5 Non-Airline Pilot Jobs to Consider
1. Air Taxi
Pros: Air taxi pilots, also known as charter pilots, fly a variety of different aircraft, schedules and flights. Their customers consist of businessmen, celebrities, sports teams, charity organizations and high-profile families. They are known for flying “anywhere, anytime” and often fly to very nice locations.
Cons: A charter pilot is usually “on call”, which means that if a customer needs to get somewhere quickly, the pilot must be ready, sometimes within minutes of being called. And while they often get to fly to luxurious locations, the opposite is also true: charter pilots often find themselves stuck at small airports in rustic locations for hours or days.
2. Corporate
Pros: Corporate pilots get to fly the newest airplanes and most luxurious business jets. Their schedules are usually a mix of pre-arranged and last-minutes flights. Corporate pilots enjoy high salaries, good benefits and a high quality of life.
Cons: Like charter pilots, corporate pilots can often find themselves in the middle of rough schedules and stuck at airports waiting on clients for lengthy periods of time. Corporate pilots also worry about job security; in periods of economic hardship, businesses downsize, and the flight department could be the first to be cut.
3. Medical Evacuation
Pros: Medevac pilots fly life-saving missions, moving critical and non-critical patients from the scene of an accident to a hospital or from one hospital to another. Medevac pilots usually are compensated satisfactorily, but the real job satisfaction comes from saving lives.
Cons: Medical emergencies happened at all hours, so medevac pilots often work in the middle-of-the-night. And flying jobs in this field are harder to get. Pilots must be highly experienced and are often required to be medically trained.
4. Flight Instructor
Pros: The major benefit that flight instructors have is the ability to set their own schedule and be home every night. Self-employed flight instructors can work anytime they want to. They can take on as many or as few students as they’d like and their income potential is determined by how much effort they decide to invest in their own business. Instructors that work for a flight school (Like Phoenix East Aviation) may have less control over their schedules, but enjoy a salary and benefits.
Cons: Instructors tend to earn less income than other professional pilots do. And they might get bored with flying the same small aircraft at the same airport on a daily basis. In addition, instructors often go through periods of instability with industry changes and student availability.
5. Government and Law Enforcement
Pros: The government employs pilots in many different areas: fire-fighting, police, border patrol, NASA, FBI, research initiatives, military, etc. These pilots are highly trained and most have to “earn” their position as a pilot by first spending time in a non-flying government job. NASA pilots, for example, are often former military pilots. Pay and benefits for government pilots are usually on par with the industry’s civilian counterpart.
Cons: All government jobs have some disadvantages, and pilot jobs are no different. The government will have control over your schedule, working conditions, pay and benefits, and there might be little room for change or career advancement.
