Why not to buy a type rating

[wheelsup]

Well, yesterday I found out that my buddy, who went from CFI'ing to flying a GIV, bought his type rating. As of last thursday, he is laid off from his $50k/yr FO job and now looking to go work for a regional.

He has had several interviews for corporate FO positions, none that have been successful. Which isn't so surprising, because prior to that gig he interviewed at 6+ airlines and was only hired at one, Mesa.

One thing the interviewers have said to him, is they were looking for learjet freight time or citation corporate time. They are weary of someone who went from CFI'ing to a GIV - it just doesn't smell right.

That just goes to show you that "working your way up" is still alive in well in the corporate world...

[Dugie8]

I don't think they were really concerned with his progression, but more with his interview. Like you said, before the GIV gig, he had interviewed at 6 other regionals/airlines/corporate and Mesa hired him.

Do you know how much time in the GIV he has? Was this a job he had for a while or was he hired and "fired" in relatively short order.

[JDE]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

$50k/yr FO job and now looking to go work for a regional....

$50K/yr for a G-IV FO sounds pretty weak. How much did the type cost? Probably at least half that.

I still don't think buying a type rating is a good idea, but to each their own. At least he did buy one in a good airplane...I guess.

[wheelsup]

Originally Posted by Dugie8

I don't think they were really concerned with his progression, but more with his interview. Like you said, before the GIV gig, he had interviewed at 6 other regionals/airlines/corporate and Mesa hired him.

Do you know how much time in the GIV he has? Was this a job he had for a while or was he hired and "fired" in relatively short order.

500 hours or so. I think he worked there about 8 months. And yes, it could have been the interview skills.

The six airline interviews were the ones I know he attended. After getting let go from mesa during the sim, he was looking for work and somehow stumbled on this gig. Poor fella'.

Type was $17k back then, he told me. He said it's recently gone up quite a bit...

[Bog]

Originally Posted by wheelsup

After getting let go from mesa during the sim

Sounds to me like he needs to either refine his flying abilities, or find a new line of work. Maybe 1% of our newbies don't make it through the sim training. We have the usual couple of knobs in the training department, but the overwhelming majority are great and are there to get the students through training.

[Texasspilot]

I thought the G type was in the 30's and 50 a year for a G-bird FO is WAAAAYYYY Low.

[blee256]

Originally Posted by Texasspilot

I thought the G type was in the 30's and 50 a year for a G-bird FO is WAAAAYYYY Low.

I heard the same thing about G-IV types.

Originally Posted by wheelsup

500 hours or so. I think he worked there about 8 months.

but also 500 hours in 8 months is a lot of flying for a corporate gig, i cant imagine he got that many in that short amount of time

[Jason]

500 hours in 8 months is maybe/maybe not "alot" depending on how they used the airplane. When you're doing 6-7 hour legs regularly going to the far reaches of the earth it adds up quick. A "quick" round trip to Europe and back is good for a solid 13 to 15 hours depending on where they base the airplane. People don't (usually) buy a G IV to go on 200nm hops.

$17K for a type sounds like maybe he had a deal where he paid half - it's at least $34K retail.

All things being normal, $50K is extremely low for a G IV seat.

He apparently had/has some interviewing issues and whatever else - but having said that, CFI'ing to a G-IV is not normal progression and would definatley raise a big red flag for me if I was a chief pilot conducting an interview. CFI to a King Air, CFI to a Citation, CFI to a Beechjet - that's not an unheard of progression - anything above a turboprop/small jet would make me ask questions.

Jason

[wheelsup]

Originally Posted by Jason

500 hours in 8 months is maybe/maybe not "alot" depending on how they used the airplane. When you're doing 6-7 hour legs regularly going to the far reaches of the earth it adds up quick. A "quick" round trip to Europe and back is good for a solid 13 to 15 hours depending on where they base the airplane. People don't (usually) buy a G IV to go on 200nm hops.

$17K for a type sounds like maybe he had a deal where he paid half - it's at least $34K retail.

All things being normal, $50K is extremely low for a G IV seat.

He apparently had/has some interviewing issues and whatever else - but having said that, CFI'ing to a G-IV is not normal progression and would definatley raise a big red flag for me if I was a chief pilot conducting an interview. CFI to a King Air, CFI to a Citation, CFI to a Beechjet - that's not an unheard of progression - anything above a turboprop/small jet would make me ask questions.

Jason

He told me right after he bought the type, it doubled in price. Not sure if he was trying to cover the fact that he really spent $34k or not though. And yeah, 500 hours in 8 months isn't totally out of line with a company that has a high number of charters. He spent a lot of time over in europe.

And I agree, $50k for a GIV FO is extremely low. And it really worked out to about ~$33k/yr if you include the type. It gets even worse when you consider he only made $33k (pre-tax!) working there for 8 months !

[E_Dawg]

As said, sounds more like the guy can't fly and/or has poor interview skills... then again maybe that says something about the caliber person who buys a type.

And maybe the fact that he lost his job says something about the quality of a company that hires these people.