Part-time airport jobs

[FLYING_TRUCKER]

Good afternoon Andy...

Well several of the folks that I would talk to who are a lot more up to date on Commercial or Military Aviation than what I am (been retired to long myself) would be:
Ritter Kreuz
Brett Henderson
Charlie
rottydaddy
I am sure one of these members would be glad to point you in the right direction or at least give you their opinion and you can form your own plan.
It does sound like you have a plan so give them a PM and see what they have to say.  It never hurts to have more than one frying pan in the fire and the more informed you are the easier it will be for you to make a decision.

Sorry I can't be of more help...good luck.  

Cheers...Happy Landings...Doug

[MrRooney]

you could try approaching the small company's around the airfields, and see if they have any vacancies doing anything from washing the aircraft (not as bad as it sounds) to help with the paperwork for the engineers.

or i'm not sure if they have them over there, but have you tried approaching them as a modern apprentice?

[SubZer0]

Hey Doug. Thanks for the list. No worries, I'll be sure to try to talk to each of them to get some much needed information on my career. Thanks

Nemo, I was spotting at KPBI a few weeks ago and saw that there are a few companies there, but I haven't actually stopped by to talk to any of them, as I'm not 18 yet and am still in high school. I want to wait until I turn 18 this August and start college. Or maybe I'll try to do this over the summer. That's another option.

[Jet Black1]

Hi
I am the line manager at an FBO (JetBlack Flight Service) at KGTU Georgetown Texas you can find it on google earth
Line service is fueling serviceing and cleaning aircraft,moveing aircraft in and out of hangers and around the ramp and so on.
I would look at smaller airports ONLY they are your best bet buy far.
I hire guys all the time because they love aviation, they make the best line service guys I can find.
Want to move to Texas :-?..............LOL
Best of luck and don't give up on your dreams.
JetBlack1
Greg
Hutto,Texas  

[skysurfer2010]

Go to an FBO and ask them for the local "AFD"... airport facility directory. They are around $5 to $7 or you can ask a pilot if they have an out of date AFD to give you. Then look up all the local small airports in your area and the description should give you an idea of all the kinds of operations that go on at that airport.

The larger airports can be a great learning experience of how commercial operations function. However, a lot of the line jobs and jobs for larger carriers will run you ragged with odd hours (possibly night shifts), holidays, and don't usually mesh too well with a college schedule.

Smaller airports always need line men, FBO employees, maintenance shops sometimes need someone to help clean up, maybe even the flight school could use someone to hang around to answer phones while their flight instructors are out flying, etc.

There are a lot of banner towing operations in FL. They need people to set up the banners for a pickup. That's a fun job and it's cool to watch the pilots pick up the banner (and even more fun for the pilot to do the picking up!  ;) ).

There are also some very large Drop Zones down in FL. I'm not sure where exactly you're located in FL, but I know Skydive Tampa, Skydive Sebastian, and Z-hills are very large drop zones down there. Not too sure how close they would be. A drop zone is a TON of fun and they will probably offer you huge discounts if you're interested in learning how to skydive. I work for a company here in NJ that supplies the planes and pilots at Sebastion. Some jobs for a non pilot would be manifesting, getting jumpers harnessed up and trained, and sometimes line men and grounds men. If you're interested in learning more about working at a DZ and/ or are near Sebastian send me a private message and I'll see what I can do. I know the chief pilot down there.

As far as colleges go, do your homework! Embry Riddle is a great well known university... but you'll pay for it! There are some other great options out there as well. Your idea of starting out at a community college is a great idea and will save you a lot money. In the end what matters most is your experience in the field and (unfortunately) who you know.  Also highly consider majoring in something other than aviation for a back up plan. The majority of flying jobs out there just want to see a college education, not necessarily one with an aviation major. It doesn't hurt to have it and might have a slight edge over someone that is just as qualified as you when applying for a job, but if things don't work out or your health goes caput your aviation degree turns into a paperweight.

The best advice I can give you is to look at all your options and anywhere you can safely save a buck, do it! This is an extremely expensive career to get started in and it's very easy to run out of money. Also keep in mind most jobs you'll start out in will be paying you about the same amount you could make flipping burgers and will run you ragged. Sadly the way the employers view it is that you're using them to build hours so why should they pay you more?  There is always another pilot out there willing to take your job with more hours and less pay!

Also network as much as you can! Working in the industry is an extremely smart step. It sounds like you have your head on your shoulders and are thinking outside of the box! Doing so will help you go far in this industry.

Also, don't burn your bridges anywhere in aviation and be sure to treat even the a-holes with courtesy. You never know when that a-hole could end up your chief pilot.

Any help I can be please feel free to send me a message! Good luck!

[Boss_BlueAngels]

After working for two FBO's and a smaller (family run) airport for over 3 years my biggest piece of advice is this:

Make sure you're not working for a bunch of cheap douche bags!  Took me 3 years of hell to learn that lesson. lol

Also, if it is a smaller airport take a good look at the equipment.  If it looks like crap, it most likely is.  One place I worked at was an absolute nightmare.  The 100LL truck's carb was busted and about 5 times a day would just start spraying gasoline everywhere ontop of the HOT engine.  Their solution?  Bang the hell out of it with a wrench to un-stick the float.  Went through that for about 4 weeks before I finally quit due to an extremely rude supervisor that finally crossed the line.  Also, the truck (JetA as well) looked like crap.  Although, neither of their trucks ever had any contamination issues with the fuel.  That's what counts I suppose, but what a frigging headache it was fixing these two piles of rust for three years.  

The good thing about the job was the spectacular scenery every day!  It was great!  And I was able to meet some really great pilots along the way.  As with any job, there was the occasional guy who would call you alllllll the way out to his airplane just for 1.5 gallons of fuel for a local 1-hour flight in a Cessna 172.  (when I say 1.5 gallons, I mean that's all I could squeeze into the remaining space in the tanks!!!)  Also it's an ALL WEATHER job.  If you don't mind being out in the elements, like myself, you'll love that part of it.  It may sound kinda sick, but I kind of enjoyed the rainy/snowy days being out there all busy keeping the planes thawed and in the right places all the time.  Washing the planes in the rain and snow was a bit much, but I just made sure to take a lot of breaks to thaw my fingers.  

If it wasn't for the people I worked for I don't think I could imagine a job that is more fun.  So please take a good look around the area to see how well maintained it is, talk to other employees, and run at any sight of poor treatment by the employer.  

My second piece of advice would actually be to stay away from jobs like this in aviation unless you really know what you're getting into.  Mine made me hate flying for a long time.  All I saw was people coming in complaining 24/7, getting treated like a second class citizen by supervisors, and rules being bent for the "good" people.  (Read "Good" as in those with the fattest wallets.)  Made me completely resent aviation.  And in fact, I still do a lot to this day, that's when I found out there was no way I could have a full-time career in aviation.

Any more specific questions please feel free to PM me.

[OTTOL]

.......Go to an FBO and ask them for the local "AFD"... airport facility directory. They are around $5 to $7 or you can ask a pilot if they have an out of date AFD to give you. Then look up all the local small airports in your area and the description should give you an idea of all the kinds of operations that go on at that airport. .......

Sorry to step on toes but before you waste your hard earned beer money, check out this site..

http://www.fltplan.com/AwMainSearchToAirportID.exe?a=1

[OTTOL]

Just in case you have any problems, you may want to try this....

http://www.fltplan.com/

Click on the Airport Info icon and then enter PBI or KPBI.