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GAMA / WHEELS UP - Current Pilot Experiences

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GAMA / WHEELS UP - Current Pilot Experiences

Old 11-28-2018, 08:17 AM
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Default GAMA / WHEELS UP - Current Pilot Experiences

Gama Pilots,

Thank you in advance for sharing your answers and experiences.

I’m looking at joining Gama with the focuses being on schedule, quality of life, and benefits. I’ll be coming in as a Captain with quite a bit of corporate and 135 experience over the span of 20 years. Not looking to achieve Airlines. I am a corporate pilot. The pay seems to be OK, and the benefits seem very nice, but it’s always the little nuansecs that can make or break a job.

I’d like to ask the current pilot pool about their experiences.

Is the 8 on 6 off schedule worth how hard you work during the 8 on?

How hard do you actually work? Legs, hours, etc.

Are the hotel accommodations nice?

Do you receive crew meals?

How is the airline travel back and forth?

How is the equipment?

Do you have to change the ‘honey pot’ yourself every leg?

What are things to be aware of when making the decision, that isn’t advertised during the hiring process?

Are you basically looking towards greener fields, or do you feel content to stay with Gama for a long time?

Anything and everything that can be added to the conversation to aid in a decision is deeply appreciated. Thank you!
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Old 11-28-2018, 08:34 AM
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1. 8/6 pretty good. It depends on which aircraft your on and location of the airplane on how hard you fly. Some days 4 or 5 legs some days 1 leg.
2.same thing some days are 4-5 legs others days you may sit hotel reserve. Just depends on demand and time of year. It’s not 8 days of 10 hr flying by any means. Doesn’t mean you won’t have a long day or two every once in a while.
3. Mostly Hilton/ Marriott a few IHG thrown in. Some BFE locations it can very. But we are talking one stop light towns.
4.If you have long days with not enough time to get food they will either get you a crew meal or get you Uber eats. But if you have a 3 hr break they expect you to get your own food.
5. Equipment very good and most well maintained.
6.Yes-But not every leg... most customers don’t even use it, so why change it. The average flight leg is 1.2hrs. Most people unless drunk can hold it that long.
7.Gama wheelsup is in major expansion mode so all the fun that comes with growing pains of a company. There’s a lot of hiring and new HQ employees
8.it depends on your age and dreams. I could easily stay 20 years or go to a major.
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Old 11-28-2018, 09:56 AM
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The only thing I might add to this response - People come in expecting to get to the jet quickly. The guys I've seen go to the jet recently have been here 3+ years. I expect that number to go up once all the Xs (which are coming slowly) are on property. If you're not content flying a King Air and dealing with those realities (lav service, no ground AC, climbing over passengers and their dogs, etc.), this isn't the place for you.

I would also check out the Gama/Wheels Up threads in the 135 section. Wheels Up is not a fractional program. You may get more responses over there as well.

Originally Posted by 1212135 View Post
1. 8/6 pretty good. It depends on which aircraft your on and location of the airplane on how hard you fly. Some days 4 or 5 legs some days 1 leg.
2.same thing some days are 4-5 legs others days you may sit hotel reserve. Just depends on demand and time of year. It’s not 8 days of 10 hr flying by any means. Doesn’t mean you won’t have a long day or two every once in a while.
3. Mostly Hilton/ Marriott a few IHG thrown in. Some BFE locations it can very. But we are talking one stop light towns.
4.If you have long days with not enough time to get food they will either get you a crew meal or get you Uber eats. But if you have a 3 hr break they expect you to get your own food.
5. Equipment very good and most well maintained.
6.Yes-But not every leg... most customers don’t even use it, so why change it. The average flight leg is 1.2hrs. Most people unless drunk can hold it that long.
7.Gama wheelsup is in major expansion mode so all the fun that comes with growing pains of a company. There’s a lot of hiring and new HQ employees
8.it depends on your age and dreams. I could easily stay 20 years or go to a major.
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Old 11-29-2018, 04:07 AM
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my experience was great at Gama, I was also left seat, not bad pay (NJA's new TA pays right seat about the same as left seat at Gama though) I got the feeling that if you are in Wheelsup you pretty much stay Wheelsup. What concerned me is that Wheelsup made a big deal about making sure you know you are not their employee and they can walk away from Gama whenever they want. Fun people but just realize it's a lot of work, no dispatchers, you file your own paperwork and flight plans, you empty the ****ter etc.
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Old 11-29-2018, 10:30 AM
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Originally Posted by Guard View Post
my experience was great at Gama, I was also left seat, not bad pay (NJA's new TA pays right seat about the same as left seat at Gama though) I got the feeling that if you are in Wheelsup you pretty much stay Wheelsup. What concerned me is that Wheelsup made a big deal about making sure you know you are not their employee and they can walk away from Gama whenever they want. Fun people but just realize it's a lot of work, no dispatchers, you file your own paperwork and flight plans, you empty the ****ter etc.
You're correct that it seems from some people's evaluations that the new TA from Netjets means that their FO pay could end up being the same as Gama left seat. The big difference is that it a lot of soft money at Netjets where it's all salary at Gama. For some people having the money guaranteed is a big factor.

You're also correct that Wheels Up could leave Gama. I never got the impression that they wanted to make sure The way Wheels Up's COO described the contract with Gama was that Wheels Up has to give Gama a years notice of leaving. So barring anything crazy, there would at least be that much notice. Also, looking at the reality, it would be pretty darn hard to up and move 80+ aircraft and all those operations to another operator. Not saying it's impossible, but I would think it would take a lot before trying to make that change.
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Old 11-29-2018, 08:15 PM
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Originally Posted by hdgbug View Post
You're correct that it seems from some people's evaluations that the new TA from Netjets means that their FO pay could end up being the same as Gama left seat. The big difference is that it a lot of soft money at Netjets where it's all salary at Gama. For some people having the money guaranteed is a big factor.

You're also correct that Wheels Up could leave Gama. I never got the impression that they wanted to make sure The way Wheels Up's COO described the contract with Gama was that Wheels Up has to give Gama a years notice of leaving. So barring anything crazy, there would at least be that much notice. Also, looking at the reality, it would be pretty darn hard to up and move 80+ aircraft and all those operations to another operator. Not saying it's impossible, but I would think it would take a lot before trying to make that change.
May sound crazy but I think WheelsUp is successful enough that NJA could purchase a part of it if DK would allow it, which he may, he likes their money!
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Old 12-03-2018, 06:00 PM
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Default GAMA / WHEELS UP - Current Pilot Experiences

For those currently at Wheels Up have you seem them hire career changers who have the ATP time requirements but experience is solely Part 91 and minimal twin time? Also any insight into the interview process?
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Old 12-04-2018, 04:28 PM
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Originally Posted by Quagmire24 View Post
For those currently at Wheels Up have you seem them hire career changers who have the ATP time requirements but experience is solely Part 91 and minimal twin time? Also any insight into the interview process?
Interview lasted 30 minutes and they told me via Skype we were hired, good people
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Old 12-05-2018, 06:31 PM
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Originally Posted by Guard View Post
May sound crazy but I think WheelsUp is successful enough that NJA could purchase a part of it if DK would allow it, which he may, he likes their money!
Ain't gonna happen. The real money is in the larger cabins. The only reason NJA keeps the small cabins is to entice pax to move to larger cabins. And WU has a lot of NJA's discarded airframes. No way will NJA want those things back.
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Old 12-06-2018, 05:42 AM
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Originally Posted by hydra View Post
Ain't gonna happen. The real money is in the larger cabins. The only reason NJA keeps the small cabins is to entice pax to move to larger cabins. And WU has a lot of NJA's discarded airframes. No way will NJA want those things back.
Probably right, their target customers are completely different, they are pretty clear at NJA that they charge a "premium" and the average customer is worth north of $25 million. WU is looking for the group of Doctor's who want to have a fun golf trip or go to a college football game.
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