Paragon Skydive a.k.a Skydive Grand Canyon is still looking for someone to fly their 206. They appear to have been looking for over a week now, and their job post just went live on BizJetJobs, which means they most likely haven’t found anyone yet.
I’m a low-time skydive pilot myself looking for something to fly this winter.
I wanted to learn more so I emailed them.
They got back to me yesterday, and essentially, they’re not happy with most of the applications that are coming through. They are looking for someone to commit for 12 months (I offered to fill in for 6-ish because I knew they used to offer that option).
Fingers crossed.
I’m sure most jump pilots would be happy to fly for them for 6 months, so I’m pretty confident the 12-month commitment is why they’re having a hard time filling the job.
They offer free housing and a minimum weekly guarantee. In contrast, I don’t really get either here at my current job, AND I get paid less (still love my job though, just adding some context). So, as far as single piston jobs are concerned, I think the pay is solid enough.
All this to say, if you have 500 hours and will commit to 12 months, this is worth a shot. Bonus points is you have jump experience or are already living in the Grand Canyon area.
This is one of the few jobs where you actually stand a chance cold applying.
I figured I’d take the time to also show you what I do to find this type of information.
First of, I don’t email the info address. Everybody’s applying there. You can find their staff email on facebook. Then, I make sure I don’t sound robotic. It’s a skydive job, lose the “to whom it may concern” and just write Hi [first name]. I keep it short, punchy and HUMAN.
To hopefully give you an idea of what I mean, here’s the overall framework:
Subject line: Need a pilot for the winter?
hey i heard you’re looking for someone, here’s the flying experience i have, would love to talk, thanks, P.S. (i just put my weight as a final selling point lol)
I agree it’s a bit risky but it has worked so far, I’d say I get a reply 2 out of 3 times—only for skydive jobs though.
I know about the free housing, minimum guarantee, or the 6-month commitment because of this old job post. Unfortunately, They didn’t post exact figures, but this guy Brian (again, you should definitely follow him on Linkedin, great stuff) says it’s $25 a load and $500 a week.
I hope this made sense. Having as much context as possible about the job when you apply is crucial to getting a reply, so I try and find whatever I can before I send my cold email.
I didn’t think the LinkedIn “hearsay” was enough to send a job alert over. But now, we not only know for sure that they are hiring, we also know there was something wrong with the applications they’ve been getting.
As promised: jobs, not junk.
Best of luck!