CLIENT SPOTLIGHT: JetPro Pilots
JetPro Pilots is a Fort Wayne—based agency that focuses exclusively on business aviation staffing. JetPro provides temporary and permanent solutions for pilots, flight attendants, and maintenance technicians for various operations across the United States, ranging from small, single airplane operators to Fortune 100 flight departments to large private airlines.
JetPro was founded in 2009 by three partners, all pilots. The company was benchmarked on the philosophy of providing the absolute best opportunities and treatment for both the client and the flight crews. Designed from the ground up with a solid business infrastructure and a mature attitude toward growth, the company operates from five core principles: simplicity, technology, integrity, service, and relationships.
In an industry that often still uses independent contractors for contract work, often without any of their own insurance, JetPro helps professional operations and flight departments provide an overall better solution.
JetPro hires each of its temporary or permanent crew members as W2 employees, setting a clear delineation that JetPro is the employer of record. Each pilot, flight attendant, or maintenance technician goes through a thorough screening and onboarding process, which includes a thorough check of aviation credentials plus FAA and criminal background checks.
For its insurance coverage, JetPro uses Aviation Specialty Insurance for both its workmen’s comp and commercial general liability (CGL). Since JetPro does not own or operate any aircraft, it contractually requires that each of its clients carries the proper coverage for the operation, including ample coverage for insuring the airplane(s) and the operation as a whole. JetPro carries full workmen’s comp coverage in each state where its crews are based. And although the client is expected to carry its own commercial general liability (CGL) insurance, JetPro also carries an additional layer of its own CGL, including additional insured coverage, helping to add more protection for everyone involved. In a fast-moving industry, Matt Drummelsmith and Aviation Specialty are able to provide highly competitive rates and quick response times with certificates and contract review, as things often move quickly when trips are scheduled and crew is needed.
JetPro also leverages technology to operate effectively and efficiently. CrewTrac™ is JetPro’s exclusive online system used to establish and track each crew member’s aviation credentials. It covers everything HR as well as aviation credentials, including recurrent training and FAA medicals, which have to be renewed periodically according to FAA regulations. The CrewTrac™ system sends out automated reminders to the office staff and each individual crew member as various certifications are about to expire. It also has robust reporting capabilities for the back office to find pilots quickly, organizing them by aircraft, experience, currency, and location.
In addition, JetPro has designed and built an exclusive expense reporting solution called TripTrac.™ Provided free of charge to its employees, pilots and crew are able to use TripTrac™ on their smartphone to track their wages and expenses for each trip, using the camera on the smartphone app to snap pictures of receipts and submit them electronically. JetPro then processes payroll every single week so that crews get paid and reimbursed fast, making JetPro an industry leader with the fastest and easiest crew payment process in the industry. As a recent JetPro Gulfstream pilot stated after submitting his trip on TripTrac, “JetPro Pilots has always been great at clear and rapid communication when scheduling trips and excellent with prompt payroll and expense reimbursement afterward. I’ve found them to be very friendly and helpful every time I’ve called.”
JetPro has built a large database of over 1,000 pilots in recent years, covering a wide range of business aircraft, from the Pilatus PC-12 to the Gulfstream G650 and everything in between. JetPro has also recognized another way in which it can serve the business aviation industry. JetPro Recruit™ was born in 2017 to help flight departments and organizations with their full-time hiring, offering placement services at very competitive rates. JetPro is now able to offer placement services for both part 91 and part 135 operators across the country. With JetPro’s foundation built on temporary crewing, JetPro’s clients have a unique advantage to use pilots on a trial basis (Part 91) until a decision is made to hire them full time. This allows chief pilots and decision makers to see pilots in the cockpit and on the road during a trip. Flexible payment options are also available to fit a variety of clients’ needs.
