9E dispatcher
Well-Known Member
Just curious with having TWU and a first contract what has improved like pay quality of life other things that may be important
Kallita
- Thread starter 9E dispatcher
- Start date
flynryan692
Well-Known Member
It was brought up in this thread Kalitta Air K4 January Hire Class | Jetcareers
SecretDispatcher
Well-Known Member
Contract with TWU is absolute crap -- starting pay is 60k/yr (~30/hr) which you will at least get from day 1, no 1.5x for OT, no ETOPs differential. The 4 on 4 off is awesome, but if you start this year, you will be banished to nights/1A/3A starts until 2024 at this point since it's a yearly bid. If you can tough it out for a major, it's worth waiting for that instead of uprooting yourself to go to MI, then eventually moving again for a major when you get the call. You get super cool experience with 777/747s though.
FlyinRyan92
Well-Known Member
I'm still offended at the contract that 90% of them voted yes to....was there for 8 months before jumping ship to a major. I DO RECOMMEND GOING HERE but only if you aren't going to be a lifer there. overall good people in dispatch and you get all the exp you will need to be attractive to the majors. JUST DONT BE A LIFER
OttoPilot13
Well-Known Member
While admittedly not the best in terms for a first contract, it has helped and been more palatable with an established pay scale and keeping our 4 on 4 off 10 hour schedule. Everyone rotates and gets the occasional weekends off which is rare for the industry. Excellent benefits for health, vision, dental, 401K match.
However, we do feel the company can improve in other areas and left more to be desired out of the first contract. We lobbied for time and a half for OT and more vacation time but ultimately decided having union protection in place now and QOL pay increases were more important than keeping wages frozen and staying on at-will employment in a lengthy deadlock with the company. (the voting results speak for themselves) We will continue to fight the good fight for the next round of negotiations. Shift trades are a bit restrictive with having to trade same calendar month but still an option for if you need time off.
While not perfect, its not a bad place to work. Excellent spot to gain experience and lots of good people here who will help if you have any questions. Widebody international experience and ETOPS qualified by end of year one. 7 more 777s on order by end of 23' so plenty of ETOPS in the pipeline.
However, we do feel the company can improve in other areas and left more to be desired out of the first contract. We lobbied for time and a half for OT and more vacation time but ultimately decided having union protection in place now and QOL pay increases were more important than keeping wages frozen and staying on at-will employment in a lengthy deadlock with the company. (the voting results speak for themselves) We will continue to fight the good fight for the next round of negotiations. Shift trades are a bit restrictive with having to trade same calendar month but still an option for if you need time off.
While not perfect, its not a bad place to work. Excellent spot to gain experience and lots of good people here who will help if you have any questions. Widebody international experience and ETOPS qualified by end of year one. 7 more 777s on order by end of 23' so plenty of ETOPS in the pipeline.
Please forgive my ignorance, but isn't "time-and-a-half" for anything over 40 hours worked in a week a federal law for hourly employees?
www.dol.gov
How can Kalitta get away with straight pay for overtime? Are they exempt from the law?
Overtime Pay
How can Kalitta get away with straight pay for overtime? Are they exempt from the law?
BigGuy4U
Well-Known Member
It's called "accounting wizardry" that Accounts Payable does to make the Flight Followers technically salaried and not hourly. However, if you do work OT, you DO get paid as if you had an hourly rate, but as straight time. I believe it has something to with "Standard Hours in a Working Year", which is significantly lower than the 2080 hour standard due to the 4-on 4-off shift. That was one of the bigger contentions that management had with the contract when I was there.Please forgive my ignorance, but isn't "time-and-a-half" for anything over 40 hours worked in a week a federal law for hourly employees?
Overtime Pay
How can Kalitta get away with straight pay for overtime? Are they exempt from the law?
It sucks even worse because that OT, while counted as straight pay, is taxed as if it were OT, so you are technically losing money because Uncle Sam is taking more of it. All that being said, as everyone else in the thread has been saying, working there is invaluable experience on a resume, even if you don't plan to stay.
I looked this up one time, and my states dept of labor says something along the lines of "unless there is a contract". Which is still BS.
wisdispatch
Well-Known Member
This person sounds like a disgruntled employee, what do you think you will work at major airlines weekends off and 9-5? You will work nights and weekends at the bigger airlines for years. At Kalitta you will get a rotating schedule of 4 on and 4 off and weekends off every 5 weeks. Don’t stay at a regional where you don’t make a decent wage especially with the rising costs of everything.
OttoPilot13
Well-Known Member
We made sure to at least get this in the contract to base the hourly rate off our current hours worked annually so it is now at least truly straight time for all OT.
manniax
Well-met in the Ka-tet
Under the Railway Labor Act, which most airlines operate under, 1.5X OT is not legally mandated. Mesa didn't pay it when I worked there, just straight time. I am not a lawyer so there may be more to it than that, but it is what we were told when asking about it. Of course, most DX offices *do* pay 1.5X OT (or 2X OT in some circumstances) but there's not a legal requirement to do so, unless you're a union shop and it's in your contract.
jetsguy737
Well-Known Member
Similar here at my company. 4-4 schedule (when properly staffed), average starting pay especially for the area. They unveiled 1.5x OT (for the first time ever) in excess of 40 hrs/week. Salary basis role but this is necessary with critically low staffing. No contract but thank God we got it, even if it's only til the end of the year. OT should NEVER be flat rate
rivetor
ornithopter it
That's how it's always been explained to me.
Flightymom
Well-Known Member
You realize that MOST of what you said is positive, right?
“Starting pay 60k”, “4 on 4 off is awesome”, “super cool experience with 777/747”
Your point about being stuck on “nights/1A/3A starts until 2024” is incorrect. We have people with 6 months’ experience on afternoon shifts (13-2300 and 17-0300 for example)
Kalitta is a very good place to work. It has room for improvement, but overall they treat us well.
Very happy post-contract and from what we got out of it especially pay-wise and the schedule. While yes...we missed out on the overtime, we had to get -something- (some contract) in place for now. Quality of life here is excellent, the 4 on 4 off is incredible, you almost feel like you're on a mini-vacation every week. Schedules are nice, every 2 hours (3pm, 5pm, 7pm, etc. around the clock), many opportunities and shifts to work when bid time comes (once per year). You will NOT get stuck on a 1am or 3am shift for years; actually people are accelerating through the seniority list quickly here as people are moving onward to the majors. Several new people are already looking at possibly getting afternoon shifts on the next bid already.
Not even sure why the schedule (1am/3am) would be an issue anyways -- you go to any major you'll be stuck on nights for 10-15 years, versus maybe 2 years max here? Possibly less?
The company treats us very well and the people here are wonderful to work with. The health benefits are (if not), the best in the airline industry. Incredibly cheap and the best coverage I've ever seen. They genuinely care for your well being and it shows with that. As with any airline, nothing is perfect, but in my opinion, we're pretty damn close here, or at least for exactly what I'm looking for.
If you're thinking about coming to K4, COME, we'd love to have you. It's an excellent opportunity and a great place to work.
Not even sure why the schedule (1am/3am) would be an issue anyways -- you go to any major you'll be stuck on nights for 10-15 years, versus maybe 2 years max here? Possibly less?
The company treats us very well and the people here are wonderful to work with. The health benefits are (if not), the best in the airline industry. Incredibly cheap and the best coverage I've ever seen. They genuinely care for your well being and it shows with that. As with any airline, nothing is perfect, but in my opinion, we're pretty damn close here, or at least for exactly what I'm looking for.
If you're thinking about coming to K4, COME, we'd love to have you. It's an excellent opportunity and a great place to work.
SecretDispatcher
Well-Known Member
That was kinda the point of the post -- to give someone coming to our shop the entire picture. If you were wanting to uproot yourself, wouldn't you want to know both sides of the coin too? We also have people with 2 months experience working 7A starting lines too.