How much to bill for Aviation Consulting

[FastPilot]

Situation: The owner of the company that my wife works for approached me about giving some advice on buying a first jet (first aircraft actually), since they had no pilots, and no aviation experience. My wife was up for a promotion, so in order to grease the skids, I graciously offered to put together some info for them, and lend a hand. Well, before it was over, I had set up an entire flight department from scratch, shopped for jets (ended up with a Falcon 10), and helped to screen pilots. In the end I spent a great deal of time on the project (which I had agreed to do for free), but I never actually tracked the time I worked on it. Recently their CFO approached me, and offered to pay me for my time and services, because I devoted so much energy to the project. When I replied that I didn't know what I should bill, they suggested $50 to $70 an hour, and to give them an estimate on the time I spent. He also said if I was unsure, to bill high. I ended up spending several hundred hours on this, though I am not really sure how much. They also offered me a type in the Falcon, and a possible job if they buy a second aircraft, which may or may not happen. I may be loosing my job in the near future, so money is tight, and I want to be paid fair market value for the work I performed, but I also don’t want to anger my wife’s company. I need to be able to justify/document going industry consulting rates (if they are higher than $70/hr), and also get some idea of how long it typically takes a consultant to complete a project like this. The last point is that this is the first time I have done something like this, so even though I have been around aviation for over fifteen years, it was new to me and I did have a learning curve. If anyone has any information, advice, or knows of resources pertaining to this that I can use, please respond. Thank You.

Steve

 

[Rick1128]

Since you don't have a track record as a consultant, you really can't charge too much. And add into the fact that they are willing to type you in addition. I suggest that you make a reasonable estimate on the hours that you worked for them, including time that while not directly involved, concerned their program. Things like trips to the post office, research, etc. Bill them around $ 65 to 70/hour, take the type and run. Remember that a inexpensive consultant is a poorly regarded consultant. The more you charge, the better you have to be, in their minds.

Take that money and the type. You can always do contract pilot service for them when they need someone.

It gives you a jet type and time and work experience as a consultant.

 

[CaptLeslie]

I have seen typical day rates vary from $ 150 up to $ 1500.

A few considerations:
Consultants tend to get "stuck" with the initial price. As an example if you start with an initial day rate of for example $ 200 than that will become your price and it can be very difficult to get a higher price with the same customer in the future. It might be hard to negotiate even a 15% increase. The same customer could very well have accepted an initial $ 400 day rate without any concerns.

How do you find your price? We could probably put together a long formula that might be relevant in certain cases. But in the end it really comes down to supply and demand. Is there someone else out there willing and able to do the same job for less?

From the customers point of view it is the usual questions asked about any kind of outsourcing. One main advantage is not to have to deal with employees.