Ever heard of Boutique Air? Well, they’re hiring First Officers.

I spent the last few hours gathering info, because I remembered Boutique’s not a super popular company to work for. An actual deep dive would be nice in the future, but today, I got you with the controversy.

Boutique Air is a Part 135 commuter airline serving Essential Air Service routes (EAS), like Southern Airways Express for example.

And just like SAE, Boutique flies a single-pilot aircraft, the PC12, which means an SIC is not required. When that’s the case, First Officers can log hours only if the company has a Pilot Development Program.

That’s where the controversy is, or should I say, was.

In 2021, the Fargo FSDO invalidated all the hours flown by Boutique Air FOs because they didn't have a PDP in place, yet were employing co-pilots.

For your information, when I write these emails, I often assume we’re pretty much on the same page already, but just in case, here are the quick facts.

According to FAR 135.99, co-pilots are permitted to log time for aircraft operating Part 135 that do not require second pilots by type certification, but only if the company possesses an approved PDP in its operations specifications. Based on investigations, it appears that Boutique did not have the requisite approvals.

Their CEO goes on to write a whole letter to the FAA about how unfair what’s happening to them is.

Doesn’t change the fact that the pilots ultimately wasted their time there.

Just like any 135, Boutique has a training agreement. Under that contract, the new pilot is obligated to reimburse Boutique for a pro-rated portion of the $14,000 training program if the pilot resigns from Boutique less than 24 months after certification.

I guess that’s a problem only if you want to leave early. The thing is, you might.
Former pilots say they have sketchy MX at best, corporate will forever find ways to screw you on pay, and notorious for pushing pilots to fly in unsafe conditions.

The amount of routes they have left should also be cause enough for concern. It is said that they have lost a significant amount of EAS contracts to the competition which is their entire business model at this point, taking them completely out of certain markets. I may be wrong, but it seems they only are operating 2 routes now…

Bottom line is, most people would advise you to stay away.

For what it’s worth, they fixed their PDP issues, so you would be able to log your right-seat time.