February 2008 Story

Moving up? A mentor pilot may be right for you.

One of the great things about being in the aircraft sales profession for over 30 years is I get to help a lot of pilots work their way up through the ownership ranks. They start with a small piston single then work up through a larger model up, to a twin and even into turboprops and jets. And with the new Diamond D-JET coming on line later this year, that number of move-up pilots is going to grow significantly.

Because we like to think of our customers as part of the “Premier family” we make every effort we can to ensure that they are safe to operate any aircraft we sell. Frankly, if our Safety Director, Corbin Hallaran doesn’t give them the ‘thumbs up,’ I won’t give them the keys.

One of the more effective ways we can help less experienced pilots enjoy safer operations is to help our move-up buyers find a mentor pilot to fly with them for a while after they take delivery. These mentor pilots are usually corporate pilots or flight instructors looking for some side work. They can also be retired airline pilots who want to stay active. Wherever they come from they all bring a high level of experience and professionalism into the cockpit.

The mentors don’t actually fly the airplane, but are there to lend their expertise and guidance whenever the need arises. Our customers aren’t the only ones who like the mentor program; the insurance underwriters are very supportive of it too.

Fred Ahles

1/29/08

NO COMMENTS YET

ADD YOUR COMMENT

Name	Email
Subject
Comment