Gama Aviation/Wheels up pay scales
 

Just received this info. It begins March 1, 2018 and is for all airplanes, King Air, or Citations (560 or X), salary

year SIC PIC
1 55 90
2 60 94
3 65 98
4 70 102
5 80 106
6 82 108
7 83 110
8 85 112
9 87 115
10 88 117

8 on 6 off schedule. Home based (limited to certain cities).
Company paid medical (Cigna), dental(Delta Dental), vision.
Life insurance, 1 times salary paid by company. Up to 3 times paid by pilot.
No company paid long term or short term disability.
$59 per diem domestic.

Any questions, I can try to answer on here if/when I am free.

1) What is structure of 401K, including match?
2) Does Insurance still include family coverage at no cost to pilot?
Thank You.

Explain this home base option, what do you mean certain cities?

Also explain this review I got from Glassdoor....any truth to this? "

Poor Management Model, pilots are overworked to the point of exhaustion and expected to work like robots, "don't think, just do" philosophy? The King Air checklist procedures will result in an accident at some point (a lot of "heads down" at critical bases of flight attempting to accomplish this ridiculous checklist that is basically a CYA procedure for the legal department - it borders on being dangerous! The clients always watch their assigned aircraft on an APP, always showing up early and pressuring pilots to accommodate an early departure ALL THE TIME, stressing out crews who NEVER have any time to prepare between flights, or simply grab a quick bite to eat before their next scheduled flight! HIGH stress environment, brokers/sales staff over sells the program but no matter what, pilots have to accommodate and put up with whatever the client is promised. Pilots become burned out very quickly and leave for other jobs"

We used to have to use the generic manufacturers checklist which was long and time consuming but we now have our own short version. Not perfect but still a huge improvement.

Working to the point of exhaustion is a bit extreme. There are long days for sure but most are manageable. Who ever wrote that review sounds like a bit of a drama queen. I've been here for 3 years and have yet to have to have any major complaints. Things are improving here as the company grows and matures. It's a decent place to work all things considered.

Company matches 50% up to 6% of pilots contribution. I believe you're fully vested after 5 years.

Insurance covers employee and their family, health, vision and dental 100% covered by the company and is very good insurance.

Do they hire straight into PIC or do you always have to come in as SIC and upgrade?

They will hire into left seat (King Air only) if you have King air time and at least 3500TT. No direct hires in the jets anymore.

Are you fatigued, call in that way to scheduling and write a report, no pushing.

If hired as a FO, after 1 year, an evaluation check will be given. if passed, move up to Captain. No waiting for an opening.

24/7
 

With the 8 on 6 off schedule, how is the 24/7 scheduled in the rotation?

Gama Aviation advertises on Climbto350.com web site with a list of cities that are considered home based, most major airports. Last ad had the following listed. I have seen many others over the last few months. BDL, FLL, JAX, MCO, MIA, PBI,
THS, RSW, TPA, ATL, SAV, PDK, BWA, BOS, PVD, PWM, EWR, TEB, ALB, BUF, SYC, ROC, HPN, JFK, LGA, CLT, CHS, ILM, RDU, PHL, IAD, ORF, RIC, BNA.

I believe you would have to live within 1-2 hours of those airports. They airline you to/from your first flight of the "tour" if an airplane is not at your home base.

"With the 8 on 6 off schedule, how is the 24/7 scheduled in the rotation?"

That is 135.265(scheduled), not needed in 135.257 (non scheduled).

There are some tough days and weeks, but this is a stretch. If you’re not eating it’s your fault for not being assertive. If you’re rushing it’s you’re fault as well. It sounds bad but if you have somewhat of a DGAF attitude, your day goes smoother and you’re definitely less stressed. If you’re running around like a chicken it’s somewhat on you.

You must be new....

Congrats on the pay scale....and the new checklist. Glad to hear things are looking better for the guys and gals that have been there for a while. You all can buy me a beer later....cause I swear this never would have happened if I had stuck around!

So what are the reasonable minimums for a KA SIC position?

The ability to hold an ATP.

Ok that's what i thought. Any idea why they stopped stating this on their ads?

Interesting that the new salaries apply to all aircraft types. Wonder if that will reduce the urge to jump fleets. The majority of people I know who have flown the XL/XLS at other operators were not impressed with it...

This is obviously a disgruntled ex employee. GAMA isn’t anything Like what is described here. Firstly there is a shortened version of the checklist. I’d say 50% of the time pax are early. But maybe 30 mins. The pilots do work hard but it’s not what is suggested here

Poor Management Model, pilots are overworked to the point of exhaustion and expected to work like robots, "don't think, just do" philosophy? If you're worked to the point of exhaustion, fatigue out. You shouldn't continue working and it's your own fault if you do.

The King Air checklist procedures will result in an accident at some point (a lot of "heads down" at critical bases of flight attempting to accomplish this ridiculous checklist that is basically a CYA procedure for the legal department - it borders on being dangerous! A checklist should not cause an accident, and it's your own fault if it does. "Lots of heads down?" Are you kidding me? Fly the airplane! If it's dangerous, stop doing it and fill out an SMS about it. Be a pilot.

The clients always watch their assigned aircraft on an APP, always showing up early and pressuring pilots to accommodate an early departure ALL THE TIME, stressing out crews who NEVER have any time to prepare between flights, or simply grab a quick bite to eat before their next scheduled flight! Pax show up early, show up late, are pains in the butt, brokers bug you, scheduling bugs you, management bugs you...that's corporate/charter EVERYWHERE. Just part of the business. Stop letting them stress you out, focus and do your job. "You never have time to prepare?" Make time! Are you suggesting you just launch whether you're ready or not? And say "oh well, a broker was pestering me?" Good grief.

HIGH stress environment, brokers/sales staff over sells the program but no matter what, pilots have to accommodate and put up with whatever the client is promised. You ought to take this up with whoever gave you the idea that professional flying was supposed to be low-stress. Yep, you have to accommodate your clients and kiss a little booty. Welcome to the biz.

Thank you. I was going to say something like this, but I got lazy and decided it wasn’t worth it.

It's also worth pointing out that this company is night and day to when I started 3 years ago. 6 on 3 off schedule turned into 8 & 6, paperwork was replaced with electronic apps and more bases opening reduced my commute from a 2 hour drive to 45 minutes. The new pay scale is a huge improvement too.

As mentioned, it's not perfect here but we are certainly trending in the right direction.

It definitely wasn't worth it, but I couldn't help myself.

With the 8/6 schedule. Can you expect to be on overnights during your entire time on?

Latest ad on Climbto350.com looking for King Air 350i First Officers, list bases
ORD, MDW, IND, DTW, MSP, CLV, CVG, BNA, MCI, STL, AUS, DAL, HOU, SAT, TUL, OKC, ICT.

Yes. You may have the occasional overnight in base, but that is definitely not the norm.

Thanks for the info!

Still waiting on an answer about the “home basing limited to certain cities” the OP stated. Do you have to live within a certain radius of a base or are they really doing a true home basing for some of their bases? Also correct me if I’m wrong but is the uniform like an airline pilot or more so business casual?

Live within 2 hrs of a place that they have deemed a “base”. However, if there is enough interest and there is decent airline service they may consider adding bases.
Call it a modified home basing system.

If you tell me which base you're interested in I'll check to see of its on the list.

Full airline pilot style uniform. Mostly silver tie. Sometimes pink for breast awareness, or teal for lady parts awareness. Currently red for Valentine's day!

MSP, ORD, possibly DAL and MDW

They are all crewmember bases. Must live within a 2 hour drive.

Well that’s unfortunate, the nearest base I could drive to is between 4 and 5 hours drive. Too bad its not the traditional home base live where you want as long as one can easily get on a non stop flight to a base. That I could do.

Had a guy recently at CWA, Central Wisconsin Airport.

So what is the time frame to upgrade?

What’s your nearest airport with regular airline service?

We have WAY more bases than that. Pretty much every major airport is a base. I’m BOS based, and we have guys based all over the country. Was just flying with an ALB (yes, Albany, NY) based guy and I know we have guys in PVD too. TPA, MIA, IAD, TEB, ATL, etc. The list literally goes on. Not to mention they’re pretty open when it comes to suggestions for new bases, though I’m not sure they’ve opened any new ones based on that. Basically, don’t let that list deter you from applying or calling to get more info.

EDIT: We need pilots badly, and we needed them like, yesterday lol. So if you meet the requirements then apply. Also, to answer a previous question about upgrade: as part of the new pay scale, there’s an agreement that after a year (if you don’t upgrade before that) as SIC, you will have an upgrade evaluation and be awarded PIC pay regardless of a PIC opening. Only downside is you don’t go to year 2 PIC pay, but first year instead. Still, $55k to $90k is a good jump especially if you’re still right seat.

Well I was listing bases that were on climb to 350 as they were advertised, but I'll list them all that are currently approved in writing, How's that.
Bases are
serviced by
major airlines. The following table lists approved bases.
ALB BNA CLE DAL FLL HPN JAX MCO OAK PDX RDU SAT SFO STL TUS
ATL BOS CLT DEN GSO IAD JFK MDW OKC PHL RNO SAV SLC TEB VNY
AUS BWI CMH DFW GSP IAH LAS MIA ORD PHX RSW SDF SMF TPA
BDL CHS CVG DTW HOU IND MCI MSP PBI PVD SAN SEA SNA TUL

Bases that are serviced by regional airlines. The following table lists approved
bases.
BDR CEN CRP ICT JAN LIT MSY ONT ORF SWF TLH TVC XNA

Has the company followed thru on their promise to give an update every wednesday?

I think you have the wrong thread

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I thought they were going to have a townhall update every wednesday? All part of the new and improved WuP/GAMA