Gama engineering
 

It has been about a year since Mann Aviation and Lees avionics became Gama engineering.There have been various newsletters announcing minor changes.
Has anything actually changed?

I see aircraft going in the hangar but not coming out again.Are they being dismantled for parts?

GAMA Engineering seem to work on friday afternoons; Manns used to knock off at 2pm.

So what are the 'minor changes' in these newsletters -can you post one here so we can see what they've been up to?

Costs are lower than MAGE was charging because of the introduction of the CAFAM system with more accurate estimates,billing etc.Total transparency
because the CAFAM printout is sent to customers.
How can costs be lower when its the same people doing the same work in the same time and the hourly rate under Gama has increased from £40 to £52 per
hour for piston engine types?Any new staff are going to take longer because of training,familiarity etc.
Under MAGE the entire workpack was photocopied and sent to customers.

Though I'm not familiar with the various Acronyms, I assume they're some sort of accounting/costing discipline.
Many years ago a friend went to work for a main agent garage....because there was no carpark, he would be assigned a job-card and keys to the vehicle.....scour the streets, extract the vehicle, drive to workshop and park in bay...go to stores and wait for parts/products/finish job, tour streets park, return and clock -off the job.

" How can I make a bonus when I get 1/2 hour to fill-in Antifreeze and it takes that to get it into the Bay? "

The customer paid the "book" time....the rest was reflected in the chargeout rate.
When u had my own business, I was lucky to charge more than 40% of the hours I worked.....but i didn't charge a fiver for slipping in a new sidelight bulb either!

The headline hourly rate is, therefore, meaningless...the quality of work, diligence of the operative and total bill is what counts.

A high headline rate tends to scare -off the petty quibblers and tightwads you get left with a core of good, reliable customers who are willing to listen and pay a fair price.

Steve
 

A first class overview of the general situation.

If only life were that simple.

Mugwumps.

Presumably if you think Gama were wrong in changing the charge-out rate, then you've seen this by a loss of customers? It always seems to me when I've flown into Fairoaks that Gama have loads of aircraft in work so they don't seem to be doing too badly.
Manns had a reputation for very high bills and I can't imagine that former Mann customers would have stayed or returned to Gama unless the excessive charges had been brought under control. Ultimately a company has to charge a sensible amount to cover it's costs and as long as it gives good service and value for money then as Cockney Steve says, the headline rate really doesn't matter.

Seems to me there are more aircraft visiting for maintenance but this could be aircraft switched from Farnborough.

Although customers were leaving under Longmint mostly because of a fear of being locked in by bailiffs,they are mainly the same customers that returned when Gama took over when this threat was removed.They were also long term Mann aviation customers which would suggest to me that Mann aviation were not excessively expensive and delivering the quality they gained a reputation for.
On your "fly ins" wigglyamp did the aircraft on maintenance at Gama change at all?