Get on anything with wings and start building up your network.

CP

need some advice please
 

Gentleman – need some advice please.

recently got an offer as captain (incl. SVC/LTC) and flight ops manager for a FAR23 / CAT operation, with 3 light jets. I’m rated, current on type with >2000hrs on type, postholder compliance and safety (CAT operation) for a different outfit. Actually, it looks like that they will get two FAR25 (mid-size) aircrafts this year with an option for me to go left seat on the new type as well.

Question: What is an average salary for an European fixed employed captain on a light jet, probably later mid-size. What extra money can I ask for the FOM position – realistically? :}

Cheers!
PMs appreciated as well… :ok:

Do not hanka after a gulfsteam job. The flying is detrimental to your health, utterly boring beyond belief and full of egomaniacs that will kill you at the 1st opportunity. 'Worst decision of my career! I would never go back for any money.

wow.. that's a sad experience. What did you end up doing, that is so much more fun and with a great bunch then? Seriously curios.

He's a barista at a kale juice shop.

I wouldn't say "sad." Just an anti-Klimax!!
I went back to good flying and got back my enjoyment of the job. I am afraid I am not alone in my experience either as more and more are beginning to see the light now?
Unfortunately the egomaniacs are infiltrating the entire business now so finding, and more importantly keeping, a decent job is becoming quite rare.
I know everyone wants that big shiny jet and they don't come much shinier than the Gulfstream but really, it was not for me. The endless fatigue (jet lag) made me question my entire existence. It made dodging the backstabbers even harder.

I understand your experiences with the jet lag side of flying the long range Gulfstreams (or any other long range jet), and agree this CAN be a flip side of the coin. But, again, this all depends on the specific aircraft (frame/owner) and how he travels (layover times, time of departure etc.).

However I'm sincerely interested in know what you define as "good flying"? is it smaller biz jets with lots of sectors and regional or back to airlines or what? Thank you.

Ah that's an easy question to answer...
Short haul, Europe destinations, just a few sectors per month, nice sensible aircraft, good crew, good pax, good hotac and most importantly a company that has empathy. Then the job can be a delight. Or... flat out east, west, west again, east, east again, with only min rest between which ends up as 2 hrs sleep, truly awful crew (actually the worst pilots I have ever seen) arrogant pax, dreadful destinations with all sorts of diseases to get you, and they did, and a horrendous management company that extends every duty by 50% and doesn't even pay for it.
You decide?

Now, it would seem to me that your reasons to dislike "gulfstream flying" so much, is more down to your personal bad experience, which obviously sounds bad, but that's not necessarily what all privately managed long range gulfstream account are like. I used to be on one where we'd fly once or twice a month, west then east, have 2-4 days away and be home 20 days a month or at times 6 weeks off with no flying, and the occasionally flight to some great destinations in different continents. On top of that great, well trained and skilled crew. Pax were ok. Also - the G650 is not a bad airframe to do regional flying in - it's truly well equipped for flying around Europe as well. Anyways, I was curios to hear what made your current job better than "gulfstream" jobs, and you explained well. Enjoy. Cheers.

Mmhhh, lets see, you're still alive ?

I guess the European mosquito's don't bit much and they are clean little buggers... It's interesting how people are different (and that's all good) in what they work well with.

Hello

i come back to this thread to ask for updated figures for a NTR skipper on the G650.
Currently PIC on Airbus.
Any info is greatly appreciated.
Europe base.
Thanks.

Do you have any BizJet experience?

Good morning,
no biz experience, only commercial legacy and LCC on the Airbus. Long haul too.
Thanks

Most salary surveys are US-centric and I haven’t seen a European table for some time (I’m assuming you are in Europe).

This table will give you some idea of the relative salaries between types though: https://bizjetjobs.com/pilot-salary-survey

I will add something you are probably already aware of though which is that the actual flying is only a relatively small percentage of what we do and it may be tricky finding a large cabin long range position without prior experience.

Thanks for the valuable infos Globally!
Best regards.

May I add that that kind of job is 99% about networking, and very hard to get if not in the business. An initial on that type is what, 150k dollars these days?
If freelancing you would have to charge at least 2000/2500 eur per day to make it worth.

Maybe you can use the Qatar Executive G650 open position as a reference in terms of salary for a full time contract?

A lot also depends on how the operation is crewed. 2 Cpts and 1 FO on a 20/10 rotation? 2 Cpts and 2 FOs on a 15/15 roster? Additional roles (maintenance, chief pilot duties, etc). Location is also important. Austria and Germany tend to attract awful contracts in this business, the rest slightly better.

Thanks for the infos as well Dirk👍🏻

so you are basically useless in the Bizjet world. Look for an entry level F/O job to learn the extra layers of BS you need to deal with as a PIC.. you will thank me later

Well, i am a useless PIC on the A320 family since a few years, flown 330 too.
I am so useless that i may have a direct entry offer in a long range business jet.
Thanks anyway for your extremely relevant and informative comment and compliments for your long career in the biz business.