Tipping a professional pilot is insulting. When is the last time you tipped your lawyer? People asking for such are denigrating the profession. Just. Stop. Please. Signed, A 40 year retired professional pilot.
Well, after a criminal trial I did, the defendant's brother showed up to my office with a bag of money. I politely declined. Never accepted the cocaine either despite being offered numerous times. I don't know if that would be considered a tip, though. Mark
Agreed on all points. You dont tip your Lawyer or Doctor, Professional Pilot is in the same boat. Its uncommon to get a tip but when it happens, I generally toss it to our FA as he does most of the fussing in the cabin. But tipping your pilot is tacky.
I dunno, I'd consider a Rabbi a professional, but every time he does a Bris he gets a tip. Just thought I'd toss that in here... D
Not to derail the thread but how much do you guys tip the line guys? Every time regardless of service delivered? At your home base? How about when two or three guys help out?
Another factor to consider, is the pilot also the plane's owner? If so, then tipping may not be necessary. I'm already paying him/her for the charter. If the pilot is an employee of the plane's owner, then feel free to tip. Similar protocol as in a hair salon.
Tipping line service-- that's an interesting issue. I know one guy who basically sprays $50 bills at anyone who comes close to the airplane. He claims to get awesome service wherever he goes, and I'm sure that's true. I never tip the guys at my home base, unless they do something way above and beyond fueling the airplane. On the road, I don't tip for fuel, but I do tip if they load bags or something like that-- and of course, anything I consider to be above and beyond. When I flew an airplane with an externally serviced lav, I always tipped the guys who did the lav service. And there are a few places, like Teterboro, where it's pretty expected and you need to do it. Even there, it's generally not the fuel guys but the supervisor who comes out when you arrive. When I worked line service in the 1980s, it was pretty unusual to get a tip. It happened, but it certainly was less common than today.
This is a tough one because most pilots make about 1/3 of what people think. That goes for corporate and commercial. Up until very recently, most first year First Officers at a regional airline (United Express/American Eagle) could qualify for food stamps....$23,000/yr
That's changing rapidly, though. Most of them are offering significant hiring bonuses and bonuses for completing training, completing the first year, etc.
I dont own my plane but tip the line guy $20 per stop minimum. And that is usually to the guy dumping the lav. If im barking out commands and they are doing it, $20 minimum to each. Private guys with experience.....pay is not a problem these days. Airlines are scooping up bodies. I jut saw a contract for over 200k a year, 15 on 15 off per month on a GIV. Don, I had some guy pull this at my usual FBO in TEB last year. He said, "You gotta pay to play". After a very small chat with the Manager (I asked her to look up how much fuel we buy monthly), no more of that crap. My pet peeve is when the owners toss out $100's and the line guys vanish after. Short story. My little brother was a line guy at MillionAir in SLC. He was visiting me in LA and I had a dead head back to SLC so I gave him a ride home. 20 Min out, I had my FO radio in that we are requesting no autographs from my passenger. Yup....8 line guys in perfect formation to park us. I walked down the stairs and awaited my little brothers 'grand entrance'. Priceless. 7 of the 8 walked off in disgust. The 8th got $300 from me. My brother said the guy got a promotion. Now lets talk about how much to tip the valet to let you self park your Fcar?
MillionAir in SLC used to be a pretty good fbo. Since it became TACAir, I think I've been there once and wasn't impressed. In TEB, no one has said anything explicit to me (at least at Meridian), it's just the vibe.
We use Atlantic because we have a nationwide fuel deal. Mark, heading down to Key West at the end of the month.....come on down for some drinks.
