Freelance Pilot rates

[Cyclically]

I believe this has been asked before but a while ago....

Would be interested to know what the minimum and average freelance daily rates are in the UK that a pilot should be receiving for either SE, ME or ME IR. Namely 206, 355, 109 and the like.
Also, should we be accepting 'half days' and/or 'hourly rates' for the shorter jobs?

Thanks.

[kissmysquirrel]

Anyway, here are a few rates I know people get for certain jobs. Obviously these only reflect a small minority in the industry but I think they are fairly accurate.
SE (206) daily rate:- £250-£300+expenses
ME (355/109) daily rate:- £300-£350+expenses
ME IR (355/109) daily rate:- £350+ plus expenses (negotiate rate)

R22 Instructors are now beginning to get paid £50/hr. About bloody time too.

If you want to accept a 'half day' rate that's up to you but I can pretty much guarantee you'll be selling yourself short. Normally, I believe you would get £50/hr for say, pleasure flying in a 206 up to a max of about 5 hours then anything over that time, the employer would get you for free. It all depends on who you work for and how they treat their staff. I was lucky to work for someone who paid well on a daily rate with expenses and no questions, even if I was stuck on the ground due wx.

Others will have different figures I expect. :)

[TiPwEiGhT]

KMS,

£50/hr for flying an R22! Wow, changed days, any jobs going at this place?

TiP:ok:

[MK10]

£50/HR???????
THE GUYS I KNOW WOULD LOVE TO BE GETTING THAT! methinks a minority may get that, 25-30 £/hr the majority.
thanks for the laugh tho!

[mongoose237]

Well it was £40 a few years ago. And speaking to another ex instructor the other day he was on £35 whilst restricted, and £45 when unrestricted.

However, from time to time there seems to be these abnormalities of people on way below what they should be simply because they work for one school and don't have contact with many others in the same line of work.

£50 sounds like a fair-to-high rate for a freelancer with the current cost of licensing and availability of instructors.

The rule of thumb always used to be:
£40 instructing
£250 single
£300 twin
£350 twin IR

[MK10]

up north of the border, we maybe don,t have the same options as those down south.
for example in the lifting world where i work , there are only 2 operators. A guy i know, left one of these operators recently to "go freelance" with the idea he would work for whichever operator was busiest at the time. He decided £300 a day would be his rate, and wouldn,t get out of bed for less.In the couple of months since he left ,i dont think he,s flown more 20hrs, ie 3or4days !

[kissmysquirrel]

MK10, I can assure you that £50/hr is being earned by some R22 instructors. Don't know what's funny about it. Yes some people only get paid £25-£30 hr but hey, if you're happy earning SFA for the flying, and still having to pay all of those reval/licensing costs etc, then carry on! You might get £30/hr as an unrestricted instructor but if anyone else is only being paid that to instruct, I suggest they request a payrise.

TipWeight, it just so happens a job may be coming up in the near future but not prepared to discuss it on this site. I'm sure you wouldn't want to instruct full time?

The good employers know how to keep the staff happy.

[Flingingwings]

KMS,

So do the bad ones :E

Good luck for Monday :ok:

[TiPwEiGhT]

KMS,

Nout wrong with instruction, I instructed full-time for a few years before moving on to my current job at the start of the year. It was good fun, instructing is not everyone's cup of tea but certainly I loved it and gained alot of experience doing it. If I could I would still instruct part-time to keep my hand in.

TiP;)

[jemax]

During this year I started as FI(R) at £35 then £40 unrestricted, having to pay for all checks myself. Them moved companies and now £45 and LPC/Base/Line paid for. Market is moving towards £50 in my experience.

My 2p worth

[kissmysquirrel]

Definitely see rates going in the right direction. About time though when all is taken into consideration.

Flingingwings: Thanks and i'll let you know how much fun I have! :E :E

[TiPwEiGhT]

It's great to see the rates move in the right direction as KMS said. Instructors work is demanding and is a tough job if done correctly, its only fair that the pay rates reflect that.

TiP:)

[fluffy5]

Yep it is an instructor market if you are an experienced fi,soon we will have the inshore training providers by the short and curlies:}