Air Taxi

[fray bentos pielot]

Do you require 700 hours TT to fly air taxi for a UK company or have i made that up?!

I realise the chances of flying air taxi, probably single pilot IFR, in something like a Cessna 340 with 250 hours straight out of training probably isn't going to happen. But how many hours are companies looking for air taxi pilots to have to begin?

I guess insurance etc plays a big part and therefore will vary from company to company.

Any comments are most welcome...

[IMC007]

The 700 Hours Total Time seems to be an insurance issue, legally with a CPL/IR and 250 hours or so you can do air taxi work but most if not all UK companies will not employ such low houred and inexperienced pilots to fly in single crew IFR operations, furthermore they would also want as much twin time as possible, like more than 200 hours twin and 700 TT.

I did hear that it also had something to do with the CAA stipulating such hours in the AOC of the operating company but I don't know if that is correct.

[Tinstaafl]

JAR requires 700hr for SP IFR public transport. Or something like that - it was never a factor for me so I never bothered learning all the preconditions.

[On speed on profile]

IMC007, Sorry mate but your info is incorrect.

Under the old CAA system, you needed only 700 hours to be a SP MEIR Air Taxi pilot.

Now under the JAR system, you need at least 700 hours total time to inlcude 400 hours P1 (I am not totally clear on this but I think its right) of which that is to include 40 hours multi engine P1 IFR (I am clear on this part and this is the hardest part to get). THESE ARE MINIMUMS TO BE ABLE TO LEGALLY CONDUCT PUBLIC TRANSPORT MEIR SP FLIGHTS AND YOU CAN NOT LEGALLY FLY IFR AIR TAXI WORK WITHOUT MEETING THEM.

I could not find them anywhere in Lasors or Jar Ops ( i looked for half an hour) but if you ring the CAA they will tell you the requirements or do a google search you will find it. It is not an easy level to achieve unless you go Multi IR instructing and if you are already on a Multi Crew type, you wouldnt want to go back anyway.

This is a minimum requirement by LAW and you will not get an exemption. There may well be higher minimums for insurance but as that is the JAR and CAA agreed minimum, it should suffice. Especially as the number of people who meet this level of experience and still actually want to do the job are far and few between.

All is not lost however because I think you can fly MEP IFR Aerial work flights without meeting that minimum. I have never had to worry about that because I have already met the highe public transport minimums.

[Jinkster]

[QUOTE=All is not lost however because I think you can fly MEP IFR Aerial work flights without meeting that minimum. I have never had to worry about that because I have already met the highe public transport minimums.[/QUOTE]

As far as I know that stands true aswell..i.e aircraft ferrying, parachute jumpers etc etc

[On speed on profile]

the big one is surveying work and coastgaurd with various operators.

[buzzc152]

On Speed Profile is almost entirely correct except that some companies do have an exemption to 700 hr min. There are a few operators that can take 400 hours PIC which must include 40 multi IFR as PIC. I'm not sure how this works with...... perhaps x number of hours on the job need to be P1 under supervision ??..... I don't know but is definatley true of the the guys down at Bristol (can't remember their name) and also Air Charter Scotland were heading down this route when I spoke with them late last year.

Ps, I do aerial survey on twins (C404, 402) and it's the mutts nutts :cool:

[BizJetJock]

JAR-OPS 1.960 Commanders holding a
Commercial Pilot Licence
(a) An operator shall ensure that:
(1) A Commercial Pilot Licence (CPL)
holder does not operate as a commander of an
aeroplane certificated in the Aeroplane Flight
Manual for single pilot operations unless:
(i) When conducting passenger
carrying operations under Visual Flight
Rules (VFR) outside a radius of 50 nm from
an aerodrome of departure, the pilot has a
minimum of 500 hours total flight time on
aeroplanes or holds a valid Instrument
Rating; or
(ii) When operating on a multiengine
type under Instrument Flight Rules
(IFR), the pilot has a minimum of 700 hours
total flight time on aeroplanes which
includes 400 hours as pilot-in-command (in
accordance with [the requirements
governing Flight Crew Licenses]) of which
100 hours have been under IFR including 40
hours multi-engine operation. The 400 hours
as pilot-in-command may be substituted by
hours operating as co-pilot on the basis of
two hours co-pilot is equivalent to one hour
as pilot-in-command provided those hours
were gained within an established multipilot
crew system prescribed in the
Operations Manual;
(2) In addition to sub-paragraph (a)(1)(ii)
above, when operating under IFR as a single pilot,
the requirements prescribed in Appendix 2 to
JAR-OPS 1.940 are satisfied;

[Pilot Pete]

Under the old CAA system, you needed only 700 hours to be a SP MEIR Air Taxi pilot.

Not true sir. I did single pilot Air Taxi with a UK CAA CPL/IR (frozen ATPL) with a grand total of 250hrs. I must admit I was the lowest houred pilot they had ever employed and there was a hefty insurance premium I believe! Don't blame 'em either with hind sight!!

PP

[On speed on profile]

PP,

My old company had (what I was told, and what I read in the Ops manual) CAA minimums of 700 hours when I started, they then changed to the JAR system and had to accept the slightly higher minimums. Maybe there was more scope for exemptions back then.

Cheers,
OSOP

[ATP_Al]

These regulations are not as clear cut as one might think. I did SP IFR on the mimimum hours quite recently, so I'll try to explain.

JAR OPS stipulate the requirements BizJetJock describes. However, JAR ops isn't actually law in the UK. The CAA is. The CAA don't seem to publish any official guidance on the matter, but it seems that operators that were established before JAR came into being have some kind of grandfather rights. This is why operators like Ravenair and Centreline Air Charter can legally use pilots with 400hrs tt and 40hrs ME IFR P1. Other operators must adhere to the JAR OPS minima, but it is possible for the CAA flight ops inspector that oversees them to vary the mimima. This does not necessarily mean the requirements can be reduced, but some bargaining can go on. For example, I had 700hrs tt, 500hrs P1, 220hrs multi (mainly VFR parachute dropping) but less than 100hrs P1 IF but was allowed to fly for an IFR AOC operator.

Pilot Pete refers to the time before JAR came in when things were different.

Hope that helps,

Al