Airline Pilots have always had that element of freedom through the career choice they made, all those courses, theory and practice time in the air grinding their way through to attaining their commercial pilot’s licence. However, Airline Pilot Contractors, or ‘Independent Contract (IC) Pilots’ as they are more commonly referred to, really do have an interesting life, with demand for their services increasing.
CTC Aviation announced at the end of 2010 that it has received requests from its client airlines to train over 360 new pilots to be ready in time for the 2011 summer season. Since January 2011, world-leading airline pilot training company CTC Aviation Group plc has seen a dramatic increase in the demand for pilots from client airlines suggesting a substantial industry recovery. CTC also recently announced an agreement to recruit in excess of 400 pilots for flydubai – Dubai’s new low-cost airline – over the next 3 years.
Independent contract pilots have the trading option like any other contractor of either working through an umbrella company or through their own limited company, which any accountant will tell you is the most tax efficient way possible.
However, working through your own limited company does come with a higher level of responsibility and administration.
We've been providing expert accountancy advice and helping contractors to focus on doing what they do best since 1992. Get in touch here
The best way of finding contract work as a pilot, is through using recruitment agencies specialising in aviation careers, such as:
These companies upload contractor positions for some of the top airline companies, from British Airways, to Emirates, to EasyJet. Always ensure that your CV that is uploaded with 'scannable' keywords and industry buzzwords for your particular industry, otherwise your CV might not be found.
Forums are also a great way to get ‘word of mouth’ contracts from people within the industry themselves; it also brings you up to speed on the latest news within the airline industry. These are quite popular forums but are very US focused: Airline Pilot Forums and Airline Pilot Central.
Alternatively, you can try going directly to the source. This isn’t the easiest of options, but using social network sites such as LinkedIn are a clever way of finding a point of contact within any company to get a telephone number or email address to send over your CV.
Knowing the airlines who currently have the highest amount of buzz is great for knowing who has the highest hiring opportunities, with companies such as FedEx hiring approximately 250 pilots so far in 2011, and still going.
Please provide some details to continue.
Appointing an accountant can save you time and stress when starting up on your own. If you would like to speak to someone about any of the above information or any other queries you may have, arrange a callback and a member of the team will be in touch.
If you're already a client of ours, you can speak to your dedicated accountant directly.
Monday - Friday (9am to 5pm)