Bizjet industry, contractors, trends

[Uncle Wiggily]

It appears that contracting agencies in the airline side of operations are gaining momentum as airlines look at creative methods to lower costs. For example, Turkish airlines and Vietnam Airlines seem to primarily recruit direct entry captains via an agency like Parc or Rishworth.

Do you think the trend of solely using contracted labour for pilot positions is in the bizjet operator pipeline? Why or why would it not work?

Thank you.

[CaptainProp]

No, I have a feeling most owners want a couple of familiar faces up front to feel comfortable and they are willing to pay for it. Another point is that it is not so easy to find JAA licensed G5, GLEX, F900/2000/7X pilots hanging about waiting to do freelance/contract work, different game for the airlines with airbus/boeing pilots.

CP

[Uncle Wiggily]

CaptainProp:

Yes, I can see your point. I think a lot has to do with the supply of certain types of pilots, i.e. there are a whole lot more A320 pilots than GLEX pilots.

I appreciate your post.

[ab33t]

Some Bizjet companies that operate the aircraft on behalf of a group or client do use contract pilots

[potatowings]

While some companies do use freelancers, they tend to use a few rather than lots, so the faces are familiar and the pilots tend to have reasonably regular work with that operator. I get the impression from my freelancing friends that the companies do this as a way of providing a fairly stable work force but without the risks associated with having to lay off when things turn difficult or if the aircraft is at risk of going away.

I don't think that freelancing is a preferred method of staffing an aircraft. Recently I was put in a position where I had to look for another job. On finding out which companies used freelancers on my type, I actually found that they would prefer to hire me full time. So while the money is less, the security for me is better. I found that a big surprise and very interesting.

[Pilot Positive]

There are benefits to using contractors/freelancers in the bizjet sector notably providing roster stability in high season without the risk of increasing fixed overheads. It provides flexibility.

However, the downsides are the availability of type rated pilot, the impact on the company culture (what does it say to the full time pilots?) and consistency as seen from the client side. I think the bizjet sector is completely client-centric so consistency is pretty fundamental to building personal relationships and long term rapport.

I would have to agree that No there currently is not a strong demand for contractors (only for fall back purposes) however if the economy persists in the current direction then some operators may feel it to be expeditious to cut their fixed overhead and have their pilots on freelance contracts. A scary thought i know....

[B200Drvr]

Another trend I have noticed from the recruitment agencies is that they are now asking for 12 months currency, even for a 3 month contract.
Furthermore, lots of jobs in the biz-jet industry from Asia, but all full time, surely they would full those positions in a heartbeat if they were rotation.