Is Business Aviation an Option for Retiring Commercial Airline Pilots?

By NBAA staff

Business aviation can offer a welcome and lucrative option for pilots who want to keep flying after retiring from, or otherwise exiting, the commercial airlines. However, they may run into unexpected challenges if they aren’t fully prepared for that transition.

David Keys, chief pilot of Peace River Citrus Products and vice chair of the NBAA Flight Operations Committee, said he found “a completely different world” when he first moved from a now-defunct commercial carrier in the 1980s to flying for a Part 91 flight operation.

Overcoming Misperceptions on Both Sides

DAVID KEYS

Pilot, Peace River Citrus Products

“Business aviation is more about relationships than the mechanics of the job,” he said. “It’s about customer service; you will load luggage and ask your passengers if they’d like drinks. You will clean up after them. It’s a lot more involved than merely showing up and flying the airplane.”

“Your support network isn’t very large at all compared to an airline,” added Lisa Archibald, CAM, and a commercial airline first officer who’s also worked in business aviation. “In fact, it may just be you!”

Like Keys, Archibald’s past duties ranged from lining up catering to arranging fuel loads, international permits and ground handlers. “I worked for some well-established business aircraft operators, and I’d say 90 percent of a successful trip was thanks to the pilots,” she added. “Our little team made it all happen.”

Pilots moving over to business aviation may also run into procedural and technological challenges. “There’s a lot more technology available to business aviation pilots,” Keys said, “and we need it. We don’t have the support network behind us that we did at the airlines.”

Those differences often become known during training. “You don’t want to stick out in ground school by saying, ‘that’s not how we did it at the airlines,’” Keys said. “If you keep comparing it to what you used to fly, you will struggle.

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Those making the move to business aviation from commercial airline flying may discover some flight operations are reluctant to consider them for the job. Jennifer Pickerel, vice president at Aviation Personnel International, offered several tips to overcome that challenge.

“There are misperceptions on both sides of the hiring desk,” she said. “Flight departments believe airline pilots lack the customer service skills necessary in our industry – and those are not easily taught – and some airline pilots expect business aviation flying to be easier.

“It’s generally not enough to simply say, ‘I’m retiring but not ready to stop flying,” Pickerel continued. “You need the desire to work in the business aviation environment and be receptive to what that requires. You must contribute to the operation beyond the flight deck.”

As a result, Pickerel noted, some clients will not consider applicants from the commercial airlines unless they also have previous experience in business aviation.

“That said, I encourage them to lean into that stigma,” she added. “Demonstrate respect for what the job requires and do your research. State upfront that you don’t want to be part of that stigma, but you acknowledge that it exists.”

An effective cover letter can also help convince a recruiter to take a closer look at your application. “Make it compelling and show your personality,” Pickerel said. “Show them you’ve done your research. Sell yourself enthusiastically and leave them wanting to learn more.

“It’s true that you will have a higher bar to clear,” she concluded. “Just because we’re in the same industry doesn’t mean the requirements are the same. Business aviation is a far more delicate dynamic, but you can acknowledge those differences and celebrate them.”