1st Annual Independent Contract Pilot Association Meeting Held during NBAA Convention in Orlando
Orlando, September 14, 2002:


by Captain Jeff Beck


   
The Independent Contract Pilot Association (ICP) held it's first meeting in Orlando during the NBAA Convention.  It is the first such meeting where self employed, independent contract personnel have come together to discuss issues that affect the self employed aviation personnel.  There are many issues for the self-employed, such as training, currency, qualifications, taxes, legal business entities, insurance, and generally accepted good business practices.
   
Also attending the meeting were CAE SimuFlite training, FACTS International, the NBAA Flight Attendant Committee, a major aviation Insurance Company, Jet Professionals Placement Service, several placement web site administrators, and some of the aviation trade journals.  When industry leaders and vendors pay attention to the contract workforce, it infers there is some respect and notice of the newly formed Organization.  Interest from these companies validates the need for such an organization.
   
The breakfast meeting was an eye-opener for all who came.  It seemed unanimous that the dedicated professional ICP's wanted a strong mission statement and a set of guidelines and qualifications for all independent crew members who function as aviation's "spare" flight department personnel.  The group, speaking as one voice, wants the IC Pilots and IC Flight Attendants to be the best of the best.  Training, currency, qualifications, and standardization surfaced as the most necessary prerequisites to becoming a member of the ICP Association.  To this end, it was decided a name change would be needed to reflect not only pilots, but Flight Attendants and maintenance technicians as well.  Currently suggestions are being made on the Web Site.
   
Additionally, the Vendors attending are eager to have a source for qualified professionals and they indicate their support for an organization that requires certain standards to become a member of the Flight Crewmembers Listing Service.
Why all the fuss?  Because in today's business of aviation, the Contract Pilot is no longer the person who is "in between" jobs.  No longer are they the "unemployable."  Nor are they the young novice just starting out trying to build experience.  Today the dedicated Contract Crewmembers are professional people providing a professional service.  So it seems the time has come to not only define these professionals and their mission, but to ensure the training and qualifications standards are high, meeting or exceeding all the Operator's and Insurance companies expectations.
   
It was decided that the membership Crewmembers want to "legitimize" the organization and step up, or raise the bar of IC professionalism as pertains to training and qualifications.  It was also mentioned that to be a listed Crewmembers they wanted to see prelisting Drug & Alcohol Testing and Security Background Checks, to screen out less than standard Crewmembers.  Really nothing more than the Operators require of their own staff.
   
Therefore, the beginnings of an organized and focused group of folks has been born and the founders are presently putting together a "Board of Directors" who will prepare doctrine, standards, and coordinate implementation to help IC Personnel standardize.  No more substandard "moonlighting" is an underlying agenda of the organization.
 
Currently, the ICP Association has a web site at www.icpassoc.org that is open to all persons, both operators and contract pilots.  It is a place where information can be shared in a Forum.  It is also a place where operators can find IC Pilots and Flight Attendants when they have the need.  In the new organization of the Association, the Crewmembers listed will be the best in the country and will be easily accepted by the most stringent operators and Insurance companies.  There are about 400 subscribers presently, a mix of Crewmembers and operators.
 
Keynote speakers included the following people:
 
Mr. Warren Birmingham, Independent Contract Pilot Forum Administrator; Mr. Birmingham welcomed the group, and explained that he saw a need to create a resource for both the pilots, flight attendants and the operators where temporary Contract matches could be made based on need.  A strong need within the industry exists, and through the ICP Association he wants to define higher standards and qualifications so the operators can be confident that when they go to the Web Site looking for personnel, they can be assured of highly qualified and professional people for the full line of corporate aircraft in service today.  Operators will always have free access to the Crewmembers listing pages.  He informed the group that a Board of Directors has been appointed to begin the process of defining the mission, standards, and organizing the Association into a viable structure.
 
Captain Jeff Beck, SiBeck International Pilot Services; He talked about the need to disseminate information to the contract aviation community to help those that are newly involved.  Captain Beck has 8 years of experience being a self employed contract pilot.  Much of his wisdom and information can be found on his web site at www.gulfstreamcontractpilot.com where he freely shares timely and informative things about being self employed.  He also spoke strongly about raising the qualification and training level of the IC Pilots, so that the operators can have a more polished and professional Crewmembers.
 
Mr. Randy Phelps, CAE SimuFlite; He expressed his keen interest in the contract community, he understood that training costs were the number one biggest expense of the self employed pilot, and agreed that the training and standards in today's business aviation needs to be as best as it can be.  He made a presentation on the facilities in Dallas, and said that SimuFlite would make some training offers to the ICP Association members, as though they were a big flight department.
 
Mr. Sean Kalsen, LL Johns & Associates; Representing the three major aviation insurance underwriters, he spoke of the Insurance companies viewpoint of pilots, not only the full time, but also the contract people as well.  He informed the group of the higher standards of training and qualification that exist today, especially in the post 9/11 environments.  New standards for all pilots include 12-month manufacturer's approved, simulator based training to qualify as a flight deck Crewmembers.  The 12-month currency has superseded the 24-month "alternating aircraft" rule of yesteryear, though at times, based on an individual, this could be waived.  He is interested in working closely with the IC community to share ideas and information.
 
Mr. Doug Mykol, Air Care/FACTS/Stark Training; Representing his company insofar as training goes, he told the group that his training was not just for the flight attendants, but they also had pilot emergency training and total crew training.  He agreed and supported the concept of raising the bar to high standards in the contract community.  He is eager to participate with the ICP Association in the training costs and standardization.
 
Mr. Virgil Wolfe, Select Personnel; Retired from Gulfstream, he now operates a Gulfstream exclusive temporary placement service that maintains one of the highest levels of pilots in America.  His concerns were in areas of Workman's Comp Insurance and Operator/Contractor liability issues.  His company has obtained the very expensive Workman's Comp insurance, and he would like to participate with the group to bring this issue to a more affordable and effective resolve.  He also agreed wholeheartedly on the importance of annual training, standardization, and verifiable credentials.
 
Meeting Attendees
Meeting Attendees
Meeting Attendees
Susan Anderson of Factory Pilots Plus