Who We Are

We provide extensive world-wide commercial service to the St. Louis Metro Area by conducting major hub operations exclusively at STL, connecting St. Louis to small, minor and major US cities as well as major world-wide destinations. 

 

By staying exclusively based and operating a world-hub at STL, Gateway can focus on the air travel needs of the St. Louis market.  By fully utilizing Lambert-St. Louis International Airport’s hub facilities, we will slowly expand service to the St. Louis Area as we hire more employees and flight crews to support the operations.  We will continue adding profitable cities/destinations and we will continue expanding our fleet—dependent upon number of pilots and net profit. 

 

We essentially plan to pick up where TWA (God Rest Their Soul) left off... and be....   "St. Louis's Gateway to the World".

The essence that makes Gateway Airlines is based on a few simple ideas listed below:

• KEEP IT SIMPLE! Many people have heard of it... KISS. Keep It Simple Stupid. This goes a long way, and extends to the operation of a virtual airline. People don't want complicated websites or long lists of rules. They want to fly, with just enough "rules" to keep it real, not to burden the pilot and make them not want to fly. This is the biggest lesson learned and Gateway will incorporate that into all aspects of the airline, from the website to the policies. We will try our best to balance realism with fun.
• KEEP IT REAL! Your call sign isn't going to be the same every flight you make. Gas isn't free. With every departure, there's a maintenance team who spent time making sure that plane is ready to go. When it breaks, they're on it. Guess what.... that's not free either!   There's no increased sim rate in real world. 1,000 fpm landings HURT and things break! And finally... you're not going to shoot an approach when there's a tornado on the field. 'Nuff said.
• FLY! They don't call it Flight Simulator for nothing. The point of a VA is to fly and have fun doing it, not to get hung up in politics, or spend all your time on administrative duties. Some of the administrators of Virtual Allegiant Air were so consumed in their duties that their actual hobby suffered. This takes away the fun and makes the hobby seem like more of a burden. At Gateway, we take the phrase "I'd rather be flying" seriously. Every member is encouraged to fly until it makes them sick. Then, take a sick day, and fly some more. Staff duties come second to flying, and will get done when they get done.
• IT'S FUN, NOT POLITICAL! This isn't so much of a lesson learned, but a philosophy that was carried over. We're taking vAAY's idea of staff and flying with it. People don't like abuse of power, and it's not what the hobby was designed for in the first place. So..... our staff do not carry "titles". Yup.... there's no CEO, no President, no COO, or any other staff positions you'll see at another VA. There's simply "Excessively Paid"'s. Yea, you read right. Excessively Paid #1, #2, #3, and so on. We want to simplify aviation and add a humorous perspective never before seen in the way a virtual airline operates.
• ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY! And neither is an airline. Realistically, it takes YEARS for an airline to expand to a new hub. Shoot, we don't even plan on hub expansion.  It's in our business plan to stay exclusively based at KSTL - Lambert St. Louis Airport. "Over-expanding" is common in the VA world and leads to a burned-out airline who can't keep up with itself.
• FRIENDS, NOT CO-WORKERS! Guys, if you know Virtual Allegiant Air... then this is nothing new either. We've always believed that you need to be more than a number to enjoy your virtual career. Gateway carries the same belief. We're not going to make everyone hold hands and meet on Teamspeak, but we don't like creepy internet predators either. Come out of your shell, meet new friends, and meet up with old ones!
• WE'RE ALL ADULTS! This hobby's no fun when you have to worry about someone else's behavior or grudges. Seriously people, how old are we? We don't fight. We're not always right. We don't bite. We sleep through the night. And we don't act on any personality conflicts. Obviously, as with any group of people, there will be friction. But let's be adults and add lubricant. Everyone love lubricant!
  

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