Hello all. I rarely post here as there is a lot of negativity and flaming but what the heck I'll put my neck out to help those that are seriously considering working at AAA.
I just came back from over 5 years of furlough to the 190. Took the first thing available but that's another story. Regardless of what some say the 190 is a good airplane. It's state of the art, LCD screens with lots of automation. More than a CRJ and a hair less than the Little Bus. It's a good size airplane that is bigger than a DC9 & fun to fly. We're configured 88 coach and 11 first class seats. We have 6 airplanes and getting 2 per month until we get our 25 orders and then we have options on 30 more 190/195s. All planes for now are based in PHL and although there is nothing official, CLT looks to be a reasonable possibility when we get more airplanes.
The training is AQP (Advanced Qualification Program) and was created by our fleet captain who is one of the creators of AQP and what all other fleet's training are being modeled after. The training is very good and the check airmen and instructors are top notch. Really super guys and none of that petty empire building garbage. Every Captain I've flown with on the aircraft has been great and fun to fly with. I'm not sure about first year pay I believe it's somewhere in the $40's per hour. We have a long call (9hr) and short call (1.5hrs). As recalls finish their year lock they are bidding off the 190 for more pay. Bottom line is FO's are moving up quick and becoming block holders within several months. A lot of the lines are day trips because it was a new airplane but every month we are getting more 2, 3, & 4 days. If you live in base it's a good life. At the moment reserves aren't working a lot but that's subject to change. 72hr guarantee for long call and 76hr guarantee for short call.
Now to the ugly. As most of you know things here haven't been peachy. The seniority award will get worked out, we will get a better contract, and it's no secret that Doug Parker is looking to buy or merge with another carrier. Things are far from perfect here but there are a lot of changes coming including possibly going to an inhouse union which may be a good thing, but we won't get into that discussion. If you look on the positive side this could be a great place to be in the not-so-distant future. If you are young (early 40's and younger) you'll have time for things to change. We have a lot of retirements and things are moving quickly. I don't see USAirways as a company that's going to go away soon, but as with any carrier it's a roll of the dice. I was at ValuJet when they started. Everyone said, "get the heck out of there!" It was a horrible place to be. If you stuck it out you are sitting very pretty now so you can't judge the future by today. I'll be happy to answer any questions for those that have them. I won't get involved into a AAA or AW bashing. Life's too short. One thing I will say is that these are some of the best crews I've ever flown with. Very professional and fun! Lot's of original Piedmont, PSA, and USAir folk as well as new junior folk like myself. It may not be your cup of tea and hey that's great. Whatever blows your dress up, but I'd also say not to dwell on what all the negative people say. There's too many negative people in this business that do a good job making flying airplanes a bummer. I've been doing this too long to be miserable in life. Good luck to those that want to come here. Hopefully all of our brother at USAir east and west will come together one day.
