I just ended my three year stint flying bizjets. Various reasons, main one being the ridiculously low number of flights and hours, leading to a general erosion of my flying capability (I am the first to admit this).
Positives :
1. FANTASTIC fun!! I used to love the early call out - 2am, no problem, off to Luton/ FAB/ wherever, get the cabin, the catering, the papers etc ready, greet the Pax, then up and away to some random destination, and an hour or two later - having breakfast/lunch in Paris/Cannes/Olbia in a nice hotel, with the feeling of a job well done.
2. Great cameraderie with the other guys (and gals) in the company... A real sense of belonging, in a relatively small team, which I suspect one may not always get in the airlines - I may be wrong...
3. The sheer unpredictability - one minute we're sitting about for three days, next minute - we're off to Rome, for another three day tour.
Negatives:
1. Just not enough flights to stay current , competent and excited. Most of the "duty" days spent sitting about.
2. Masses of down time away from the family in a hotel somewhere, with no plan for coming back. Even prisoners have a release date to work to....!!
3. Poor pay etc - not really a big deal - what one expects in the industry really
4. Very poor comms between management and pilots - a bit of an "us" and "them" culture - but this may not be the same in every company
The whole training business cost me an absolute fortune, so was it worth it?
Well, we only live once, and I can now say I've landed a jet aircraft at Heathrow (in a 25kt crosswind) - not a lot of people can say that...!! Mind you, for the costs involved, I could have probably bought my own bizjet - but that's another story!
So back to the primary career I trot... Great memories, an empty bank account and a CPL with a couple of jet ratings in it - Oh and don't forget the strippogram pilot uniform in the cupboard!!
