Most pro­fes­sion­als with a rea­son­able level of expe­ri­ence, receive relo­ca­tion assis­tance when a com­pany hires them for a new job. Air­line pilots almost never receive any kind of relo­ca­tion assis­tance when they start their new air­line pilot job. There are also many air­lines that do not pro­vide hous­ing dur­ing the two months of training.

Since I left the air­lines I have received one full and one par­tial relo­ca­tion assis­tance with the two jobs I have accepted. Receiv­ing this relo­ca­tion assis­tance was lucky for me. Over the years, I have run across many dif­fer­ent pro­fes­sion­als in many dif­fer­ent fields, and most of them received relo­ca­tion assis­tance when they accepted a new job or were relocated.

What is it with avi­a­tion and tak­ing advan­tage of pilots? Most peo­ple would agree an air­line pilot is a highly trained, edu­cated pro­fes­sional. Most air­line pilots have a col­lege degree in addi­tion to the exten­sive edu­ca­tion and train­ing required to be an air­line pilot. It also takes many years of pilot expe­ri­ence to become an air­line pilot.

At any air­line there are many man­agers, super­vi­sors and pro­fes­sion­als that receive a relo­ca­tion pack­age when they accept a job with the air­line. Many of these pro­fes­sion­als still don’t have the exper­tise an air­line pilot has, but yet because they are part of the group that is in con­trol, they will take care of their own. At most air­lines, man­age­ment and the pilot group do not work together well.

There is never a short­age of air­line pilots because there is always another pilot right behind the one get­ting the job that is will­ing to work the same for less pay. Pilots always seem to be will­ing to work for noth­ing to fly air­planes. I was there and I did it too, but after being in the avi­a­tion indus­try for many years I now look at it in a dif­fer­ent light. I now real­ize how com­plex and impor­tant the job of being an air­line pilot is. I also now real­ize how pilots are taken advan­tage of.

Like I men­tioned ear­lier, almost all air­lines, if not 100%, will give a pilot a job and not offer any relo­ca­tion assis­tance. Because this is the case, I had to find a cor­po­rate pilot job to give an exam­ple. In this case, McDon­alds posted a cor­po­rate pilot job for a Chal­lenger 300 Cap­tain. McDon­alds at this time is a For­tune 108 com­pany, and we all know McDon­alds prob­a­bly makes a for­tune. I would con­sider a cor­po­rate pilot for McDon­alds a high level pro­fes­sional in the com­pany. The pilots for this com­pany have a lot of respon­si­bil­ity trans­port­ing exec­u­tives all around the world.

In the pilot job post­ing, McDon­alds want the pilot appli­cants to have 5000 total flight time, 2000 flight hours as pilot in com­mand. They wanted inter­na­tional flight expe­ri­ence in the Atlantic, Pacific and­South Amer­ica. It does take many years to gain the kind of pilot expe­ri­ence they wanted.

The pilot job post stated they wanted the pilot to relo­cate toChicagoand that no relo­ca­tion assis­tance would be pro­vided. A com­pany the size of McDon­alds prob­a­bly offers relo­ca­tion assis­tance with most job post­ings for pro­fes­sion­als. Espe­cially pro­fes­sional jobs at the level of a pro­fes­sional pilot. Help­ing a pilot and their fam­ily move would not make a dif­fer­ence to the bot­tom line of the avi­a­tion depart­ment. If you have ever been a cor­po­rate pilot, you under­stand the amount of money spent on trans­port­ing the exec­u­tives. It is not uncom­mon to spend a small for­tune just in cater­ing for a few meals, but yet they won’t spend a few thou­sand dol­lars for relo­ca­tion to attract the best, safest pilot. The total amount spent each year in new employee relo­ca­tion expenses is prob­a­bly very high for a com­pany this size. Why they are not offer­ing it in the pack­age to hire a cor­po­rate pilot, I don’t know!

As a new pilot many are will­ing to work for noth­ing and take all kinds of crap. Later in most pilots careers they get very tired of this type of treat­ment that dif­fers from many other pro­fes­sion­als. Being a pilot is very chal­leng­ing and excit­ing, but when there is not a bal­ance in the whole pack­age, it gets old. If you can accept this, then great. We just want the facts to be told so young pilots can make the best career deci­sions for you and your family.