Sunday Deep-dive! 🤿

Optic Air, ladies and gentlemen, for the second time.

About 3-4 months ago, we did a deep dive on the Aztec fleet. It seems life is [very] different depending on what you’re assigned.

I was finally able to get in touch with one of their Skyhawk pilots. Flying the Cessnas requires less hours than the Aztecs obviously, so this is an actual low time opportunity.

For when the time comes later this summer, here’s your link to their career page and application instructions. (click here)

Until then, let’s dive in!

“I had 270 hours with 15 multi when I started last year, August-August contract. I grinded for the company and got a lot of hours—can’t disclose it in details because it will narrow it down to identifying me lol—but let’s just say half a season should get me to my hours for ATP.

My plans are to go corporate until the airlines pick back up then work my way to majors, eventually.

the Optic Air survey pilot experience…

Typical day is to double-check the weather. Fly until your sun window expires, do your reports, submit a wx brief and plan for the next day. The rest of the day/evening is yours. The beginning of the season, your day starts mid morning, and as the days get longer (towards summer) your mornings start earlier and evenings end later. It is your responsibility to coordinate MX so that it does not interfere with any capture days. I flew the C172 so maintenance is straight forward. I carried my own oil filters supplied by the company so that MX can change my oil and only have to worry about supplying oil. Hotel and rental car are paid for by the company. There are budgets to each but I was never in a dirty hotel. They were all quite comfortable and nice.

I liked that you can earn the trust of the managers and essentially be trusted to be your own boss. Just do the job how they trained you and you won’t have any issues. Be proactive and not reactive. You do not want to lose a revenue day because you didn’t plan your oil change accordingly. I liked that I was able to collect the hotel and rental car points.

Most of the pilots that they hire are solid people, some you question how they even got their commercial certs… The culture is getting better every year.

I was able to build a LOT of hours very quickly this season. But it’s all weather dependent. It was a good year weather wise. My favorite memory is just having weather days and bonded with the guys with discounted trips to the local rec center.

Management can jump down your throat. But I only had that happen once. Other, not squared away people, had it happen a lot. I didn’t have any horror stories this year. The Cessnas are kept in really good shape. But they are worked to the bone and are definitely tired at the end of the season. But MX brings them back to home base and fixes them up before the next season.

It’s a really rewarding job because almost every flight is a XC not to mention I hit almost every part of the country. My first flight from the home base was a 6-hour ferry. After that project I flew to the east coast then back to the south west. You get a lot of time and experience!

quick look at the numbers…

The pay is a flat rate per day that you are assigned to the plane. No per diem. The numbers are better than the season before. That’s all I can say…

Pilots will get a minimum of 40 hours a month. Often we hit 70 a month and a few times over 110 a month. It is a 4-week on and 2-week off rotation. You only get paid when you are on rotation. You do not have to move for the job. They WILL pay for your plane ticket to and from home plus 1 checked bag.

Training starts around end of September/October for the Cessna pilots. During training you are paid the same flat day rate. No incentives as of this past season (23-24).

If you want to apply…

Referrals seem to be the main way into the company. I was lucky because I was not a referral.

They prefer pilots with a CMEL and 15 hours of multi so that the Cessna pilots can ‘upgrade’ into the Aztecs after 500 hours. If you have less than 500 hours, you’re on the Cessna and 500 or more, you’re on the Aztec.

My class was not competitive, almost everyone had between 250-300 hours for the Cessna. If a pilot can get to 500 TT with the 15ME before Janurary. It’s almost a guarantee to be upgraded to the Aztec.”

I know what you’re thinking: it’s hard to evaluate and compare jobs without precise figures. Although our interviewee is to remain anonymous, an NDA is an NDA I guess.

We should assume it doesn’t pay top dollars, like every low time job. The better thing is that you’re home-based. I personally lean more towards shorter but hard commitments to be on the road though.

Last year, they were hiring late August (23rd). As always, an email will be sent when that happens.

Stay in touch! 🫡

P.S: for premium database users, there’s an additional email for you from me, just trying to make sure you don’t miss it…

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