Major tech companies like Google and Apple offer employee perks such as onsite fitness facilities, spas, and access to technology they love. What do aviation companies offer their employees? Independent flying clubs are nothing new, but companies such as ACI Jet and Dassault have set up or associated themselves with flying clubs for the benefit of their employees. Through these clubs, employees at any level with any aviation background can take training courses and learn more about aviation through flying. These companies benefit from the sense of community flying clubs establish among employees.
ACI Jet’s Employee Flight Department
The precursor to ACI Jet’s Employee Flight Department was formed when the company was just five years old. Originally, the company purchased an American Champion Decathlon, more of a “pilot perk” than a flying club, ACI Jet president and CEO William Borgsmiller told AIN, but the aircraft had to be sold during the 2008 recession. In 2014 ACI Jet’s newest business partner Olivier leclercq began funding a new aircraft for the Employee Flight Department, allowing it to truly take form.
“If you’re working in aviation, the ability to go and fly an airplane and learn how that whole system works and what’s happening on the other side of the fence is important from a career-development standpoint,” Borgsmiller told AIN. “It’s also a networking tool inside the company itself. It promotes excitement and participation in aviation.”
Today, the Employee Flight Department offers a Beechcraft A36 Bonanza, a Diamond DA40, and soon a Cessna 172. Employees do not have to pay for maintenance, insurance, and other costs; they are only responsible for fuel costs. ACI Jet also offers a continuing education program through which each employee is allocated $1,200 a year for ground school courses and classes that go toward certificates or ratings. Employees could potentially complete a complete ground training course for free.
The aircraft generally fly between ACI Jet’s Santa Ana and San Luis FBO locations.
The D40 is on a contract with professional flight school Orange County Flight Center, which is based at John Wayne Airport, so employees schedule their flight times with them. Borgsmiller told AIN the company is unsure which flight schools will manage the Bonanza, which is currently on an older program, and the Cessna 172, which is still being updated.
Besides earning hands-on experience flying an aircraft, ACI Jet employees receive other benefits from this flight department. Employees are allowed to take the aircraft for a weekend, although there are some limitations. In December 2016, assistant chief pilot Matthew Bouchenot, who helped form the Employee Flight Department, proposed to his girlfriend Hillary while flying over the coast of Santa Barbara in the Bonanza.
“Not only do I enjoy having access to a beautiful Bonanza, essentially just for the cost of fuel, but I really do enjoy the excitement that the other pilots have regarding the club,” Bouchenot told AIN. “Just seeing how ecstatic employees from accounting, line service, or even cabin servers are about the club makes me feel honored and privileged to be a part of a company that does so much for its employees.”
Dassault’s Mystere Flying Club
The Mystere Flying Club is a “separate and distinct” operating entity that is open to Dassault employees, senior communications leader for Dassault Andrew Ponzoni told AIN. The flying club was started in 2000 and is based at Caldwell Airport in New Jersey. It currently has 23 members including employees, Dassault suppliers, and business partners. The club operates one Piper Archer.
“We’re an aviation company that is inspired by and loves aviation,” Ponzoni told AIN. “This club takes that main drive and brings it to employees. Dassault also supports employees who want to learn how to fly to either get a private license or instrument rating and will reimburse a certain percentage of the cost.”
Members can fly at one third the price of flight schools and rental agencies in the New Jersey-New York area. They have access to Flight Circle, an online scheduling service, to schedule flight times. While the Mystere Flying Club does not offer flight instruction, each member has the option of working with an independent flight instructor who has been approved by the club. Participants may also reach out to a different flight school for training and Dassault may reimburse employees to a certain extent.
The Mystere Flying Club also holds events for its members. For example, when the FAA started creating temporary flight restrictions (TFRs) for President Trump’s visit to his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey, in early 2017, the club offered seminars on how to operate within a TFR. Club members can also work under the guidance of an A&P mechanic to learn about performing maintenance on an airplane.
Looking forward, the flying club is not interested in expanding its fleet; instead, it will focus on improving the Piper Archer. Recently, ADS-B Out was installed in the aircraft. However, the club is looking to increase membership.
“Dassault is inspired by aviation every day, and we try to pass that inspiration to our employees with the flying club,” Ponzoni told AIN.
