Charter and fractional provider Volato is increasing its pay and enhancing its benefits package for pilots as a way to counter “a shrinking talent pool,” the upstart HondaJet operator announced this week.
Pilots at Volato will be offered a starting salary of $150,000 and $170,000 at two years. They also will be offered a benefits package that includes 100 percent coverage for health, dental, and vision. Additionally, pilot and crew schedules are eight days on and six days off. Volato also hopes the lure of flying HondaJets with Garmin integrated avionics suites will be appealing to new pilots.
Volato was founded in September 2021 as a fractional provider of HondaJets. In December, the company launched a pay-by-the-hour charter program in which a portion of the charter fees is returned to the company’s aircraft shareowners. Volato started with a single HondaJet Elite S, along with an initial order for 10 more of the light twinjets. In January, Volato placed a second order for 15 more HondaJets.
The company operates from bases in Atlanta; Baltimore; Carlsbad, California; Houston; and St. Augustine and Fort Lauderdale, Florida.