PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - PSA: Private aviation is booming right now
Old 9th Aug 2020, 12:41
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PilotLZ
 
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Absolutely true. While the skill set required to fly a business jet from A to B is similar to the one required for any other transport aircraft, it's the personal skills and attitude that make or break the deal. In the airline world, your role as a pilot is a lot less versatile. You follow the same routine, fly to the same places over and over again and there are plenty of other personnel to take care of the non-flying tasks for you. In corporate, you can also enjoy fantastic ops support at some charter gigs that's of the same or better level than in an airline - but you can also be faced with the situation where you have to take care of almost everything by yourself. You'd better be confident with flight planning, mass and balance and performance as you might end up having to take care of some of that by yourself. You might also find yourself booking hotels and transfers as the magical option of calling crew control and letting them sort everything for you might not be available. You will be interacting with your passengers far more than in any airline. Which doesn't mean just shaking hands with celebrities. It might mean having to convince said celebrities why landing at airport X is not safe or why the aircraft is AOG despite still having both its wings on. It might also mean loading bags and catering, especially in light jets with no cabin crew to take care of the food. Oh, and did I mention that you will get a working knowledge of how to put on and take off an engine inlet cover? So, it's an interesting job, it can make you shake off the routine and rediscover some things in aviation - but be prepared to work hard and do many things which airline pilots don't normally do.
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