Professional Pilot, June 2019

SALARY STUDY 2019 Corporate pilot salaries have increased approximately 4 since our last study As aging pilots retire and others migrate to the major airline field due to higher pay corporate flight departments are offering higher salaries and improving benefit packages Pro Pilot Staff Report S alaries have been going through a steady increase worldwide during the past year Overall there is a trend of approximately 4 increase in salaries for corporate pilots and more companies are offering more robust benefits in order to keep their pilots Meanwhile airlines are still going through a pilot shortage Some of the reasons are aging pilots who are ready for the mandatory retirement age of 65 Other factor that contributes to this pilot shortage is that flight schools are too expensive Overall companies require to have a 4 year college degree in addition to their flying experience in the US unlike other parts of the world where the only requirement is English proficiency a valid medical license and between 1000 to 2500 hours logged to join the major airlines Therefore we see fewer applicants taking the pilot path All these factors impact the number of pilots available in the market Consequently 50 PROFESSIONAL PILOT June 2019 Dassault Falcon 8X Citation Longitude airlines turn to the corporate and charter fields to be able to fill in their pilot positions available While this is happening and with more aircraft models available in the market companies in Part 91 91K and 135 feel confident of growth and offer better incentives for pilots to join their ranks including higher salaries and a substantial benefit package There is a need of pilots for the newest aircraft models in the market such as the Bombardier Global 7500 Dassault Falcon 8X Embraer Praetor 500 600 Gulfstream G650 ER HondaJet Elite Pilatus PC 24 and Textron Latitude and Longitude business jets Turboprop pilots are experiencing a consistent salary increase as well The turboprop market also needs pilots to fly the new aircraft being delivered such as the Piaggio Avanti Pilatus PC 12 Piper M500 and M600 the popular King Airs and Dahers newest TBM 940 Helicopter usage continues to grow due to the specific work that rotary wing aircraft are able to perform They can get in and out of places that cannot be accessed via jet or turboprop Helo use continues to grow in different fields such as airborne law enforcement emergency medical services offshore oil electronic news gathering logging and construction Weve worked diligently to obtain pilot feedback regarding compensation Pro Pilot readers worldwide have participated and were our main source of information submitting 1221 respectable forms Strong business flight departments have been another valuable source of input They have cooperated by providing important factors they use for salary increases Bonuses and extra benefits are not included in the salaries and we dont organize salaries by regions We use average low and high salary amounts to reflect the earnings according to aircraft models job titles and goals met by pilots Extraordinary salaries are not included in this survey due to its own nature such as celebrity salaries or big corporations sharing their profits with their flight departments Gulfstream G650ER Bell 429 Leonardo AW189 Airbus Helicopters EC155