PSA: Private aviation is booming right now

[Muscovite]

Hey everyone,

I really do come in peace. I'm just a PPL holder, but I work in the business/private aviation sphere. I know there's a lot of you struggling right now and airlines all over the world are dying a slow (quick in most cases, let's be honest) death....but I just wanted to say, that private aviation is booming; we've never been busier. Long story short, people who can afford it, who would otherwise fly 1st Class/Business, are now chartering private jets...and business is near record levels. I'm not a commercial pilot, a recruiter, or anything like that....but if you want to fly and have never considered private aviation...it may be the best option you've got. And if you get the right gig...it could be a hell of a lot better than anything you had previously in the airlines.

Something to think about perhaps.

PS. Even if things get back to normal..I'm sure these folk who used to fly first/business will enjoy private so much they'll never go back.

[bringbackthe80s]

So why have most of my friends flying business jets been grounded for months?

[PilotLZ]

I also tend to agree that for some time there will be more opportunities in business aviation than in airlines. Most, if not all business jet pilots I know in Europe have been flying quite steadily since the first stage of border reopening in June. I would say that charter ops are better positioned than owner right now because the ownership costs may be a deterrent in times of cost-cutting. Many charter companies offer some seriously good loyalty programmes with great discounts for pre-paid blocks of flight time, so their use makes sense even for someone who flies frequently. Also, in charter ops, you as a pilot are never on call 24/7. You have a roster like in airline which does include standby time, but also fixed days off, planned flights which are known about weeks in advance and provisions for booking your annual leave in advance. And, if the client is happy, you might get some tips after the flight. So, if you're looking for your next flying job - that's another opportunity worth looking into.

[McMax]

I think many pilots came to the same conclusion. The number of former airline colleagues suddenly messaging me on platforms like LinkedIn and asking for help with their first biz jet job are steadily rising.
Unfortunately it seems hard to comprehend for some that plenty of left seat time on an A380 will not automatically get you a job. And while it sounds great to fly for a pleasant company or an owner in a shiny Falcon/Gulfstream/Bombardier, most biz jet jobs are tough work and might be a bit of a culture shock for some. It’s competitive and without connections there is almost no way to land a job, unless you’re type rated I‘d say.
Let‘s hope the aviation industry picks up sooner rather than later...

[PilotLZ]

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.

[Busdriver01]

How does one go about getting a job like this? If i were looking it'd be TR A320 or a NTR position on a different aircraft?

[Private jet]

Much like getting a good job in other walks of life, a large chunk of chance is involved. Be in the right place, at the right time, with the right qualifications (these days in bizjets read as type rating) and be known/ liked by the right people.

[Skipping Classes]

read: play the i cover for you, you cover for me game.

from experience i can tell that's not something that comes naturally to an ex-airline captain

[Meester proach]

I’ve done both airline and VVIP.

You need more people skills with VVIP, tact and diplomacy are paramount . It’s not quite the same relationship as that with airline passengers .

[CW247]

All hot air according to FG:
https://www.flightglobal.com/business-aviation/business-aviation-boom-data-says-otherwise/140049.article

[PilotLZ]

According to the Eurocontrol periodic reports on the traffic situation in Europe, business jet flights have reached their pre-COVID number week-on-week and have exceeded it by 2%. The only sector doing better is cargo, with a 12% increase in flight numbers week-on-week, as compared to August 2019.

Those are the numbers on a pan-European scale. The question is, can their distribution help you? While some corporate charter companies are booming right now and doing double the amount of flights from last year, the relatively small overall increase likely means that other players are out of business. Whether they are charter outfits with poor marketing and cost management or owners looking to trim non-essential expenditure remains to be seen. The second half of the question is, how sustainable is this trend going to be in the long-term run? Is it going to stay that way when social distancing is no longer a thing or when more airline flights become available? On a similar note, is the cargo trend going to stay when the number of airline flights goes further up and availability of belly cargo capacity improves?

It's a pretty opportunistic thing even in the best of times, let alone now. I know people who got jobs in growing charter companies in the past months. I know others who got jobs with new owners who found a cheap aircraft being sold by someone less fortunate and said to themselves "why not". However, there are likely others in the sector who lost their jobs - and the fact that I don't know anyone of them doesn't mean that they do not exist. So, as with any other walk of life, it's largely a matter of the right time, right place and right contacts (of course, combined with the right skills, attitude, conduct and appearance).

[Pyro87]

Many bz jet operators are hiring right now. You “just” need (the money for) the right type-rating...

[maximus610]

What actually is a "right type rating" ?

[PilotLZ]

For whatever type the employer operates. Could be as trivial as C525 (thousands of them all over the world, multiple training providers with competitive course prices) or as exotic as G150 (just a handful of aircraft built and only one training provider, charging an arm and a leg). There's no universal truth and sometimes jobs on more "exotic" types come in greater numbers than jobs on "mainstream" types. Oh, and there are also corporate jobs requiring a B737 or A320 type rating.

[Moonwalker]

At the moment, without having seen any stats, I would say something you generally don't want to be on in the long term. I presume the booming market is the entry level jets, "small cabins". No one starts to fly a Gulfstream 650 as a first private jet. Another thing is that even the small cabin type ratings can be very expensive, especially the recurrent which quite often is nearly the same price as an entire new type rating. To give you an example, a recurrent for a Gulfstream 650 and Global 7500 lies around 80 000 USD... for a LPC renewal..............Initial around 130-140 000 (tel:130-140 000) USD.

[PilotLZ]

The point concerning TR revalidation is an important one, certainly worth considering. It might not be much of a bugger for as long as the owner or operator is footing the bill for you - but what if you lose your job and have to either do it off your own back or end up without any valid type rating on your licence? To begin with, simulators for most business jets are not as widely available as the ones for the A320, B737 or some other popular type. You might find out that the only one in the world is in the USA - and then this starts getting expensive even before you have paid a single cent to the training centre. And, once you've travelled half of the globe for your LPC, you'll get charged an arm and a leg for the actual check simply because the training centre has a complete monopoly on this type and you don't have anyone else to go to for training.

[CW247]

70-80k!! Good grief. Where do I sign?

[lederhosen]

That is amazing! So some pilot‘s LPC costs 70,000 plus dollars yearly? Is that when are no sims and this is all done on the aircraft? if this is the price for sim training then that looks to be a good business to be in.

[jetjockey696]

Private aviation.. must be doing great if they asking this......"Self-sponsored small business jet First Officers required for our client in Europe. You will be required to pay for the training.

Cost of the training is £35,000 GBP. This includes type training, Upset Prevention and Recovery Training and mentorship on the line for 30 hours.

Upon completion of the training, you will paid as a First Officer.

Remuneration is as follows:

Basic salary: £24000 per calendar year. In addition, there shall be flying day pay and lay over pay calculated as follows:

Days 11-15: £50 per day

Days 16-20: £100 per day

Days 21+: £150 per day

Requirements

You must hold the as minimum the following qualifications:

FAA Commercial Multi-Engine and a minimum of 250 hours total time. "

35K hard earn English sterling for type rating with guarantee job.. (they advertised a Eclipse 500) and linetraining. they must have quarantine fever.. cost less for FAA SIC typerating....etc

[PilotLZ]

The cheapest business jet type rating I've seen was about €12,000 for the old-generation Cessna Citation (aircraft type C525), offered by a pretty reputable Central European ATO. But there are two substantial factors making it as reasonably priced as it was. First, abundant supply. It's not one school in the world holding the monopoly on training for this type. There are multiple ATOs in different parts of the world which offer it. Second, this jet is not exactly top-notch. It's small, relatively old and far less impressive than the average "pocket rocket". It's a great workhorse of private aviation, but it won't make you stand out in the way a Gulfstream or a Global will. Hence - reasonable instead of "premium" pricing for the rating.

[Moonwalker]

Exact. Gulfstream, Bombardier and Falcon all control their training facilities and it is nearly impossible to dry lease one of their simulators. If you need a LPC you have to pay the price. But this is typical private aviation overall. Everything from Type Ratings, to handling fees, toilet services, management companies, sales people.... everyone just tries to grab as much money as possible.

[Moonwalker]

That is amazing! So some pilot‘s LPC costs 70,000 plus dollars yearly? Is that when are no sims and this is all done on the aircraft? if this is the price for sim training then that looks to be a good business to be in.

No that is the simulator cost itself plus hotel and travels on top of that. Actually it might be worth doing the LPC in the aircraft if you can. Maybe cheaper....

[lederhosen]

I had heard that there are limited training options for example with Learjets in Europe and that quite a lot of training is carried out on the aircraft. With Covid and US travel restrictions the whole situation is even more complicated and no doubt expensive! An affordable simulator option would be an interesting business idea and would presumably make certain aircraft more affordable.

[CW247]

It's just crazy. An hour and a half even in a G6 does not come anywhere near $20k let alone $70k.

[dirk85]

Too bad you can't practice most of the manouvres required for an LPC in the real thing. Authorities (especially the very "flexible" ones, eg Austrocontrol) used to allow it in the past, but not anymore, unless you can prove that there is no sim availability worldwide.

[sonicbum]

I have no experience in corporate ops whatsoever but what on earth would make the recurrent so damn expensive ? Ok I get the fact there are only a few sims available in the world but still... it is a civilian jet, as much stuffed with super hi-tech equipment that it can be it still should not require so much money to run a web based CBT/learning and a 2 or 4 hours simulator session...
How do You end up spending 80k dollars ?! With that money You can get rated on 3 types of Airbus.

[PilotLZ]

Because it's monopoly. If you don't go to those who charge a fortune, you've got nowhere else to go, you'll have no pilots and the aircraft will be left to rot. And both the actual manufacturers and the training providers have their ways and means of keeping this status quo because it suits them well. If you're wealthy enough to run a Gulfstream V, you'll also find the money to pay for the sim.

The same goes for maintenance. You can service a C525 cheaply somewhere in Eastern Europe, but you cannot do that with a Gulfstream. There's only one maintenance provider in Europe, I think, the one at Luton. And they will charge you eye-watering sums for everything. It's just like driving a premium car. Why does a simple oil change for a Mercedes S Class cost a couple of times more than an oil change for a Ford Focus? For the very same reason. If you can afford a premium-class vehicle, you will also be made to cough up premium sums of cash to keep it running.

[3RDi]

Lots of good points by PLZ. Gulfstream has a new service centre supported at FAB now.

[CW247]

I'm truly flabbergasted by the numbers though. Say you have a rating and employment. Owner sells up, no job, you're approaching one year without flying the type. Where do you find 70k from to renew?

[sonicbum]

PilotLZ

Thank You very much for the thorough explantation.
I would not compare it though as owning a Mercedes Class S versus a Ford Focus such as G650 vs A320 as I doubt the first will be more expensive than a brand new A321NEO.
A brand new A319 or A320CJ will also still cost a lot more.

[3RDi]

I wouldn’t take that personally. Airbus is a nice aircraft. However, you missed PLZ’s point.

[dirk85]

sonicbum

I would not be so sure about that. A G650 is sold at retail price, around 70 millions USD if I remember right, with years of waiting list, no discount, while a 320 can be bought with a significant discount, as much as 50%, if bought in large quantities.

[sonicbum]

3RDi

Take it personally ? What are you talking about ? PLZ gave a very interesting a thorough explanation for which I thank him. I was just really impressed by those differences in costs of biz jets vs airliners.
I would take it personally if I owned either a GV or an A320, but I don’t ;-)

[sonicbum]

dirk85

I trust You on the figures as however I am not going to be able to afford either of these in the near and distant future I believe, unless as pilots we start getting paid as football players, which I believe we should by the way. 😎

[McMax]

Prices actually came down a bit on the GVI afaik. CAE normally being cheaper than FSI.
Initial $105,000-$120,000, but you get initials with your new shiny jet anyways.
Recurrent can be done for about $50,000, that consists of 2 days ground school and 3 sim sessions.
Other options like full service contracts are available.

GVII and the new Global must be the most expensive ratings these days.

But as others have said before: training costs are peanuts in the grand scheme of things.
You just don’t wanna get typed or renew your LPC on own accounts, unless you’re a well connected freelancer who will make up for it easily.

[Boldpilot2000]

PilotLZ

Can I ask you at which ATO?

[PilotLZ]

I don't remember the name, but their simulator centre is definitely in Austria, not far from VIE airport.

[Ancient Observer]

I wish someone, perhaps a journalist, would shine a light in to this very murky area of pricing and margins. A couple of Engineers that I know vaguely, got in to this arena, the flashy private jet part, (not ordinary GA) and both laughed aloud when they discovered the margins. They are both very wealthy now.

[Nick 1]

My opinion regarding this issue is that Gulfstream does’t want to end up in the same market condition of ,let’s say Airbus or Boeing , they want to control the number of pilot rated on G aircraft , basically no self founded pilot , so the only way to have a G type is working for a G operator , since the number of rated pilot is pretty low , is relatively easy to find a job on those a/c . Also if you note the majority of this type are N registered , so USA pilot garden . Worked for a private owner with some G5 ,and also the recurrent training or annual check was made in USA each year as part of
contract Gulfstream- owner .

[PilotLZ]

It's also influenced by the market being a really small one. Less than 200 Gulfstream V aircraft have been produced so far. Compare that with over 10,000 each for the B737 and A320. Add on the typical crew-to-aircraft ratio being 2 or 3 crews per aircraft for a business jet - in contrast with 4-6 crews per aircraft for a midsized airliner. So, there are just a handful of Gulfstream V crews globally. Maybe 500 crews, making 1000 pilots total in the world. Maybe even less. Controlling such a tiny market and establishing monopoly in it is far, far easier than even attempting to control the huge market for the mainline aircraft. And, in addition, just about any price can be passed with the excuse of "It's a premium product, you know".