Biz jet to airliners

[forsrm]

Howdy folks!

For ages I have been trying to get into a cockpit, I've been through loads of assessments and have always done quite well just never well enough to be sponsored. Recently I got a take it or leave it offer from a Private jet company that is willing to sponsor me and take me on after I've got my fATPL. I'm still in the middle of the recruitment process with two major airlines.
Originally I never considered flying biz jets, but now this seems like good option. Now to my main question: If in the end I still want to fly airliners is starting like this OK? Or should I hold out to see if a large carrier takes me on? In the worst case (saying no to the biz jet and getting rejections from the airlines) I would consider a private fto like ctc or intercockpit, do you reckon that might even be a better way to get into airliners?

I'm forced to make this big decision soon, so I really hope you guys have some good advice for me.

[G-F0RC3]

Whatever you do, make sure it's not a scam. If it sounds too good to be true then it usually is!

[redsnail]

I would be very suspicious about the bizjet offer. Most of those "deals" never materialise. The vast majority of bizjet operators only take on experienced pilots or occasionally recruit from someone within their ops dept (usually already holding a CPL/IR).

The biggest problem (at the moment in the UK) is that the airlines doing most of the hiring will only take cadets from their tagged schemes.

However, I know a few guys who have gone from bizjets to airlines with no problems (except boredom). ;)

[JonDyer]

However, I know a few guys who have gone from bizjets to airlines with no problems (except boredom).

Exactly.

1) Why would you want to work for the airlines if you are lucky enough to be offered entry to corporate?

2) I'm not being mean but is it likely that this company are really offering you a job without troubling to determine whether you are airline or corporate in your blood?

We've just recruited and I wouldn't even interview someone who I suspected didn't live and breathe private charter.

[forsrm]

Thanks for the quick replies.

I should have added that I'm talking about continental Europe.

As you said regarding ops- they have offered me a job in the office where they pay for my licence as part of my salary, does that sound better?

[forsrm]

Also the reason why I wanted airlines was that airlines was all I knew. I never made any experiences with corporate and hadn't looked into the ups and downs of it. The more I read though, the better it sounds :)

[redsnail]

Do the due diligence on the company. Some are better than others. If it all checks out, then it's a brilliant opportunity.
For Biz to Airline options, check to see if the biz company uses SOPs and simulators for training. What is their training like? What types do they operate? Some translate better than others to the airline world.

There are some downsides to flying biz. Hours/annum. You don't accumulate them as quickly as you do in the airline world. 300 compared to 800 or so.
Depending on the job, there's a lot of "sitting around" (I'm very good at it ;)
You're a lot more autonomous compared to the normal airline pilot. You have to deal with the pax issues, clean the a/c, load bags, sort out catering and deal with the honey cart.

Upsides? You meet and talk to the pax, fly to very interesting destinations, hand fly a lot more and generally treated a lot better.

I'd be bored in a heart beat if I went back to the airlines.

[shaun ryder]

I know plenty who have gone from airlines into biz jets, going the other way is not as easy a transition. The word typecast springs to mind, unfair as it may sound.

[forsrm]

I'm really impressed by all the answers and different opinions.

For now, I'm going to go with the executive company whilst trying my luck elsewhere too. I have managed to obtain a nice contract where my work and the training are arranged very separately. What I am sure of is that I will receive training at the same time as having a pretty good cv booster job.
What I don't have on paper and never will are details such as having a job as a pilot on completion of my training.
The way I see it, this should be a good next stepping stone towards being a pilot as I will either:

a) Work for the biz jet company on completion

b) Gain a license for working rather than money, whereafter I can still look for jobs and poss spend the money I saved on a type rating

c) in the mean time look better on paper and make experiences whilst in the recruitment process of the various cadet programs

so really all in all its a win win win, right?


Oh and shaun, I don't really get it, what is it that the airlines don't like about biz jet pilots?

[redsnail]

The bit about Biz to Airline relates to a lack of familiarity with corporate pilots. Eg there's a world of difference between a private ops early series Cessna 500 and a large organisation with "airline style" SOPs, oversight, manuals, simulator training etc.

I've found when talking to folks who only know "airline ops" that they have a very limited and often incorrect perception of biz jet pilots. However, as biz jet pilots move into airlines that perception is fading.

[apruneuk]

The BizJet is just the tool and could be anything from a small single pilot jet up to a 747. There are plenty of Public Transport BizJet operations that are run to standards as high or higher than the airlines.
The problem is that some airline ignorami confuse these with the few private operations where there is little oversight and a wide range of standards. It's a bit like BizJet operations thinking that airline pilots have poor handling skills and a propensity to watch the automatics land them in the water just short of the runway on a gin-clear day. An uninformed and bigoted generalisation eh, Shaun?