firedup

I will agree with Zap. I interviewed back in 1999, but decided not to take the job. I do know 5 other pilots there whom I went to school with though...They all seem to like it, and have been there for a number of years. They also get a 15% discount at Wal-mart!

Swass

I've heard it's a good place to work, you know your sched's and it's a given that you'll operate on the cheap (no high fallutin' catering etc.) Plus, Beaver Lake isn't all that far. You'd be surprised how nice that part of Ark. is, WalMart has brought all the nice things you'd see in larger cities such as good restaurants, shopping etc.

ARPilot31a

Home almost every night (most trips are 6:30 to 17:30)

1. Starting pay around $50,000 + 10% bonus + stock.
2. Captain pay starts around $74,000 + 10% bonus + stock.
3. FlightSafety recurrent twice a year
4. Guaranteed days off schedule (no pager) from the day you're hired, until the day you retire. About 11 guaranteed days off a month -- more if you count weekends.
5. Very few weekend/holiday trips.
6. Company credit card for meals on the road

ARPilot31a

Home almost every night (most trips are 6:30 to 17:30)

**Overnights are 4-10 a month,sometimes more, sometimes less, lots of 3,4 and 5+ leg days.**

Starting pay around $50,000 + 10% bonus + stock.
Captain pay starts around $74,000 + 10% bonus + stock.

**UP TO a 10% bonus, the bonus has not been 10% or 100% of the bonus in years, it was roughly 7% this year). Stock has been flat for over 9 years.**

Guaranteed days off schedule (no pager) from the day you're hired, until the day you retire. About 11 guaranteed days off a month -- more if you count weekends.

**You will fly lots of weekend days. Only 7 hard days off in a 4 week period, not sure where he gets the 11 days off, you'll be on standby quite a bit, with a 1 hour max show time. Plus, the off schedule can be eradicated at any moment by management.**

Very few weekend/holiday trips.

**Not true-lots of weekend flying, not much holiday flying, but you can bet your sweet A** you'll be on standby alot on the holidays.**

Company credit card for meals on the road.

**Lowest in the industry meal allowance of 10 bucks per day trip-up to 14 hour duty day, on idle days it is 6, 8 and 11 for breakfast lunch and dinner- including tax and tip- Hello Subway and McDonalds) These guidelines have been the same since the mid 90's! Hotel over 99 bucks 30+ miles outside of class B airspace or 129 inside Class B airspace requires a consultation/approval with a chief pilot. Very, very tight micromanaging of expenses.**

Other than those items, a pretty good place to work.

ZapBrannigan

I don't think i've ever had 10 overnights a month unless you count FSI, but I suppose the rest of what ARPilot31a says is true. I guess we all look at the department through the lens of our past experiences.

To me it's a pretty good gig -- but I admit I don't have any other corporate experience to compare it to.

trafly

I have several friends who fly for Wal-Mart and they all love the job. Most have been there 10+ years, going back to the Commander days. They all say the same things: stable, home most nights, good benefits, very safety conscious. Having seen the company ops manual, I can attest to the fact that Wal-Mart does not cut corners when it comes to their flight department. As for the pay scale, you must remember that you're talking about living in northwest Arkansas! It's all relative. Median home price is in the $200k range, so QOL is pretty good. Just my 2 cents.

fly4food84

That's good news. Did they ever use to share hotel rooms?

577nitro

So ZAP, is this the person I should submit my resume to?

[email protected]

Thanks,
577nitro-

Gilmore

YES they did share holtel rooms at one time & no rental cars & $6.00 lunches & 8.00 dinners. That was then--sounds as if it has gotten alot better OR someone has nothing else to judge it to. It wasn't for me, but IT DID help get to where I wanted to go. It was alot of flying, but great experience. I still have a friend there. For each his own.

beechbum

There are some good people there, but unfortunately there are a handful of really bad people there too. It is very political. I decided it was time to move on when my team leader (I think she is now one of the chief pilot's) told me my job as an FO was "to protect the ego of the captain." This came shortly after the Captain nearly flew me into the mountain north of Flagstaff on the ILS; well...the Loc had full scale deflection but he was still trying to follow the glideslope. I didn't like it there, but a lot of the pilots do. Visit the flight department and talk to a lot of pilots informally before you make a decision. It is a very unique flight department.

Do they still have the sign on the paper towel dispenser in the upstairs restroom that says not to use more than ONE paper towel?