I came across this and it reminded me of this place. I’ve been shocked since the merger. From the outside, I always thought it was mgt. I’ve found it’s the same or worse among the pilots. I hope we young guys don’t become the same.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.for...-is-toxic/amp/

 

It’s all what you make of it Al. In the end it is our choice, let it get to us or focus on the important things in life. There is undoubtedly a toxic culture at this place and yet I manage to have a ton of fun , keep a great attitude every trip, and try to pass that on to my coworkers.

I have seen and flown with folks that let the toxic culture get to them and it is not pretty... heck, just take a look at C&R

Been here 18.5 years and still having a blast. Taking first available upgrade and now being a NB CA in base make it that much more fun. However that does not stop me from fighting the good fight to change the things that need to be changed.

 

Don't listen to this guy, Al----he won the Virginia State Lottery and married a leggy Super-Model.

 

Im new and I dont really see the toxic culture you speak of. Maybe in time but for now I just dont see it.

 

If you are new to AA you probably won't notice it as much, yet. The waters have been somewhat "calm" lately.

I think there has been a positive shift since the merger but a lot of it is just for show PR BS lately. Not buying most of the peptalk they are selling that is not backed up by real action. I'll give them some credit, Some things ARE getting better and some things have changed but a lot of things are the same as they have been forever.

This company still has a really bad employee vs management mentality and until they get rid of that there will be no real change. There is still pretty much no accountability for anything in the decision making chain here. You will likely see everyone on both sides true colors again when contract negotiations come around and all of a sudden nobody can afford anything anymore on management side, and the mass number of senior retiring pilots willing to throw the junior half of the list under the bus to "get theirs". We will soon see how much the company has "really" changed their us vs them mentality when the new contract is in the works. I hope it has changed for the better but have my doubts. "Employee's just don't have much impact on profitability" says Doug Parker, AA CEO.....

Everyone in management ranks still passes the blame on down the line so nothing ever really gets fixed here like it should. Valid and logical ideas to save money, improve morale or make things better are virtually always ignored and even stupider ideas are implemented in their place, then of course those almost always fail miserably at the expense of millions of dollars and ****ed off passengers.

Is it less toxic than it was? I think so, but not drastically when you get to the core of it. I have seen a small change for the better though over the past few years. At my last position I worked with management more closely than I did as a regular old line pilot and still saw the exact same toxic mentality that we have had for years, still in full action and proceeding forward. Until that crap is all cleaned out. Good luck.

On a good note, I have seen some really awful management who should not be in charge of a lawn mower lose their positions over the past few years which is a positive sign. Then half the time they just replace them with questionable characters that shouldn't be in those positions either which is another story.

Will we be in the top 1,000 best places to work list by 2020? No. Maybe we make the top 50,000? Lol. Which is better than we were at somewhere around #489,512, 7 or 8 years ago. So we have that going for us!

 

Al,

I get it with management, especially middle management, but what have you seen among pilots? I haven’t really had any problems, I’ve been working with folks from all three sides pretty regularly the last 6 months and have actually been pretty impressed with how we’ve integrated. A few minor operational differences(trash bag or “market bag” placement, intercom use, etc) that I just adapt to, but that’s it. Are you referring to C&R? Because that’s definitely an outlier IMO.

For what it’s worth though, I’m a chameleon FO, I know when I’m flying with LAWA, LAA, or LUS east and know the idiosyncrasies. I don’t give a crap about any of them, so I blend in. I keep my opinions to myself as well, unless engaged on them which is rare. Makes for a pleasant trip most of the time.

 

And then I woke up... well, about the lottery anyway

 

Be positive man! Damn, you’ll stroke out at 50 if you dont. You did make me laugh though

 

Meh. It’s what you make of it.

We literally can’t leave bc of the seniority system. So love the one you’re with and do what you can to make things better.

Somehow i have a feeling the toxic culture will go away when we get a new contract lol.

 

To the former...exactly right

To the latter...or get worse