Requirements to be a ferry pilot?

Mason said:
You can NOT use travel or jumpseat privileges in pursuit of a business. Doing so is a violation not only of company policy, but IRS rules.
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I don't doubt you at all, but it must not be heavily enforced, because there are still a lot of ferry pilots who advertise their JS privileges as part of the package.

Here is the first Google hit you come up with searching for 'ferry pilot jobs'. It is a ferry pilot job board:

http://www.global-air.com/global/gferrytrips.htm

Notice this little tidbit just above the job list:
Low-time and no airline privileges? We don't mean to offend, but our clients want an experienced pilot flying their airplane, and don't want to buy airline tickets, when pilots with passes are available.
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For people to be openly advertising that tells me that no one is policy the jump seat usage...
 
Yeah and two of the ad's on that site are requesting folks with Airline Privileges.
 
Fearless Tower said:
I don't doubt you at all, but it must not be heavily enforced, because there are still a lot of ferry pilots who advertise their JS privileges as part of the package.

Here is the first Google hit you come up with searching for 'ferry pilot jobs'. It is a ferry pilot job board:

http://www.global-air.com/global/gferrytrips.htm

Notice this little tidbit just above the job list:


For people to be openly advertising that tells me that no one is policy the jump seat usage...
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Years and years of jumpseating all over the world I've never been asked what the purpose of my jumpseat request was for.
 
I flew for ASA which at the time was and is a connector for Delta. I guarantee Delta will terminate an individuals pass benefits, including JS, if caught violating any of their rules. And that's one of them.
 
Advertising it for one! Or if one runs their mouth about it a coworker could turn him/her in. If one kept low key about it probably could get by.
 
What would eventually happen, is that you end up competing against your coworker, who gets upset that he lost that gig, and turns you in..
 
Send your resume to cbavition. That's the guy from that dangerous flights show
 
I knew a flight attendant years ago who nonreved to Hawaii w/ her parents and her "son" (actually her bf). One of the founders of our airline had a thing with checking who took flights and where and supposedly checked every day (instead of counting the millions he was making lol). Somehow he found out about the older son (think she had a son but not that old) and suspended her benefits while they were in Hawaii. They had to purchase tickets to get back.
 
This thread has gone sadly awry. OP wanted to know if he could be a ferry pilot. It is a serious HR no no to even inquire about job seeker's orientation. Even if you come right out and tell them you want to be a ferry pilot, they can't use that information against you.

Although I have no hard facts I know there's lots of ferry pilots out there so if you want to be a ferry pilot, go for it.
 
Couple of reasons not to ferry:

- Some of the planes you are asked to ferry haven't moved in years. They were made 'airworthy' by the lowest bidder and you may be the first one to fly them after work was done. I know one guy who is now on disability after a Cardinal he was supposed to ferry spat out all its oil on takeoff and he lost a wing to a lamppost while landing on a city street*.

- Lots of opportunity to deal with the nice men from the government when it comes to maintenance, airworthiness, incidents, non-working equipment. As a professional pilot, is this really something you need on your regulatory resume ?


Why do you want to ferry ? For the great riches is promises ? For the hours ?
You are already well on your way into an airline or corporate career. A couple of hours of piston time are not going to be of great benefit. You may be better off looking for some gig where you can gain experience that may benefit you down the line.

The only formal requirement is a CPL and a second class medical or better. After that, it's insurability. You need to have enough hours 'in type' for whatever you want to ferry that an insurance company will approve you as pilot and issue a waiver of subrogation.








* Picked up the paper this morning. Turns out he passed away yesterday from injuries suffered in a weight-shift ultralight crash in AZ :( . The ferry flight accident happened >10 years ago and the FAA db shows his last medical in 2004. Looks like he used ultralights to scratch the flying itch.
 
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mscard88 said:
I knew a flight attendant years ago who nonreved to Hawaii w/ her parents and her "son" (actually her bf). One of the founders of our airline had a thing with checking who took flights and where and supposedly checked every day (instead of counting the millions he was making lol). Somehow he found out about the older son (think she had a son but not that old) and suspended her benefits while they were in Hawaii. They had to purchase tickets to get back.
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I know a guy who flew with his girlfriend posing as his wife. He got fired.
And divorced.
 
A ferry pilot was on disability and crashed in a weight-shift ultralight? What's wrong with this picture?
 
mscard88 said:
I knew a flight attendant years ago who nonreved to Hawaii w/ her parents and her "son" (actually her bf). One of the founders of our airline had a thing with checking who took flights and where and supposedly checked every day (instead of counting the millions he was making lol). Somehow he found out about the older son (think she had a son but not that old) and suspended her benefits while they were in Hawaii. They had to purchase tickets to get back.
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Hope they did it on a different airline.
 
Mason said:
I know a guy who flew with his girlfriend posing as his wife. He got fired.
And divorced.
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I'd also imagine to be a good ferry pilot you'd have to do some marketing and have a website, I'd imagine if you pi$$ed someone off it wouldn't be hard to find you and get a email or something saying you use your jump seat for free travel for your ferry biz.

Again, I doubt they would go out of their way to bust you, but if they wanted to, or you ticked someone off, I don't think it would be hard to find you and bust you.
 
Anymouse said:
Hope they did it on a different airline.
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Fortunately her father was a Dr so I imagine he covered them, not sure who it was. I'm sure she also lost her Delta privleges too.
 
James331 said:
Again, I doubt they would go out of their way to bust you, but if they wanted to, or you ticked someone off, I don't think it would be hard to find you and bust you.
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Oh they'll go out of their way believe me.
 
Interesting info on the non-rev stuff. I never knew (nor cared).

But I can say with certainty that I've known two long time ferry pilots that do it. The rest never seem to ferry for very long but these two have done it since I was a pup.

Don't know what airline, don't know how, don't care, and now that I know they're not supposed to do it, I don't ever *want* to know. Ha. It's now officially "none of my business".
 
Social media is the new bugaboo. The various airlines have people who can and do monitor that stuff and what their employees post and say.

You might go years and years, but scratch a fender or make the news in any way, and the airline will start pulling on those threads.

Then the fun really starts. They'll go back and match up your non-rev travels with other activities, and if they figure out you were doing it for a side business, you get the option of writing them a check for all those tickets to keep your job.

It only ends in tears.

Richman
 
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