Gama is a great choice for a employer as they do a good job representing the best interests of their pilots when they can, but let’s be real about who is actually running the show and that’s Wheels Up. The Wheels Up has been in business for 6 years now and yes they are still a young company but we are at the point that significant issues need to be addressed. Currently we are losing almost as many pilots each month as we are hiring and that’s simply going to continue until Wheels Up finally decides that it’s going to make changes to better the quality of life for it’s pilots for the long run. It’s just too easy in this current environment where there is not enough available pilots for people to simply just make a change that will better their personal situation. This is the same reason that even trying to have a union may not work. So where’s Wheels Up falling short? The four main areas are schedule, vacation, retirement and post tour travel home policy. If 8 and 6 schedule sounds like a long time to be away from home it is. A 7 and 7 schedule would be preferable. As far as vacation, even the guys that have been here for the whole 6 years are only getting 1 week a year compared to the 2 or 3 offered by the competition. A better contribution to the 401k needs to be made. Currently it’s 50% of the first 6% that the pilot contributes. And lastly the day 8 travel home can exceed 18 hours depending on how much flying you end up doing and where you end up in relation to where you live. Yes it’s legal. Until these items change the revolving front door will continue to spin without an end insight.

FO’s already having an ATP also lessens the chance that a pilot will jump ship to a regional at 1500 hours. In other words, the answer to “why GAMA?” is less likely to be pure BS.

I left Gama and accepted a very large pay cut simply because working the 8/6 became such a drag. If Gama offered a flex schedule, I would still be there. The tours are long and you will work harder than most people are accustomed to working. My current job feels like a vacation in comparison to Gama. I do miss the variety of the flying and the health and hotel benefits were nice.

Wonderfully written I think this sums it up. Hopefully WUP reading this.

All good points, except that WU has NOTHING to do with our schedules, pay, QOL. Except that they give or deny what GAMA asks for as part of a contract. Essentially GAMA is a bidder trying to keep a relationship alive, much like ExpressJet with United was or any other regional with their mainline carrier. The only thing WU does (aside from owning the aircraft) is attract members, and give GAMA a list of loaded legs that need to be covered. GAMA schedules the specific aircraft and, in turn, the crews.

GAMA sets the schedule at 8-6 because it’s cheaper than 7-7. Simple as that. Same thing with everything else they do. Could it be better? Yes. Could it be worse? Absolutely.

I ran into some guys I new from a past life that now flyfor Wheels Up. They told me the list of possible domiciles is a lot larger now than I remember it being. Can anyone tell me what the criteria might be in order for a domicile to be approved, or is it still just the major airports?

Mainly cost and availability of flights, along with how many pilots need it.

I agree, and it is a lot of work when compared to NJA and their pay rates that includes dispatchers and now crew domiciles that stock and clean, its a lot of work for the money!

Can someone remind me if BOI is a pilot base/domicile option?

Thanks

Yes, it is a base. I flew with a guy based there not to long ago.