Airline to Corporate Flying???
 

Hi All,
I have been working for airlines since I got my PPL and am now considering a move to corporate flying. What questions should I ask at interview? What are the most noticeable differences (positive and negative) between the two?

The first question you may want to ask is; will I have some kind of a schedule?

Many (Not all) corporate pilots are "On call" 24 / 7/ 365.
It is important that you find out what, if any, your scheduled "hard'' days off will be. A "hard" day off being one where you know ahead of time that you will not be called versus a day where you are at home but still on call and have to be available.

Fortunately most quality flight departments schedule their flights well ahead of time and have very few "pop up" trips. Some departments only work Mon. to Fri.

There is a great deal of variation with how companies handle schedules, and coming from the airlines, I think you may find this to be one of the biggest differences.

Next question you may want to ask is what if any kind of flight time / duty limits do you have. In the USA, corporate flight depts. usually operate under part 91 of the regulations and as such there are no limitations.

Most corporate departments have very good maintenance, but you may want to check on the reputation that your intended employer has.

Once you have those questions answered you can then move on to trivial questions like salary etc.

Just re-read the second part of your question.

I guess I already answered one of the negative aspects of the job in my previous post (Schedule)

For me, one of the positive aspects is variety, I don\'t think you can beat this at an airline job. Some trips may involve a weeks layover at some exotic beach resort and some companies even let you bring your spouse along. (Of course, you may not want to)

I also enjoy the interaction that you have with your passengers, many times the people that I fly turn a trip into a paid vacation with friends. That said, you could end up working for an a**hole, which is no fun, another reason to ask around about a potential employer.

Thanks Astra Driver
 

Thanks for that!! I hope to be employed in Western Europe on a relatively short-range aircraft. My other half has also brought up the possible unpredictability of 'on call,all the time'. I believe that quickly loses it's shine!! Early days at this stage. What notice would you expect for 'pop up' trips? This sounds like a one aircraft op. so would it be the norm for the Capt/FO to do their own flight-planning, fuel, catering and hotac organisation??

You could always sub-contract all the ops (read :setting up handling, flight plans, onward transportation etc) to a well know BRS based charter outfit?

Phil

Would that be Capital Aviation at all, nice shiny King Air's they have.

I'm sure they would do a great job too. Obviously NOT who I had in mind though.

Phil