Commercial to Corporate

Airline Pilot Questions & Answers
1

Hey,
So I had a question. I am currently preparing to enroll in a commercial pilot program that will take me through all of my ratings and guarantee me a job in a major airline. However, my end goal is to fly corporate, will it be better for me to fly with a major airline and then go corporate, or try to get straight into a corporate flying job? Thanks for the advice!

2

Emily,

First allow me to clarify something. No one, no school, no program can guarantee you a job at a Major, let alone be a pilot. I’m not trying to be negative, it’s just important you no there are no guarantees in this industry and that’s simply because frankly you might be a lousy pilot. Flying is not rocket science or brain surgery but it does have both physical and intellectual requirements that not everyone can get. Bust a few checkrides, suffer an incident or accident and you could be done. Further if there’s another pandemic, economic downfall, 9/11 terrorist attack etc etc etc the airlines will simply stop hiring.

Now that I’ve given you the disclaimer let’s get to your question. When people say “corporate” that can mean anything from flying a small company’s twin Cessna to flying a Global Express around the world for a Fortune 500 corporation and everything in between. Let’s assume you want to be in there somewhere, corporate flying gigs are all about networking and who you know. With that in mind if you want to fly corporate, you should pursue corporate flying gigs. You can start small or at a fractional like Netjets. If you like it and decide that’s the way you should go (not everyone does) again you can network your way up.

That all said that’s very much in the future. For now you should really focus on learning to fly and being the best pilot you can.

Adam

3

Emily,

I am curious, what is it about corporate flying that you find more attractive than airline flying?

Chris

4

Chris,

I have personally known and talked to quite a few corporate pilots, they almost all flew with a major airline first, then decided to go corporate and without fail every one of them has said that they enjoy corporate much more. They have said that you have more flexibility, and that it would be easier to have a family and fly at the same time as a corporate pilot. As I do intend to have a husband and children eventually this aspect of corporate flying appeals to me very much.

5

Adam,

Thank you for your response! I am aware that I am not absolutely guaranteed a job at an airline, I only meant that they guarantee one upon graduation (assuming normal economy, etc.)

6

Emily,

I would love to see the fine print on this guarantee, as I have never heard of such a thing.

Chris

7

Are you going to Republic’s Lift Academy or United’s Aviate Academy?

8

Emily,

I flew charter and know many corporate pilots too. I just want to make sure you keep your options open. Your sample size is quite biased. Of those pilots that left 121 and love charter, there are thousands more who left part 135 flying for 121 and never looked back. I am one of those. I enjoyed my time but I am treated so much better as an airline pilot than a charter pilot.

I’ll break down one of the differences so you can better compare the lifestyles and future out which is better for you. Just know that every 135 job is different. One company may use their pilots twice a month while another has them on the road for weeks at a time. It’s an incredibly mixed bag.

Key differences:

  1. Schedule- most charter carriers do block scheduling. 8 days on/6 days off. 7 on/7 off, 15 on 13 off… etc. No bidding, predictable and long blocks of time off. I wasn’t a fan of 8 days on. I prefer more of an airline schedule of 3/4 day trips followed by 2-3 days off. Bidding can be tricky, but it’s nice to have more control over your monthly schedule. Corporate is a completely different animal depending on who the employer is. You could be flying race teams around all season long and gone for weeks at a time or flying the managers of Lowes corporate to meetings twice a month and on standby the rest of your time. It really depends…

  2. Pay- It used to be better but now with the new regional FO pay that begin in the fall of 2022, you will make plenty more as a first year FO (~$95/hr) and exponentially more over the course of a career.

  3. Flexibility (home based)- since I don’t live in base, not having to worry about a commute was huge for my quality of life. Home based means you can live wherever you want and the company pays for your ticket to get to and from work. Nice perk, hard to beat if you don’t live in base.

  4. Daily tasks- It’s much easier to be an airline pilot. There is a team of people with tasks to make the flight happen safely and efficiently. Dispatchers do the brunt of the flight planning, rampers load bags, cleaners make the cabin presentable, flight attendants deal with customer service… pilots just fly the airplane. On the 135 side, there were no dispatchers, no ramp crew, no flight attendants, no cleaners. We were a “2-man band.” Typically the capt was responsible for the flight planning while I cleaned the cabin, weighed and loaded the bags, met the passengers, boarded and briefed them and served them in cruise flight.

Just some food for thought…

Hannah