Upcoming Interview
 

I have an interview next week with Air Wisconsin, however I am contemplating to cancel it as I already have an offer from another regional. I'm just not sure if I should even attend, but truthfully I have not spoken to a lot of pilots about the company and do not have any friends working there. I have been scouting the threads here to learn more but had some questions.

- How happy are people at the company right now? I'm reading a lot of people are leaving cause of the bonus payouts for new hires, not happy about lines etc. QOL good?
- how long are the upgrade times? I realize this is only a prediction but are they telling the truth saying that upgrades are projected 18-24 months? I read somewhere the upgrades right now are something like 5 years?
- Someone told me that this whole new contract with United is dependent on them hiring a bunch of pilots, how is that going so far?

I'm sorry for all the questions, just trying to make the right decision here.

Thank you

People are very happy here. It's one of the best pilot groups you could ask for. I understand people being unhappy about lines though. I'm pretty irate with my 17 days off and 92 credit in September. Hiring, by all accounts, is going well. Classes are full. Upgrade time will drop. Right now it's over five but once upgrades resume consistently, they'll come down. The seniority list has to grow substantially, and it is, for the ual flying. It's a great place to hang your hat.

Results may vary.,

It's certainly not rosey here but we are in transition, but compared to other regionals, it could be worse.

Using current actual attrition rates, current actual new hire class numbers, and reasonable hiring targets stated by management, a new hire today will be about 50% seniority in a year. The 18-25 month upgrade is more like a worst case scenario.

If that's not enough there is no regional with a better bonus package--except maybe Envoy is equal assuming you don't have a 121 type. If you do have the type AW wins by a long shot.

Crews are by far the least disgruntled I've ever interacted with. Most people are proud to work here and actively try to welcome you/help you. It's a far cry from the typical impersonal mega-regional pilot mills I'm familiar with.

When you hear a few people talking trash about the company you have to keep in mind literallly every current base (maybe with the exception of ORF) is closing in the next 6 months with the transition from AA to UAL flying. It's not surprising some people are not pleased with the situation. This should make zero difference from a new hire's perspective though as long as you'll be happy with an IAD or ORD base. It's a 5 year CPA which means job security.

The health insurance is insanely inexpensive and good. You can literally have a surgery or a baby and pay a $15 copay. There's no deductible. Hospital visits have $0 copay. It's around 150/month for a single person. Tons of other industry leading benefits like 401k match. The trip/duty rig is massively beneficial and doesn't get nearly the attention it deserves with less efficient FAR 117 trips.

This place is as good as it gets. Don't listen to the naysayers.

Your koolaide must have been extra strong. Around 5 captains left last month, the other third were FO's, and the last third were new hire failures. Hiring targets mean nothing. Anyone can say they "plan to hire 3-400 next year."

To see the top 50% of the seniority list you need to be here going on 8+ years.

Good luck with the 18 month upgrade, which wait for it, was advertised 6 months ago. That means every FO on property should upgrade in 12 months, and everyone else continuously after. Never going to happen.

Half the people here commute. You only mention the transition from AA-UAL which shows your lack of knowledge on everything. Before AA there was USAir, and previously UAL. People didn't just up and quit when the bases changed. Some began to commute for the best pay/contract in the industry (which is still concessionary).

Oh and Norfolk is closing.

AWAC going from UA to US flying got a lot of movement going as quite a few left after that even with the 18 146 aircraft leaving. Upgrade time back then was around 30 months, or roughly 18 CAs a month leaving. The movement back then was pretty brisk.

Stop mentioning the 146. No one cares about that airplane. There are 10+ year CA's bidding reserve in ORD to not commute. That is the current realtity. Good luck with the 18-24 mo upgrade.

If that is what you took from my post then I guess we have nothing to discuss.

If the 800 target is an outright lie then you might be right. But the classes are running and 800 seems on target for 65 aircraft operating for UAL and it is achievable using current new hire class numbers in a year. Even with no movement that puts a new hire FO around 60% in 12 months. It's just math.

1. Where can you live in base? And if you can't,

2. Where can you have a 1 leg commute with several options?

Answering those questions truthfully will have the biggest impact on your experience at a regional airline.

There is nothing more to take from your post. You are talking about something that happened 15 years ago. Everything is different today. Do you really think people aren't trying to leave this place? Everyone is, people aren't just getting a call.

AWA is not going to double in size in a year. Check back here in 12 months and see where you are on the list.

^^ cool drawing, never saw that online before.

Just tryin to help a guy out who believes the false garbage being put out there.

I don't think it's too outrageous to see 650 pilots on the list come February. Applications and quality of the applicants have gone way up. I believe we have 50 new hires in or about to be in training. Maybe someone upgrades in 2 years, maybe not. Either way it's a good time to get hired.

That's a big glass of kool aid you got there

It tastes good! :D

Every regional of the month has a hiring bump when they offer something fresh. Seen it at PDT, PSA, C5, 9E, etc.

The biggest thing is how can they continue to keep numbers high over time when others have matched and the shine wears off. For 9E, it's been continual improvements to keep hiring going, but it does come in waves.

This weeks hot girl doesn't always stay that way.

Any improvement for one RJ is good for everybody across the board, let's see the bar raised higher again.

Exactly, and seeing how horribly reactive the company has been, the bubble is going to pop and they'll somehow be surprised. Or no more retention bonus and people start leaving again for the LCC Bus operators because it's still a step up in experience, and they actually treat you like a person.

The company continues to do as little as possible to get people all while treating existing employees like crap to get the flying done because they're too cheap to do what everyone else is to retain and hire pilots.

What do you want this company to do differently than all other regionals? What makes this place so sub par in your opinion? Schedules are good. Pay is above average. Management stays off your back. What else is there?

Spoken like a true Lineholder. Reserves is a whole different airline. If the contract doesn't fix Reserve rules, then it should be a NO vote.

Run into a lot of that, plus if you want to try and change your schedule good luck. Also line holders can be junior manned as well.

Just being a line holder shouldn't blind people to the fact that this place isn't as good as it should be. It doesn't negate management threatening pilots.

I went and did get hired. Surprisingly the interview was a little more challenging than the other places. Didn't expect to get Stars / SIDS. Really nice guys who did the interview and the process was good. Reading through the posts I still have mixed feelings though, thank you everyone for the input.

The thing that attracts me the most is that the reserve times here seem to be low, and ORD is a super easy commute for me. At my other regional , il get put in New York and Chicago is super senior. The bonus is a nice addition too. But I'm still concerned for the future regarding upgrades. If I have to wait 3 years to upgrade that is fine but 5 years is a little excessive.

Some more questions.

- How are company hotels? Decent?
- I didn't get to see the training center which kind of was disappointing , so I have no clue about the facility , everything decent there?
- Are we paid durin CPT? What's training pay? Reserve gaurentee with per diem 24/7?

Thanks

Upgrade time quoted anywhere, by anyone, is a rumor until you are sitting in the left seat. Only then does it become fact. If you are comfortable with a 3 year upgrade time, you will most likely not be disappointed at any regional right now (with the unfortunate exception of expressjet).

Hotels in training have been very acceptable so far. You will stay in downtown Appleton during training, plenty of options for food.

The training facility for Indoc and Systems is in the basement of the ATW airport. Facilities are good but not gold plated, instructors have been excellent.

You will be paid during CPT. Reserve min guarantee (75 hrs/month at $35), no per diem.

1). Some are better than others. However, I'll venture out and say that they are all safe and clean.

2) Thats because there is no single training facility. Part of training is in Appleton and then you go to another city to finish. I'm not sure what you mean by how nice they are…you won't be sleeping at the training center after all.

3) You get paid starting on day one of training (even CTP).
As to the second part of the question… Huhhh?

You get a 75hr guarantee right off. You get paid more than that only if you physically fly more than 75 (e.g. Fly 80 in a month, you get paid that). If you are on a trip then yes, per diem is from start of trip to end of trip. If you are in domicile with no assignment but on 'call', then no per diem.

Hotels are above average for a regional airline. I am at a Hilton Garden Inn right now. Location can vary. We have a few downtown hotels and a bunch in average locations and of course, some in less than desirable locations. Meaning not much around to do or eat.

As was said, full pay from day 1. Except per diem which begins at the start of IOE. No per diem when on call as a reserve until you get an assignment unless you are on Ready Reserve then per diem from start of shift until termination of duty period.

Sure life isn't all roses, especially on reserve. We signed the original contract when life was good and reserve was short, so it's not great. But I would expect it's still better than reserve at most other regionals. Minimum 12 days off. If you get extended (jr manned) you have the option of getting the day off back. I doubt you will be on reserve long depending on your base choice and barring unforeseen circumstances. New hires who finished IOE in July are already awarded lineholders for Oct-Nov.

I think some of the naysayers lose sight of the fact that this isn't a major airline. Could it and should it be better? Sure. We are working through all that in our negotiations. But I still put our contract, QOL and working conditions up against any other regional out there.

Better than PSA with SAP and a flow (even with the flow as a pure backup)? If so, how? I'm honestly curious; exploring all options.

For one the pilot group is a lot more mature. Much easier to get along with guys and gals who take their profession seriously.

That's strictly your opinion. No way to prove that.

Listen to com 2 in CLT for a while.

What does that have to do with work rules and QOL? From the outside looking in, SAP outweighs the perception of a slight less mature pilot group since it directly affects pay and QOL.

The last FO on the April seniority list was around 90% on the July list. There might be another regional that gets you 10% up the list in 3 months, but its not going to be a place you want to be.

New FOs are sitting reserve for 2-3 months.

Other regionals might have similar rules but I would specifically ask about things like cancellation pay/block or better, trip and duty rigs, health insurance costs and benefits, retirement matching, and things like that. There's a lot that goes into pay besides dollars per hour and AW really shines on that front.

The CPP isn't a flow but it should generate movement. That's all it's good for until you have been here at least 3 years when it *might* help with a UAL job. But it gets the list moving a bit faster and gives the senior guys/gals a reason to leave and that benefits everyone. Again I'm not familiar with those other flow programs but approach them all with a healthy dose of skepticism.

Does PSA still have 12 hour 4 day trips?

Awesome, those are the details I was looking for. Will look into PSA vs AW's policies/rules on all the points you mentioned above. Thanks!

Not sure, but SAP is supposed to be the bees knees and I've yet to hear/meet a PSA guy say literally anything bad about it. That said, obviously I'm keeping options open and considering all points. So for AW I was wondering if there was anything that outweighs the value of the SAP/flow combo. Another poster above brought up some points I'll look into. Thanks guys, blue skies.

You are going to have to enlighten this old guy what SAP is.

If you want details I will try to give you a few.

Pay- block or better on a leg by leg basis. Full DH pay. Full cancellation pay. You basically can't lose pay from your final award unless you cause the issue. 2:1 Duty rig. 3.5:1 Trip rig. 3 hour minimum day. 75 hours/month guarantee.
Per diem is $2.65 I think.

Health Insurance is a Cadillac plan of which we pay 25%.

Retirement. 3% 401k donation regardless of pilot participation. (After 1 year I think). They also match roughly half up to 5%. You put in 9, they put in 5. 100% vested at 6 years.

$260 per year uniform allowance. Starts paying out after first full calendar year.

Vacation 1 week after your first year. 2 weeks from 2-5 years. Then 3 weeks topping out at 5 weeks. Trip touching on primary weeks, 1st, 4th, and 5th.

12 days off minimum per month.

All correct except per diem is 1.75.