Meet Eva Lucas, a gal not born into the pilot’s clan but caught the aviation bug while exploring her wanderlust for different countries. Encouraged by her fam, she took a dip in a beginner’s flight course to test the waters of her interest in flying.
“Yeah, that’s when I thought, ‘Flying is my thing,'” shared Lucas, a French chica soaking up the Florida vibes, spilling her story to Business Insider.
She kicked off formal flight training at 19, scoring her pilot’s license in a mere four months. At 21, she clinched her commercial license, a feat she bragged about to BI.
Word on the street is that the bill for a pilot’s license ranges from $6,000 to $20,000, and commercial licenses don’t come cheap either. While many take the scenic route, Lucas zipped through in a quick four months, catching lessons every darn day.
“During the commercial pilot training, it was two hours of lessons every morning, followed by clocking in at my family’s bakery in the afternoons,” she spilled.
After a brief stint as a flight guru, she got the golden ticket – an offer to captain private jets. But before taking the steering wheel of private planes, she logged in an extra month learning how to groove with Gulfstream jets.
She tossed in that paychecks danced to the beat of jet size and the pilot’s role in the cockpit. Career pilots could be rolling in the big bucks, with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics dropping the 2022 average pilot’s salary at $225,000.
Being a private jet jockey is nowhere near your regular 9-to-5 office blues. Lucas swings a 20-10 schedule – not a 20:00 to 10:00 deal but a 20-day shift followed by a sweet 10-day escape.
Over those 20 days, she might find herself chilling at international hotspots or doing a bunch of mini-hops across the good ol’ US of A, all depending on the clients. And yeah, during those 20 days, she might be catering to one or a posse of clients.
“During those 20 days, I gotta be ready to spread my wings whenever the client gives the nod,” Lucas laid it out.
While plans usually get scribbled in the planner beforehand, reality often tosses them out the window.
While on the clock, her digs and three squares a day are on the house, courtesy of the company, no matter where she lays her hat.
Lucas has jetted off to various countries, playing hopscotch from South Korea to France, Colombia, the UK, and the Caribbean.
Despite the perks, Lucas fessed up that there were things she missed. Especially during holidays, like Christmas and New Year’s, which surprisingly are the go-time for clients to hit the skies.
“There are days when I’m stuck in less-than-exciting places, like some sleepy town in Ohio, and it makes me yearn for my family,” Lucas laid it bare.