Airline Captain transition to Bizjets

[CaptainJim]

Im looking at transitioning to corporate aviation as I would like to see what life is like outside the airlines. Im not too fused where I'm based as long as there is a reasonable commuting option. I have around 8000 hours (4000pic) mostly on 737NG/777 and I am also FAA A320 rated. I have EASA,FAA,Chinese and Canadian licenses with an EU passport.

I've sent out CVs and made phone calls but nothing.

Any advice on how to get a foot in the door would be greatly appreciated.:ok:

[what next]

Hello!

I've sent out CVs and made phone calls but nothing.

Difficult. Getting into corporate aviation requires either personal references - or the right type rating at the right time. Boeing Business Jets and corporate A320s are very rare in Europe so the chance of finding something quickly is not good.

Commercial bizjet operators on the other hand see your CV and will conclude: "too expensive". Also, business has been mostly slowish for the last years and there are many experienced FOs "piled up" who have been waiting for their upgrade for quite some time now. Hiring ready-entry captains will not be beneficial for the working climate in these companies - and not cheaper either.

The only advice I can think about is to contact every pilot you met during training or during your career who now works on bizjets and use those connections to get in contact with the right people!

Good luck
Max

[CaptainJim]

Thanks Max as expected. I have chased up my contacts as well but nothing, looks like I'll be heading back to the Far East again as anticipated. Not ready to return to Euro LOCO Left seat FO wages just yet.

[what next]

Not ready to return to Euro LOCO Left seat FO wages just yet.

Business aviation pays no better than that, I'm afraid (with some rare exceptions). FOs on light jets often start with less than 2000 Euros / month with self funded training and type rating. Many don't really care as flying bizjets is their second career or some kind of early retirement with free flying hours and fancy destinations with hotels and expenses paid by someone else (my case to some extent). We often have more doctors on the flight deck than in the cabin...

[CaptainJim]

Why are wages so bad in Germany? I looked at a summer contract with Germanwings and I really did ask them "are you joking?". I'm sure all Merkel's refugees will get the economy kickstarted again and the wages will get better. EU is getting to US regional terms. Maybe I should move to America and study medicine before it's too late.

[His dudeness]

I'm sure all Merkel's refugees will get the economy kickstarted again and the wages will get better.

"are you joking?"

Merkel - and the Rest of the so called "democratic spectrum" - have been working for ages against the working people. The economy couldn´t be much better - the wages aren´t really climbing, but rents etc are skyrocketing through the roof with the refugees looking for rental space.

[Peak Tram Driver]

To get a foot in the door , best to knock on some doors, old school style. It works. I know a x F28 guy who did that....now flying a G450/550.

I left the airlines in 2009, and in that time seen many airlines guys try and get into corporate. Send a cv , and chase it up by physically going to that company.

[what next]

Why are wages so bad in Germany?

I don't think wages are worse in Germany than in the surrounding countries (*). It is just the perception that in a seemingly rich country one does not get paid more than elsewhere. It is not the "naked" pay that one gets, but the free package which comes along with it. About the best healthcare in the world at no extra cost. Guaranteed state pension (maybe not a lot compared to some private pension schemes but guaranteed). Free education for your children including university. Security. No need to live behind guarded gates if you earn a little bit above the average. And so on. Lowest cost of living anywhere in Western Europe. Having a meal and drink in a pizzeria in Germany costs about 1/2 or only 1/3 of the same in Italy for example.

For my lifestyle and in order to send my soon 18 year old son (who is not a great basketball player and therefore not eligible for a grant...) to university, I would need to earn in excess of 150.000$ per year in the States. I get the same and with better healthcare and better food for my 50.000ish part-time bizjet salary in Germany. As his dudeness writes, housing is on the expensive side in some parts of Germany. Mostly in around the much sought-after agglomerations in the south and south west plus Berlin and Hamburg. Elsewhere it is dirt cheap. And other than his dudeness I do not think that the refugees have anything to do with the housing prices. Right now they still mostly live on state property like given-up military barracks or in purpose built portacabin stacks (we have plenty of those around here). They do not have the income necessary to compete with anybody else on the property market yet.

(*) and low-cost flying and pay-to-fly schemes were not invented here either, they were forced upon us by airlines from varoius British Isles...

[dirk85]

I think you have been in the wrong pizzeria in italy. ��

[what next]

I think you have been in the wrong pizzeria in italy.

I lived in Italy for a total of 20 years, almost as long as in Germany...

[dirk85]

Yeah, I lived in italy more than that, then again, unless in germany these days you can get a pizza and a beer for 2,5 eur...

Sorry for the off topic.

[His dudeness]

but the free package which comes along with it. About the best healthcare in the world at no extra cost. Guaranteed state pension (maybe not a lot compared to some private pension schemes but guaranteed). Free education for your children including university. Security.

Hahmmhh, so you don´t pay for medical insurance, towards your pension (which is NOT guaranteed at all) ? Some federal states do charge for university if the student takes too long to finish. Security with the about highest rates of theft, ever rising since 1990 and things like new years eve in Cologne.. ?

I must be living in a different Germany than you....

[wondering]

OT:

free package

Have you compared your salary (including your employers contribution to the system) before deductions and after. Contrary to the perception some ppl might have, there is no free lunch in Germany. Somebody is paying for it.

About the best healthcare in the world at no extra cost.

Really? From my experience only if one has private health insurance. Which, of course, comes at a premium. Ever tried getting an appointment with a specialist having just mandatory health insurance? Thought so. It´s a two class system.

Security.

I better don´t get too much into it. Everybody who digs a little deeper will recognize that something went wrong the last couple of years. We won´t let any of our female employees walk alone to their cars after work when it´s dark. Maybe, that´s just us overreacting. But then again, somebody told me long time ago better safe than sorry.

Not all sooo rosy in Germany. Don´t get me wrong. Overall still a good country to live in. However, I am not too happy with the direction the country is moving. And I haven´t even started with the EU/Euro mess, Target2 etc.

[Tinytim]

......and getting back to the original subject!
For sure it is ALL about who you know.
Once in its not all a bed of roses. For sure the flying and destinations are fantastic...mostly. Youll get to see and stay places you never dreamed.
Flip side is.........forget your social life and IMHO its not a game for a family man with growing kids as youll forever be letting them down...missing games, parties, graduations etc.
In an airline you have a roster and a union rep to deal with issues such as collectively bargaining wages etc. You can plan your time off and holidays.
It does not work that way in GA. even on your RDOs you may be down route and in any event come under massive pressure to work.
The sort of bosses youll have to deal with are of a certain type...in many cases flying club guys who made good but without any notion of how to treat their staff properly. I am astonished at how poor much of the management is and how corners are cut at every level in order to save cost in a business that is notoriously unreliable.
Then of course there are the clients. Many are fine but some of the Uber rich youll come across are pure assholes and youll have to keep on smiling as they treat you like dog dirt.
Think very carefully........its a whole different game to airlines..but good luck!

[Private jet]

^^^ exactly what he said!! Exactly. To add in my experience, ex airline pilots, some transition well, others cannot, and become a real pain in the a**e because they can't or won't adapt. The worst though are ex RAF. Oddly though ex army or Navy types are much less of a "problem" and "get it".

[CaptainJim]

I think I'll have to make a personal appearance once I narrow down a few suitable options. I understand the grass isn't always greener on the other side but c'est la vie.

Fly safe everybody

PS I was joking I hate Merkel and the PC status quo.

[air pig]

Go and look at some of the air ambulance companies, varied destinations at short notice possibly worldwide, usually Lear series operations but some companies do have larger corporate size aircraft. Some I know went from AA to commercial, not really happy but at the time had no choice.