Kalitta Air (K4) Information
 

The following is the latest information about current working conditions and employment potential at Kalitta Air – aka “K4” and although not from is approved by the CKS 140 Master Executive Council. This message will be updated and re-posted to this thread on or about the first of each month.



About Kalitta Air

Kalitta Air Pilots are represented by the Airline Pilots Association
CBA: A new contract was signed in December of 2016 and becomes amendable in December 2020
Current Company/Union relationship: Productive

Current Fleet: 20 B747-400’s and is a mix of BCF’s (Boeing Converted Freighter) and F’s/ERF’s (Factory Freighter) and 6 B767-300ER’s – The general understanding of the short term fleet goals is 25-30 B747’s and 10 B767’s. There are currently 470 pilots on the seniority list. Interviewing and hiring into both fleets are ongoing – classes of 16 start every 3 to 4 weeks.

747 Flights: The 747 has multiple daily departures and arrivals out of Cincinnati, Los Angeles, Chicago, Honolulu, Anchorage, Leipzig, Brussels, New Delhi, New York, Hong Kong, Incheon and Istanbul - other common layover cities are Amsterdam, Landstuhl Germany, Tel Aviv, Kuwait, Bahrain, Dubai, Pattaya Thailand, Hiroshima, Nagoya, Narita, Shanghai, Santiago, Wuhan - and really anywhere in the world is possible.

767 Flights: The 767's operate only in the DHL network out of CVG and layover in Atlanta, Chicago, Minneapolis, Laredo, San Antonio and Seattle.

Schedules: The schedules are on a monthly basis and are 16 days on and 14 or 15 off. The schedule is largely planned to be a continuous 16 day rotation but scheduling is good about moving days around if you need it. Travel starts generally in the afternoon/evening of your last day off and you will be home on your last day on by 2359z.

Bases: We are home based, meaning the company buys a full fare ticket to get you to wherever your line starts and back home when it's done - domestic travel is in coach - International travel is business or first class. Generally, lines start in CVG, LAX, JFK, ANC, ORD and a few others during November and December.

Pay: First year FO pay is $106/hr - the guarantee is 64hrs however we are very busy and you will average above 85 hrs pay per month and much more if you work on some days off which are paid at 150% - per diem is about $1200/month - with no days off flying a new hire can expect to make more than 100k the first year.

Crew Composition: The B747’s generally operate as a Standard crew consisting of 1 Captain and 2 FO’s. For longer flights, a Double will be assigned consisting of 4 pilots (1 or 2 Captains, and 2 or 3 FOs). Very rarely you will operate as a Basic Crew consisting of 1 Captain and 1 FO. The B767’s are operated as a standard crew of 1 Captain and 1 FO.

Hiring Candidate Requirements:
· 2500+ hours of total time minimum.
· If Military: >1000 hrs. Total Time. Turbine and PIC are flexible.
· 1500 turbine (jet) flight time min.
· 500 PIC turbine (jet) flight time min.


Application and Interview
Apply at kalittaair.com and choose “Pilot Recruitment” from the “Pilot Training” drop down menu
To update your application send an email to [email protected]
The first contact is a call from the Assistant Chief Pilot for a phone interview.
If invited for an interview the candidate will need to travel to Detroit at their expense for a one day interview consisting of 2 computer tests (cog/personality) and a panel interview. A Hotel room will be provided the night before the interview. The hotel van provides transportation to and from DTW the YIP training center and the Holiday Inn located in Belleville.

Training
Training consists of Indoc, CBT (Computer Based Training), FTD (Flight Training Device), Simulator and IOE. Initial Training takes 5 weeks and then you will be in the queue for IOE. Training pay is $600/wk plus hotel and per diem. Flight pay starts on 1st day of IOE or familiarization flight (usually within a month of completing initial training) so about 2 months total on training pay.
It will be a challenge for just about everyone, but if you are willing to put in the work, the instructors will get you through it. Expect to be flying a plane you’ve never flown out of locations you’ve never seen, using procedures you’ve never used while being graded on it. Most of it is self-guided and will require you to study with your class.

Frequently Asked Questions

I don’t have any jet/heavy time, can I apply?
Yes, you can still apply. We have quite a few pilots that came from a turboprop background.

Can they keep you out longer than your 16 days?
No, you are only required to work 16 days. They cannot force you to stay out. If for some reason beyond the companies’ control (weather) they cannot get you home by 2359Z they owe you 6 hours of pay per day or a comp day for keeping you out.

Can you be stuck on a back to back rotation?
It’s possible, but not likely. Most of the people that do back to back rotations are because they chose to, so they could change their schedule around to be home for a personal commitment. Very rarely will you get stuck with it because you did not have the seniority to hold the same schedule. If that happens, you can call scheduling, and they will usually try to help you out.

What’s a split line, and can I work less than 16 days in a row?
A split line is a line that does not have 16 days in a row during any calendar month. In general they would be 5-6 days at the beginning, and 10-11 days at the end. This does not mean you will be on the road any shorter, it just means that you will get the middle of the month off vs the beginning or end. If you work 10 at the end of March, and 6 at the beginning of April you are still on the road 16 days in a row. There are very few opportunities to work in small chunks, so if you don’t like the idea of being out for 16 in a row, you will not like Kalitta.

Will I be sitting reserve for a long time before getting a line?
Things don’t work like that at Kalitta. There aren’t many pure reserve lines. Being assigned a line doesn’t really mean you will actually fly those trips, so bid the time off that you want. You probably won’t fly the entire month with the crew you were assigned to either.

What type of flying will I be doing as a junior guy vs a senior guy?
The exact same thing. It doesn’t matter if you’re the number 1 guy, or the last, you most likely will not fly the line that you bid. You will however get the schedule you want based on seniority. There are also some lines that have a higher guarantee, so you will be paid what the line awards even if you don’t fly it.

How many hours do you fly per month?
Most people fly around 800 or so hours a year, but you will end up getting around 80-90 per month pay credit because of dead heads and reserve days.

How much Deadheading do you do, and in what class?
Lately there’s been a lot more of it, but in general you will deadhead about once or twice in addition to your initial positioning and going home. We get business class or better on international deadheads over 3 hours. Everything else is coach. Alaska and Hawaii are considered international.

What is the quality of the Hotels?
In general they are decent. In the US expect a lot of Holiday Inn, Double Tree, and Courtyards. In Asia and the Mideast they are outstanding with things like the Oakwood, Shangri-La, and the Millennium. In Europe they tend to be the Penta, and Radisson.

Do I have to sit around in the hotel on Reserve?
No. There are several types of Reserve, but the most common is R2. It means you have to check in with scheduling within an hour, and depart for duty in 2 hours. That basically means you have 2 hours to get into uniform and check out of the hotel. That leaves plenty of room to go out and enjoy the cities that you visit.

How long are you in each location?
You are required to have between 11-18 hours of rest depending on how long the day was, however min rest days are fairly rare. We are usually in any given location for about 24 hours, and there is a required day off each week.

Does Kalitta feed you on the flights?
Yes, the 747 is catered almost everywhere we go. There is a full galley, and ample time to eat. The 767 on the other hand is not catered due to the flight segments being short and the hub turn in CVG where food is available.

What is the Max Duty Day?
24 hours on a Double Crew – 17 hours on a Standard Crew and 14 hours on a Basic Crew.

Sick leave/Vacation
Vacation: 14 days per year until year 5 then 21 days per year.
Sick: 7 days immediately in the bank, and after the first year it accrues at .67 days/month

Uniforms?
The official uniform is from Crew Outfitters. You will be sized and purchase it at Initial training. On your anniversary you will get $250 from the company for “uniform maintenance”.

What bag should I buy, and how do you guys pack for 16+ days?
People use anything from Luggage Works to Costco bags, so it’s really up to you. You will not be jumpseating to work, so if you want to check a bag you can. Most of the people pack for 10 days, and do laundry once on each rotation. There are places to do laundry at 75%+ of our hotels.

Upgrade Times
The DOH for the most junior pilot holding a 747 Captain bid is September of 2016, and March of 2017 for 767 Captain. There will be another 747 Captain bid out early next year.

Is there a seat lock?
There is a 2 year equipment lock when you’re assigned a plane, but you can bid up to Captain before that 2 years is over. Once awarded a bid, you are seat locked for 2 years.

How does Overtime work?
You have to work 16 days per month. If you chose to work 1 extra day, you will be paid 1.5X your hours flown, and 4 hours minimum for not flying (whichever is greater). Example: I flew 10 hours on a day off, so I get paid 15 hours of pay. I then had a down day and flew another 10 hours on my time off. I get paid 4 hours for my down day, and 15 hours for the last flight. Total: 34 hours of pay for 3 days of overtime.

Miles for travel or Zed fares?
No Zed fares, or benefits for family travel. You will however get miles, and stays at most hotels.

Medical Benefits?
We enjoy one of the best Cadillac health care plans in the industry which is as good as or better than any major airline today. Medical benefits start after 90 days. Medical is currently $75 single and $150 family per pay period. Each year it goes up $25.

401K
You can sign up after 90 days, and it’s 5% matching up to $10,000 per year. The vesting is based on the number of years you’ve been at the company. <1 year 0%, 1 year 20%, 2 years 40%, 3 years 60%, 4 years 80%, and 5 years 100%

Is there a lot of attrition?
No, there is very little attrition. 1-2 FOs every couple months tend to leave for the legacies. Very few of the captains leave for anything other than retirement.

Do you fly for Amazon?
No.

Can I live outside of the US and fly for Kalitta?
Yes! We have quite a few crew members that live outside of the US. The catch is that the company will only buy you a ticket to the plane from an airport in the US, so you will have to find your own way to your chosen US airport. Scheduling will work with you though if you happen to live by a very common location that we fly to (Leipzig, Hong Kong, etc).

What does the 767 do?
For now, it does not have an ETOPS certification, so the 76 does domestic flying for DHL.

What are the bases at Kalitta?
YIP is the only base. The company will fly you to and from the plane wherever it is, but you will have to find your own way to YIP for training.

Who is Kalitta Charters, K2, K4 etc?
Kalitta Air (K4) is 747s and 767s. It’s run by Connie and is one you clicked on.
Kalitta Charters is a completely different company run by Doug Kalitta and is small stuff like learjets.
Kalitta Charters 2 (K2) is also run by Doug, but flies 737s and 727s.

I want to jumpseat on Kalitta. How do I do it?
Call Ops. The number is listed on the website, and they will be able to give you the schedule and list you on the flight.


https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ation_logo.png

Great info. Thanks for compiling all of that.

Fantastic info! Thanks!

This looks good
Should be a great resource for newbies and wanabies

That sounds pretty good right there.

Thank you for the information! It answer's all the right questions. I am definitely looking forward to applying and hopefully working for Kalitta when I get out of the military in 2 years! :)

so just to clarify is the turbine and PIC only flexible if you at military or is it just flexible in general? I meet all the requirements except I'm a little light on PIC time.

In the past we picked up some people with very little PIC. Just apply, and throw in regular updates.

Any downloadable file available for the current contract?
Thanks

What do bid packages look like, and do you bid monthly or 28 day schedules? What cities are considered "home bases" ,i.e criteria such as size, amount of scheduled service, or particular air carriers.

It’s based on calendar month with the exception of Jan Feb and March. Those are all 30s to make up for Feb’s shortcomings.

Why would you respond to an obvious troll / idiot that just re-asked the SAME questions answered on the previous thread a thousand times over AND THAT ARE NOW clearly outlined in this thread?

Maybe you are searching for the elusive "Tridiot" ?

Perhaps you have found him !

:)

Thanks for letting me know. I keep seeing conflicting information, and of course without having access to your CBA, I wasn't sure what was correct. Kalitta is having a couple of preferential hiring events coming up for XJT, one in ATL on August 7th, and a bullet point on Kalitta was provided. Since there are some differences on the outline, l was asking for clarification. I'm familiar with the 2007 agreement, but haven't seen the 2016 agreement.
Thanks again

Have all pilots now become ALPA members, or what percentage have joined to date? When will the interim officers hold elections for MEC offices?

K4ALPA:

Great idea! Good format for explaining Kalitta. Thanx for helping those out who are interested.

all K4 pilots are ALPA
other than 2-3 holdouts
A new permanent MEC has been elected

At first glance Mark, I would agree with you. Please re-read his questions. They are legit and actually good questions. I fly out of GNV. That is only my home base because there is commercial flight out of there. If there were not I would have to go to MCO,TPA, or JAX.
His other questions were just as valid.

Go Gators!!!!

Tried looking thru old thread to learn about examples of hotels. Can anyone share some of the international hotels K4 stays in. I start class soon, truly cant wait!!!!


Thanks in advance,

What is competitive for civilian hiring today? What do you see in the new hire classes for backgrounds and experience?

Is it worth getting 1000hrs Beech 1900 single pilot PIC time and then going to a regional and getting all SIC time and approx 3500hrs? Does it take more total time?

Does it take 121 regional PIC time?

The feeder cargo I’m flying currently seems to work well for my family and I. But, not sure it weighs in much at the next level. Trying to set myself up for down the road. Thanks for the input.

Um.... please read the whopping 2 pages of this thread and you’ll find that most of you’re questions are answered

What is the quality of the Hotels?
In general they are decent. In the US expect a lot of Holiday Inn, Double Tree, and Courtyards. In Asia and the Mideast they are outstanding with things like the Oakwood, Shangri-La, and the Millennium. In Europe they tend to be the Penta, and Radisson.

well....i'm in this hotel now

Hotel in Hong Kong - Luxury 5 Star | Kowloon Shangri-La

welcome aboard

How do you afford to eat there when a tray of nuts are $37, LOL. Seriously, what's your current per diem and what's it going to by the end of the contract?

I assume your single council is in YIP, does your MEC have an ALPA office there? How are your LEC meetings held, and where? Since everyone is home based, I'm curious on the logistics of how this works. I assume that few, if any pilots are in domicile.
Thanks for your input.

Application aircraft type
 

Do you get assigned aircraft type in class or are you hired in on the fleet for which you apply?

I suppose you've never seen their breakfast buffet that is included, that is, if you didn't stuff yourself of catering on the airplane, or perhaps you'd rather walk outside and visit one of the thousands of places to eat in Hong Kong. I spend a tiny fraction with this job from when I was at a regional, and what I do spend is 100% towards myself, not what's required to do my job.

We have no LEC, just a MEC. Everyone knows everyone pretty much on a first name basis.

When I applied it was general FO position. After interview process was offered a class in the 747 but obviously they offer the 767. It appears now you apply into type. Dont know if that helps ya.

Yep, thanks!

Just a short list of hotels ranked in nno particular order:

https://www.reservations.com/hotel/q...9b1c9807f2f0f9

La Quinta Inn & Suites Cincinnati Airport Florence near Florence Mall

Camp Inn Lodge | Hotel/Motel Lodging | Oscoda Township, MI

https://www.yelp.com/biz/crowne-plaz...pd5N5yoyzSuhtA

:: WORLDHOTEL ::

Air Force Inns

Air Force Inns

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Re...e_England.html

Domestic $48 International $69.60. The easy fix? Don’t eat at hotels or airports unless necessary. If you want to be cheap, there’s tons of places we go to eat like a pauper. You may be shunned by your crew though.

Geezer please stop spamming.

Man you are a bitter one.

If you work at K4 and hate it so much, why not leave and go somewhere else?

If you don’t work here, then why bother yourself by getting involved?

State Department Travel Advisories are not spam.
This is the information available to help travelers make informed decisions. Pilots are travelers by definition.

The information from WebMD is very similar to the information in the FRM policy.

Geezer, I appreciate you reminding me as to why I should not come on this forum. I apologize to all for asking a question!!!!!

What was the question again? Apology accepted.

don't let this fool get you down
all questions are fine and will be answered by someone
all we ask is that before you ask - read the info on post #1

that original post will be reposted once each month with revisions
that way guys wont have to wade thru BS like in the last few pages

You already infected and ruined the previous thread. So now you feel it is your duty to infect and ruin this one too? Thanks.

I won't see your reply as I've added you my ignore list. If anyone else wants to do the same, I suggest going to your own "user CP" at the top of the page, choose "edit ignore list," and add Geezer to it.