121S (also 91/135 operations)
4 Boeing 737
Multiple biz jets

This is intended to give a realistic overview of the pro’s and con’s of being a pilot employed in Kaiser Air’s 121 ops. The Kaiser pilot group will keep this updated so the information here stays current.

PRO’s
Small Company, nice people, aircraft are in good shape. Good crews. Management are also pilots and are good guys.

Overall a good company. You will (generally) fly less calendar days than you would elsewhere.

Kaiser Health Insurance - good for families
Profit sharing
401k match (I believe 8%)
Family business culture (the entire family work here)
ID90/ KCM
Jumpseat privileges on Hawaiian (only)


CON’s
1. PAY - most Kaiser Pilots fee it’s less than industry standard. You will have to cover hotels for training (not sim), no per diem or overtime opportunities, and you’re essentially working all month (see below).

2. No published pay chart, which means no guaranteed annual raise.

3. SCHEDULE - this is the big one. You essentially don’t have a schedule.

Typical Month

8-12+ days short-call (90 min per GOM)
4-12 pre scheduled flight days
4 “off days”
Remaining days STBY (“white”, basically long-call, but not officially defined). You’re expected to accept trips these days.

4. SCHEDULE DOES NOT LOCK and changes are often without notice. Off/Stby days aren’t in a row, they’re scattered in small random chunks throughout the month. Couple days here, couple days there, and they change within the month. You won’t have true days off unless you take vacation, which you will need to do to request 4+ days off.

5. COMMUTE - OAK Base is EXPENSIVE if you live in-base. No Crash Pads and local hotels are around $200/ night if you park a car. You can stay out of the area for less, but..

6. Show times for most of your flying conflict with major traffic. The extra $40 a night for an OAK hotel < sitting in traffic in the morning. No company commuter clause or consolidation's.

7. You’ll be doing mostly augmented out-and-back Hawaii day trips. 7/8am show, 9/10pm release. Typically Thursday/ Sunday. This isn’t a negative, most pilots prefer these. But, you also just fly to Kona and back, sometimes for months on end.

8. Part 91/ 135 culture takes precedent. Experienced 121 Pilots may be frustrated. No use of flows, long challenge and response checklists and a lot of procedures that are very nonstandard for large 121 aircraft.

9. AUGMENTED FLYING - Pros and cons to this. It’s a long day, but because of augmented, you fly less calendar days per month. Unfortunately, you’re on short-call reserve now most of the non flying days so it doesn’t really offset. Most pilots still fly 450 hours a year though they may work less calendar days.

WHO IS A GOOD FIT
If you're a home body (have to like to stay home and be flexible day-2-day) and live within 30/45 min from Oakland, this will be your dream job. You can’t reasonably plan to leave town because of the schedule. But, if you stay home a lot and work on projects or have kids to raise, you will like the time at home (you’ll be on short call reserve though). If this is you, Kaiser is your jam.

WHO SHOULD NOT CONSIDER KAISER
if you have a family and need a predictable schedule, youre going to be frustrated. If your end goal is a major, you’d probably be better off at a regional getting true 121 experience. If pay is important, you might be frustrated. Most pilots feel pay is about 25% lower than it should be (lack of per diem and extra costs associated with commuting and hotels per year).

IN GENERAL, I’d rate Kaiser a 5/10. There’s nothing that stands out as exceptional, nothing truly terrible, and there’s enough uniqueness that makes it a good gig for some people. You won’t be rich, and your trading time at home (not traveling, at home), for a big pay cut relative to the majors. You could make a career out of Kaiser, but you’d probably need to have a spouse with a well paying job to retire well.

PILOTS WHO LEAVE do so for higher pay, and more recently, because of the lack of a schedule.

PILOTS WHO STAY have a spouse with a professional job, live in base, and/or have small kids at home.

All of the pilot group says Kaiser is a good company. However, most feel the recently adopted heavy use of short call reserve, scheduling volatility and low overall pay does not make Kaiser appealing long-term.

If you’re considering Kaiser, I’d recommend contacting one or two people from the pilot group and walk through what you’re looking for. Make sure you’re making the right decision for your situation. As always, there’s Pro’s and con’s.