Happiness would be a private G4

January 3, 2006 9:18 AM

Over the holidays while waiting at the airport watching the private jets come and go, my wife and I began a conversation surrounding the logistics of being a private pilot. What does the pilot do while the passengers/plane owners holiday? Wait at a hotel? Catch a commercial flight home?
posted by Keith Talent to travel & transportation (6 comments total)

My stepfather used to work for an airline that largely did charter flights. These are not the same as private jets, but still, they're non-scheduled flights, often for vacations, business, etc. As a crew member he would basically hang out wherever they were until they were done. If it was a one-way thing, or if they were going to be there more than a few days, they would usually run a charter flight to somewhere else during the interim.

If you truly owned a private jet I guess the pilot would do whatever you asked him to. Maybe he'd fly home and wait for you to ask to come get him, maybe he'd hang around. For a corporate or chartered jet I would imagine they try to schedule things so that the planes/pilot are busy doing other stuff when possible.
posted by RustyBrooks at 9:40 AM on January 3, 2006

My younger brother ferries planes and works as a freelance private pilot mainly to the Caribbean and South America. He tends to party with friends while keeping an ear out for his cell phone in case he needs to fly anyone back to the states.
posted by Alison at 9:41 AM on January 3, 2006

In all likelihood most private pilots don’t have just one client—instead, they’re employed by a charter service (like a cab service). So, depending on how long the trip is, the pilot probably either sticks around or flies off to other assignments.

Many flights for corporations are one-day round-trip deals. Executive terminals (not as fancy as it sounds) usually have a couple of different rooms devoted to services for the pilot—one room for flight planning (weather services, computers, maps), one for resting (couches or recliners—I once saw a series of individual rooms, each with its own recliner, where pilots can shut out the world while they sleep), and one for hanging out with other pilots/eating/watching TV.

If the pilot is dropping off the client for an extended stay, they most likely fly on to another place to pick up the next client, or to bring in the plane for servicing, or to catch up on some training to keep all their licensing (instrument ratings, night ratings, aircraft type, etc.) up-to-date.

Also, there are a number of private pilots who fly their own planes for pleasure (or even for commuting!). These tend to be the smaller, propeller planes, 2 to 8 seats. There are guys who own multiple planes, some who have just one, and others who just rent. In all the general-aviation airports I’ve been in, these planes probably comprise a little less than half of the traffic. (My father was a commercial pilot in his youth and now flies his own plane for pleasure/for family trips. I’ve been to small airports from Maine to the Bahamas.)
posted by CiaoMela at 9:53 AM on January 3, 2006

A friend of mine worked as a valet on a private jet owned by a corporate CEO. He would golf during the day and check out the nightlife while waiting for the return trip, mainly because the CEO wanted to be able to return at any second to the States.
posted by jeanmari at 10:30 AM on January 3, 2006

He would *not* fly home, unless you were going to be there a *really* long time, or he had someone else to fly somewhere; bizjets cost $1000/hr and up to operate.

If it was an overnight, he might crash in the pilots lounge which most jet ports have. If it was more than one night, he'd probably get a motel room somewhere.

Remember: if you're flying someone around in their $5-45M jet, the $50-100 a night for a hotel room isn't even epsilon in their budget, and you're going to expense it.

It's odd this should crop up today; I'm just rereading _The King Of Torts_ by Grisham, and there's a lot of gratuitous bizjet flying in it...
posted by baylink at 1:46 PM on January 3, 2006

I had a friend who had a private jet and employed a pilot who would fly him whenever and wherever he needed to be, and effectively be a house-guest for the rest of the time. Nice life.
posted by benzo8 at 3:19 PM on January 3, 2006