Average Flight Hours

[Ace]

Bear with me on this as I'm just curious how many hours a day/week you fly as a helicopter pilot, on average.

 

As a CFI full time:

 

As a CFI part time:

 

As a Helicopter pilot in general:

 

 

 

I know it depends on the company and where you are working, but just give an estimate on how many hours

you work in a day/week and what your job description is. Thanks guys/gals! Very much appreciated.

[EAGLE1]

Law Enforcement Pilot, 20-25 hours a week flight time whether I need it or not!

[spw1177]

Charter/Utility Pilot, 10-15 hrs a week during the winter months and 20-25 hrs a week during the summer. Last year 700 hrs.

[Eric Hunt]

Over the years of flying, the average has been 8 hrs/wk, coming from 15 years military, 6 years law enforcement, 11 years charter/flying school, 5 years corporate. Shortest time to get 1000 hrs was 21 months, longest was 46 months, average over 12,000 hrs was 30 months.

[Timbersprayer]

Utility -- Winter not enough to talk about / Fire spring/ Ag may thru sept -- average 3-5 hr day

25 hr week -- some seasons will pick up a bit , just averages 650 hrs last year. 25 seasons pretty consistant.

[delorean]

EMS - Summer= 1-2 hrs a day, Winter=1 hr every other day (I average 200-250 hrs a year)

 

When I was a flight instructor/tour/charter pilot I was doing 700-1000+ hrs/year.

[cptcoma]

Full time CFI 15 hrs a week. Depends on how many students we have.

[Ace]

O.K. So the hours that you all are posting are hours paid, correct? In other words, you're only getting paid while working. If that's the case, how does one make it as a Heli pilot? If you're not getting paid by the hour, are there a certain amount of hours you'll have to fly to keep a salary pay, or does it revert back to hourly?

[Eric Hunt]

Ace,

 

I have never been paid by the hour, always on an annual rate.

[flingwing206]

O.K. So the hours that you all are posting are hours paid, correct? In other words, you're only getting paid while working. If that's the case, how does one make it as a Heli pilot?

Ah, there's the question. You don't, at first, then if you heep your wits about you, you will.

[delorean]

In EMS......I get paid for 12hrs a shift whether or not I fly. I've gone a whole 7 day hitch without flying. When I break my pay based on flight hours only, I make $300+/hr (vs. the $20-30 I used to get as a flight instructor.) That's how I make myself feel better when I'm bored on rainy days.

 

Now meds crews for some air services only get paid for part of their shifts. These 24hr crews only get paid for the first 16hrs, but if they lift on a call they get the whole 24hrs. I highly doubt that anyone would ever do this for pilots--since it would influence decisions in quesitonable weather.

[spw1177]

I get paid a salary plus flight time. So I still get paid for sitting around the office, but the paycheck looks nicer with a couple hours of flight time.

[justfly]

In EMS......I get paid for 12hrs a shift whether or not I fly. I've gone a whole 7 day hitch without flying. When I break my pay based on flight hours only, I make $300+/hr (vs. the $20-30 I used to get as a flight instructor.) That's how I make myself feel better when I'm bored on rainy days.

$300+/hr

 

Now meds crews for some air services only get paid for part of their shifts. These 24hr crews only get paid for the first 16hrs, but if they lift on a call they get the whole 24hrs. I highly doubt that anyone would ever do this for pilots--since it would influence decisions in quesitonable weather.

I'm even surprised they pay the med crews this way. Seems it could influence their objectivity in the "three-to-go, one-to-say-no" process?

[Ace]

Wow, guys! This is great! From what you have said so far, I'm feeling better about what I will be spending on training and looking forward to a career in Flying! Anyone else who wants to add to this thread would be great to learn more about how many hours someone gets in their field of Heli Piloting. Thanks again to everyone for posting!

[Gomer Pylot]

I've always been paid straight salary, not by flight time. I've averaged all the way from an hour a month, covering night flights, to close to 8 hours a day, flying offshore. It all pays the same. Right now I'm probably averaging 5.5 to 6 hours per day flight time, with a 14 hour duty time. I seldom have to stay for the full 14, though, with 12 being about average.