The difference between corporate aviation and the airlines
can be very different. It is often said
that life as a corporate pilot is anything but routine. Corporate pilots are often on call and can
travel anywhere in the world with short notice. Corporate typically fly less
hours per year but typically get paid more than most airline pilots. Other than the irregular schedule difference,
corporate pilots must also do all of the flight planning, calculate take off
and landing data, weight & balance data, and are responsible for setting up
appropriate ground services.
Corporate aviation is often misunderstood in the public’s
eye. I agree with the statement that corporate aviation can actually save
company money. What a company’s CEO and
other executives do with their time can be invaluable and a company that has
its own flight department can increase efficiency by traveling privately rather
than via the airlines. Corporate flight departments can begin a flight in short
notice (compared to the airlines) and travel to many more destinations around
the world. While commercial airline
flights serve around 500 destinations, corporate aviation flights serve over
5,000 different destinations in the United States alone. This means that corporate flights can bypass
the busy airports that can cost more time and travel to smaller locations that
are closer to their final destination.
Studies also show that business executives are productive 30% of the
time while on a commercial airline flight, on a corporate flight they are
productive 80% of the time. This is
often due to the fact that company employees can have business meetings during
the flight.
Corporate aviation is not new and I don’t believe that it
would still exist today if was not beneficial for company’s to have a flight
department. It is not just major Fortune
500 companies that have flight departments.
Fortune 500 companies only make up 3% of the business aviation industry
in the United States and small to mid-sized companies make up about 85% of business
aviation.
One corporate flight department that I was able to find
information about is McDonalds. The flight department consists of 8 pilots that
fly a Bombardier Global 6000 and a Challenger 300. The Captain position requires a minimum of
5000 total hours, 2000 PIC, and an ATP certificate. McDonald’s flight department is based at
DuPage, Chicago Illinois.
References
Business Aviation Fact Book [PDF]. (n.d.).
Donnelly, B. (2012, June 08). Business Aviation:
The Unfair Advantage. Retrieved February 12, 2015, from
http://www.forbes.com/sites/businessaviation/2012/08/06/business-aviation-the-unfair-advantage/
�FLIGHT DEPT OF THE YEAR.
(n.d.). Retrieved February 13, 2015, from
http://www.propilotmag.com/archives/2012/December%2012/A2_McDonalds_p1.html
Policies & Utilization. (n.d.). Retrieved
February 12, 2015, from http://www.nbaa.org/admin/policies/why/
yes, the advantage on corporate pilots is the pay they get despite all of the calculations they have to do. Also I think that corporate pilots have more relaxing job than commercial in therms of dealing with high number of passengers, delays, and so on.
ReplyDeleteI think that the amount of different destinations that corporate aircrafts can fly into, speaks for itself. Not only will they be able to fly closer to their final destination but they have to ability to work while on the flight. Neda, you mentioned that corporate pilots have a more relaxing job, and I would have to agree with you. They also get to "vacation" while the boss's or CEOs are at their meetings.
ReplyDeleteYes, I do believe that most corporate pilots have a more relaxing job in terms of not having to deal with airport terminals and delays and so on, but a lot of corporate pilots also have desk jobs too. SInce Corporate pilots fly less than airline pilots, they are often assigned administrative tasks or projects to keep them busy.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely on your opinion on corporate aviation. In the world of business time is money! If you company has sales reps sitting at an airport for hours rather than flying directly to their destination this is wasting time and costing them potentially millions of dollars.
ReplyDelete