Sunday Deep-dive! 🤿

It’s 2024, but there are still “low time” companies without a website. GV Air is one of those. I think how I’ve even heard about them in the first place was by reading through comments’ on a Facebook post. Random. Pure luck. 

The best way to put all the odds in your favor? Never missing our emails! 🤪

So before we jump in today’s case study, quick announcement: we now “have” an application for The Road to 1500’s newsletter.

Alright, let’s dive in!

POSTED MINIMUMS, what we know

WORDS FROM A FORMER PILOT

“I started working at GV Air early 2023 and left around summer time 2023. I had about 300TT with 45 multi hours along with high performance, tailwheel, and complex endorsement. You will not find a website for this company. The only way you will get a job is to walk into their office with a resume, internal recommendation, or email the chief pilot.

About the job…

In the interview, the company emphasizes a 18/6 schedule (18 days on 6 days off). This was far from the truth as I had days as little as 2 days on and a week off up to 60 days on and 2 days off. The schedule is very inconsistent. This job is advertised as home-based but it has a catch. The catch is you’re technically still based at their Jacksonville base which means during sometime in the winter or whenever they need help in the hangar wherever you live in the states you will need to find a way to the hangar and help them clean it, as an example. But most of the time you will be at home during the days off and when the chief pilot posts the schedule, it is up to you to find the nearest international airport and book an airline ticket to wherever the plane is to start your X number of days flying. You will also be finding an airport with a reliable FBO & MX along with booking hotel and rental car, on your own too, using company credit card. Along with flying, you will also be taught how to operate the camera system as some days you will be dual-pilot with another pilot and will take turns flying. The company discourages logging safety pilot time but people still do it anyways.

THE GOOD

I liked the planes flown which are the Cessna T206H Stationair and the Cessna T310R Twin Cessna. The 206 is G1000-equiped, with autopilot—which is very nice. The 310 on the other hand is all hand flown with no autopilot. The hotel budget, rental car, and FBO basing locations are very generous, you will be taken care of $$$ wise on the road. 

THE BAD

You will average roughly about 40-60 hours a month which is bad compared to other survey companies.

Management will pressure you to fly an unsafe plane as much as they deny it, everyone knows its true. Management also likes to micromanage everything you do on the road and will bully you and guilt trip you into flying. The people both camera operators and pilots from first-hand working there like to talk behind each other’s back. It’s a very toxic environment. It is almost as if everyone is on their own and do not work as a team, only putting up a smiley face in front of you, but will stab you in the back.

Advice for pilots looking to apply…

As long you have your commercial single, multi and high Performance they will hire you. Know the G1000 systems and be good at crosswind landings. Also brush up on IFR.

Let’s talk numbers…

• Schedule is 18/6 advertised but is inconsistent, from 2/7 to 60/3 with 10 hours of flight time MAX and 14 hour MAX duty time per day

• NO TRAINING CONTRACT

• Average 40-60 hours a month

• Hourly pay is $19/hr the moment you get hired, including training

• Guaranteed 40 hours a week pay with overtime if you accrued overtime hours

• Per diem for every day on the road is $50

• Hotel budget is $150

• Rental car budget is whatever the cheapest option is

• You submit your own hours everyday and are paid by duty hour, which start the moment you leave the hotel and get back. You will also get paid for cleaning the aircraft as it is part of company work duty time

Do I recommend this job?

→ No, toxic management and co-workers.”

That should be it for today.

Unless…

I’m guessing some of you are still interested in the chief pilot’s email address, although our good friend here has clearly warned us. Well i was too so I got you! 👇 (see screenshot below)