Story ID: 
Contract Pilot Pay Soars
By: Mark Huber
Caption: Against the backdrop of big airline pay raises, day rates for biz pilots soar.
Word Count: 203
Day rates for contract pilots of popular business aircraft have increased dramatically over the last year, according to data from CrewBlast, a technology-driven private aviation and yacht staffing company. According to reported data from CrewBlast users, the increases are the most dramatic for some large-cabin jets, with select domestic day rates rising 25 percent or more, but touch just about every category of business aircraft.  
Captain rates for Bombardier Global Express series aircraft are up from $1,500 to 2,000-- $2,500; for Challenger 300 series from 1,300 to $1,800--$2,000; for Citation Sovereigns from $1,250 to $1,500--$1,800; and from Hawker 900s from $1,200 to $1,500--$1,700. According to CrewBlast, the top type ratings among crew users of the platform were: Gulfstream G550, Bombardier Global Express, Cessna Citation XLS+, Dassault Falcon 7X,  Embraer Legacy 600,  Gulfstream G650, Bombardier Challenger 604,  Bombardier Challenger 300,  Cessna Citation Sovereign, and Hawker 900XP. 
The CrewBlast data confirms continuing trends in business jet crewing and comes at a time when Delta Airlines has boosted top pilot pay almost 34 percent to near $600,000, and pilot unions across the country at just about every carrier, including factional provider NetJets, are aggressively negotiating for better pay.