Bombardier Pilot – South Carolina

When Justin Allen has the time to pick up assignments with JetPro Pilots, the work is usually  available.

Justin lives in Edgemoor, SC, not far from Charlotte, NC, where he is based as a salaried pilot with a corporate flight department.  His schedule affords him ample down time, and he makes himself available for contract positions through JetPro Pilots. He has been working with JetPro for nearly three years and is pleased with the arrangement.

“They’re very easy to deal with,” he said of JetPro in a recent interview. “They call with good trips — good trips, good locations. And the other JetPro pilots I’ve flown with always have been very good, very qualified, very professional.”

Justin came to aviation through the Air Force ROTC program while a student at the University of Arkansas. He went from college to active duty shortly after 9/11 and wound up flying C-130 Hercules cargo craft on tactical missions in the Middle East. He served in that role for 15 years until he left the Air Force with an early retirement and found work in private aviation.

“I was on a Citation three for a couple years, just sitting right seat,” he said of that period. “The guy I flew with at that time was just a left-seat guy and he was never going to give that up,  which was fine because he had given me my intro to civilian flying. I flew with him for several years and was ready to move on.”

A Challenger position soon opened up near where Justin was living in California. “I didn’t really know much about a Challenger,” he said of his circumstances. “I just knew I needed to get in a different airframe to get left-seat time, and I jumped at the opportunity. It turned out to be a great platform as far as the capability, range, and size.

“So now I’m on a Challenger 604 and a contractor pilot joined us,” he continued. “He and I were talking and he said he had used JetPro Pilots. So, I got with them through LinkedIn to get some contracting work and was hired as a co-pilot or first officer.”

Justin became captain-qualified for 604s, but had fewer hours in the left seat than his new colleague. So they worked out an arrangement.

“He is now our chief pilot and basically he and I swap seats, because he’s a very generous guy,” he said of his crewmate. “He tells me, ‘You’ve already done the training and you should be getting seat time over here.’  He’s at the point in his career where he says, ‘I’m not trying to build any more hours. I need to let you build yours. So we’ll share it.’  It has really turned out to be a really good situation.”

Another positive of his JetPro assignment is that Justin’s contract employer often has business in Oklahoma near where Justin grew up.  He is able to spend time with his family there during layovers that can extend to several days.  He is in the air for his primary employer for 6-8 days a month, so he is often available for other JetPro assignments.

“They’re very easy to deal with,” Justin said of JetPro. “I’ve always gotten along with the people there. I believe JetPro does very well in its hiring process.”