LLWS09R

It’s difficult to say many polar opposite reasons.

And I’m not trying to scape goat out of informing the Internet world. I just really can’t pin point an exact reason.
A few pilots have received job offers from major carriers.
A few low time FO were told after 1 year they would be promoted to Captain. That never happened so they left. A few of them holding personal grudges as 1 year of there life was wasted getting top notch flight skills.. I don’t get that?

This is about 60% of the reason most of the younger pilots 50 and below are departing.
GAMA can not beat the Majors and even some if not all LCC. Pointless to try. A few yell about scheduale and pay. For the most part it’s greener pastures.

Older pilots just have a harder time accepting the way life is here. Some do ok but others spend 1 summer in the NE vortex and they throw in the towel. Others go to NJA or Flexjet. I can not personally explain why they make those moves. However those two carriers probably account for a vast majority of pilots leaving for non part 121 job. My guess would be that most other companies have increased pay incentives, QOL issues, and long term benefits.

airborne840

I can relate. I recently left and personally didn’t have any major issues with Gama. I fall into the under 50 crowd and got picked up flying cargo for a 121 carrier. I’d say personally, the hardest thing about flying with Gama was the long duty days. Overall though, it’s not a bad place and the pilots I met were great people to work with.

LLWS09R

I wish everyone the best of luck where ever they go. I always remind them pay your contract off or work out a payment plan. Also remember if you owe money on the contract or fail to return their equipment they can and will keep your last 2 weeks pay. If you have been here over a year give 2 weeks notice and do your job til the day you depart. I have been here for 3 years. Many pilots have return to GAMA because they are a good company at heart and will gladly hire a good pilot back.

blulavboy

Off the major topics a bit....BUT, make sure if you come aboard and you’re tempted to sign up for the above that you confirm you don’t get afforded STD by your state of residence. HR is clueless and the guy at Aflac certainly isn’t going to tell you.

Gustafson

When I was hired, I received this in an e-mail. It shows second year FO pay at 65k. Can anyone verify what the second year pay is? The scale above says 60k.

Thanks,

All new hires start on the King Air 350, jet transitions awarded by merit and seniority.
Full dental/medical/vision insurance for family - 100% paid by the company
Basic life insurance – 1yr salary up to 100k
401k after 60 days – match 50% of first 6% contribution
Long-term disability insurance
Company credit card, company phone
Uniform allowance – 10 shirts/3 pants per year
Per Diem $59 Domestic/$65 Intl
Flight physical reimbursement after hire – 1st class medical required at all times
PIC type rating, training every 6 months
12-month pro-rated training agreement of $15,250 for initial training, $7,500 for typed and current applicants.
40+ pilot bases – travel to other bases w/ approval
Standard 8-on/6-off schedule with 1 month of 4/3 schedule
5 sick days per year
1 tour (8 days) vacation per year
First Officer pay scale: 55/65/70/80/82/83/85/87/88
Captain pay scale: 90/94/98/102/106/108/110/112/115/117
Pay equal for King Air and jet fleets, all new hires into King Air, transitions to Jet fleet based on seniority and merit
Advancement opportunities: line instructor (standards capt) +8k, check airman +15k
iPads used in aircraft for JeppFD charts and APG iPreflight for W&B and Perf Planning
Training: 1 week CTS online, online International Procedures course, 1 week Basic Indoc in Shelton, CT, 2 weeks sim training at FlightSafety (Atlanta/Wichita), Proflight (Tampa), or CAE (Dallas)
All pilots (PIC and SIC) receive PIC type rating and attend recurrent training every 6 months. Dual qualified in Pro Line 21 and Pro Line Fusion after the first recurrent.
Full pay begins 1 week prior to Indoc for online training
All new hires must complete line training with a Gama Instructor Pilot prior to flying the line
Full Operations support with 24/7 Flight Following as well as dedicated Logistics and Scheduling teams

Das Auto

The agreement is 8 days on 6 days off so yes I would expect them to honor their side of the bargain and cover the 6 off after you had honored yours with the 8 on. We don't get paid a daily rate, we're on salary.

If you worked 16 days / 2 tours in the month you quit you should receive full pay credit for that month in my opinion. Otherwise you will see people playing the system back, and quitting 2 days into when their next tour should start etc.

Sick pay is a use it or lose it policy. If you worked here for 5 years and never called out sick, you would have accumulated a total of 25 days sick pay but would get none of it upon separation. It basically incentivizes people to call out sick, especially on national holidays where there is no extra compensation offered for working them. Unfortunately if you did the right thing and only called out sick for legitimate reasons you would not be rewarded for your good behavior when you resigned.

Now in the companies defense, there seems to be some confusion on how much vacation pay an employee is entitled to when they leave. At Gama, you take your vacation in one year and earn it the next, so if you worked here for 1 year and 1 week but had taken 2 weeks vacation you wouldn't have earned the second week yet so it would be deducted form you final pay check.

Most of the people that I know who quit before their training contract was up paid the pro rated amount, which is smart. Like LLWS said, a lot of guys have quit and then come back. Gama is fair in that regard so if you leave on good terms it would be silly to burn the bridge, even if the final numbers are interpreted to favor the company.

STARFISH435

Thinking of coming to GAMA.Ive read nearly this entire thread and on the fence.
In my travels I have seen several KingAir pilots for GAMA and they are my age, 45-55, and they seemed very happy and that is very encouraging.
What are the pros and cons of working here from anyone that is currently employed here?
What are the upgrade times if someone chose to upgrade.I am already typed in the XLS and 5 other types with 8000+ hrs.No King Air time

mshermanaviator

I left Gama recently and had no issues with pay when I left. I had already taken my vacation for 2019. My resignation letter stated I was resigning the day before my next tour started. When I calculated what they paid me on my last check, they did pay me those 6 days off and deducted the days I had taken vacation but had not yet earned since you must work through the end of 2019 to fully earn the vacation you take in 2019. My per diem came about 2 or 3 weeks after I submitted it as was always normal.

When I interviewed in 2015 I asked if the company expected to be a career destination or a stepping stone for guys like me who have many years left in their career. I was told by my interviewer that they expected guys like me to stick around about 4 years and move on. For me the better pay, retirement and schedule of 121 were an obvious move. I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Gama but didn’t want to keep throwing bags, having a fixed schedule and working in that physically demanding environment until I turn 65.

My observation is that the guys sticking around are mainly guys who burned out on regionals and never want to return to 121 and older guys who are not afraid to work days that average 4 legs and 12 hours of duty. There are also many who just don’t want to go 121 and find that the schedule and lifestyle work for them.

Das Auto

Pros.

In addition to the obvious attraction of home basing and positive space travel to and from work...

Excellent health care 100% covered by the company for employee and their families.

New / newer equipment, very well maintained.

Nice hotels for the most part. Typically Hilton / Marriott and you keep the miles / points.

Safe. No pressure from management to push the limits.

Salary is good for King Air pilot.


Cons.

Long days. max duty with min rest is not uncommon here.

Crew meals. While other operators provide their crews with meals on the road and offer proper meals at the end of the day on the company card, at Gama you have to request them and be granted approval.

Day 8 travel. This has to be the biggest complaint among the pilot group. Our logistics dept. fails to grasp the concept that guys who have been on the road away from their families for 8 days are anxious to get home. It seems to be the accepted norm to book people on the worst flight home, often sitting at the airport for hours while watching earlier flights take off. Its the unforgivable sin to question their infinite wisdom.

Uncertain future. We are contracted to Wheels Up. Who knows how long that will last. Anyone's guess is pure speculation.

All in all its not a bad place to earn a paycheck. It could be a lot better but it could be a lot worse too.

mshermanaviator

This pretty well sums up my experience from 4 years there. I would add that there is a very good group of pilots to work with.