.S. It might or might not have a bearing on the salary question, but I'm a 4-year Regional Airline Capt with 10,000 hours. (And I'm STOKED about getting out of the airlines!!!)

 

[On Your Six]

I just got hired to head up a brand new flight department for a rapidly growing company. We're looking to do a lot of flying throughout the lower 48; coast-to-coast nonstop, as well as a little flying in Mexico and boarder-to-coast (North-South) flying.

The boss has done a little homework and is pretty impressed with the Gulfstream IISP. Its low acquisition cost vs. high operating cost is going to make it more expensive at some point, but I don't know how much flying will cross that line. I'm guessing that we're going to be flying 300-500 hours a year, and while I'm not married to the GII, I want to make sure that he gets the most bang for his buck.

I also have to compose my own compensation package. He says that people that work with him are always happy, and he wants me to be happy. His life, business, and family are all going to be in my hands, so he wants me to be compensated properly.

This leads me to my questions:

-What would be the best aircraft for this type of mission flying? He'd love to get into the Gulfstream family for $2.5-4 million and have a comfortable ride and that's pretty good value up front.

-As the new Chief Pilot/Director of this company's flight department, what should I be asking for in compensation? As a note, we WERE talking about a single-engine turboprop (think TBM) and the number thrown around at that point was $85k. The GII-type plane is going to be a significant increase in work to keep it in shape for all the flying he is going to want to do. I am also in charge of hiring. Should I hire another captain or go after part-time copilots? What kind of salary should I expect to pay either?

Thank you so much for any and all help, folks. I'm so excited about this new position and I feel extremely blessed. This is all going to happen really fast, so if you have any insight, let me know.

Shy

P.S. It might or might not have a bearing on the salary question, but I'm a 4-year Regional Airline Capt with 10,000 hours. (And I'm STOKED about getting out of the airlines!!!)

Good for you - sounds like an interesting opportunity. That said, making the jump from a TBM operation to a Gulfstream operation is a big jump. Can you even find a quality GIISP for under $5 million? I've heard good things about the airplane but I am sure you will want to ensure it is hushkitted and is technically compliant. I agree you want a cheaper aircraft on the front end to pay for variable costs on the back end (i.e., fuel costs and salaries).

I would suggest you determine the number of hours flown per year before looking at full/part/contract pilots. I don't know what the daily contract rate would be on the GIISP but I would bet close to $800-1,000 depending upon your location.

 

[BoilerUP]

Location???

NBAA 07 average Chief Pilot salary for Jet IV (45-80k lb) is $134,851...Jet V (80-120k) is $160,132. Captain pay for Jet IV is $111,009, while Jet V is $128,351.

That is straight base salary, not including benefits/pension/bonus. Also don't forget to adjust upward for the NE or SoCal.

I've heard GIII operating cost is upward of $5500/hr. Does your employer need an aircraft with the size of a GII, and even if so are they ready to eat that kind of DOC? If not, you may start considering a smaller yet more efficient (and newer/more expensive) airframe like a Hawker 800XP, Challenger 601, Galaxy/G200, or maybe Lear 45?

 

[gear_guy]

First of all, Congratulations! Sounds like a good job and that is the attitude you want from your owner. The hard part is getting him to keep that attitude.

Now for my opinion on the GII. The GIISP is a useless aircraft in today's market IMO. It's noisy (I assume for that price it won't have hush kits), inefficient, short supply of parts($$$), high fuel costs($$$), and frankly being phased out. If you don't believe me, just take a stroll to SAV and see how many GII or even GIII sims they have at FSI. Then walk over to the service center and see how many GII's are in MX. I know it will be all domestic, but he needs to know you will not be able to fly the aircraft in the EU ever. I know this is pretty negative, but I think you should maybe sacrifice size for something with more reliability. Again, just my honest opinion.

 

[cyork25]

Just put the QTA hushkit on it and you can go anywhere a GIV can go.

 

[ShyFlyGuy]

First of all, Congratulations! Sounds like a good job and that is the attitude you want from your owner. The hard part is getting him to keep that attitude.

Now for my opinion on the GII. The GIISP is a useless aircraft in today's market IMO. It's noisy (I assume for that price it won't have hush kits), inefficient, short supply of parts($$$), high fuel costs($$$), and frankly being phased out. If you don't believe me, just take a stroll to SAV and see how many GII or even GIII sims they have at FSI. Then walk over to the service center and see how many GII's are in MX. I know it will be all domestic, but he needs to know you will not be able to fly the aircraft in the EU ever. I know this is pretty negative, but I think you should maybe sacrifice size for something with more reliability. Again, just my honest opinion.

Thanks for the info. His plan is to keep the plane for about 24 months and then move into a IV. Right now, he's willing to work with the high hourly operating cost for the low $ upfront. Neither of us are completely sure about what we're looking at as far as flight time per year, although I'm going to assume 300-400. After 2 years, we'll have a pretty good idea about what we are looking at for an upgrade.

To answer a previous question, it's going to be in New York.

Shy

 

[Globalflyer]

Ineviteably, new owners want to go progressively further with their aircraft. Since you're looking at older Gulfstreams you may want to consider the G-IIB. Still a G-II but has the range of a G-III. Op cost is about the same and about 3600 nm range. Then when the owner wants to go you Europe, you can say yes without a secong thought. Also, there's plenty of G-II's and III's flying around that part of the world, and more than a couple with "N" registrations. Yes, they are limited in where or when they can access a given airport and yes, there are surcharges for the noise factor; but is is possible to go most anywhere on the continent other than Switzerland. You may want to get a copy of the Gulfstream noise manual. Lots of good info on the topic.

As to salary, if you're going to be in the NYC area, by all means don't even think of anything less than at least $135K. THere's plenty of G-IV drivers, not Chief Pilots who make $150k or better. If you're going to upgrade in a couple of years it will be easier to make a small jump up to that level than trying to convince the owner that changing from one Gulfstream to another is worth an additional $40-50K.

Best of luck!!

 

[timmay]

With Jet A now over 8.00/gal make sure he is ready for the fuel bills that will come. Also remember those planes are that cheap for a reason. I would recommend talking to some current GII guys about the dispatch reliablilty and mx cost. Good luck and congrats.

 

[ShyFlyGuy]

With Jet A now over 8.00/gal make sure he is ready for the fuel bills that will come. Also remember those planes are that cheap for a reason. I would recommend talking to some current GII guys about the dispatch reliablilty and mx cost. Good luck and congrats.

Is that $8.00/gal??? Whaaaaa? Where is that???

Shy

 

[BoilerUP]

Is that $8.00/gal??? Whaaaaa? Where is that???

Shy

BWI, DCA and IAD...at least.