You need to have your head examined for coming to AWAC for a "quick upgrade".

Pinnacle, colgan, mesa, etc. have quick upgrades and while AWAC did have for a short time relatively quick upgrades (for a jet regional of decent QOL) anyone's mother could see that was just temp (2005 and beyond).

I feel your pain I am on 5th year FO pay.

What is the reason for the hiring? Attrition/Short Staffed? Aircraft utilization? Or is there something in the works? Glad to see some positive news and guys getting back in the left seat.

DENflyer I'm guessing you work at AWAC? Do you commute out of DEN?

i think its a combo of all of the above....i dont think we will have planned growth for a long time....unless maybe we start lookin into some of the overseas stuff like ASA

I am looking forward to my upgrade in late 2014 when everyone starts jumping ship before the Airways contract ends...


I will just start holding my breath......NOW!

Sadly............................................. . LGA and RDU will still probably close :[

Very slight attrition is the reason for the hiring. In the company's defense, they don't want to have to furlough again in the fall and the US Airways flying has been much more seasonal than the flying with did at United, which was pretty much constant. If they overhire then a bunch of guys are really sitting around doing nothing starting in the fall.

In spite of the slowdown, I have moved up about 20-25 spots on the list in the past 18-24 months or so. And I don't have bad seniority. So this is fairly decent movement all things considered.

We are severely short staffed on the left seat and in the latest vacancy a few previously upgraded captains who had been downgraded will be re-upgraded. I would expect another vacancy in the next month or so when we find out more information regarding the summer flying schedule.

I wouldn't be so sure about that. Depending on the slot swap LGA may close, but I think RDU could possibly have a future.

Yup, one of the many Denver commuters. Commuting to the East coast has been easier than when I commuted to ORD.

There has been a trickle of people leaving AWAC, both CA and FO. Some senior CA have opted for an early retirement option. Some of the FOs I know quit to go to ATC school and some got out of aviation altogether.

Also, we typically have an increase in block hours during the summer and last summer we ran a tight operation. Most of the reserve CA that I know flew almost every day on call. I'm on reserve and I don't pick up opentime. June I credited 97 hours, July 110.
Awac can't afford to have another summer with minimal staffing. I think they might figuring that out .... slowly.....

Another update for everyone:

All our pilots will be back from furlough Feb 8 and in groundschool.

The rumor is that a new hire ground school to start Feb 22 with up to 10 people, but this is rumor and I'll believe it when their in groundschool.

if you are planning to come to Air Wisconsin don't unpack. We are going out of business!

That's not what I heard. I heard we're 're-negotiating' our contract to fly EMB-190/195s for 'competitive' rates and will be getting contracts with Delta, American, United, AirTran and there are rumors about a Southwest feed. New F/Os will start at $15/hour but that low wage doesn't matter because upgrade will be quick, like 6 months. Oh, and mins have been lowered to 'student' and they'll take care of the rest in the sim. Lookin' great!

I don't know where you get all your doom and gloom. :D

good one!!

I'm really not a doom and gloomer by nature, but let's be honest for a second here. The owner's are simply not going to budge on their high profit margins that they expect out of a contract, and the employees are not going to take any more concessions in pay. The company seems to have less than zero interest in larger aircraft and the higher pay scales that would come with them. With these things in mind I just don't see how the company is going to exist past 2015. It's not exactly a secret that nobody wants 200's anymore.

It's not like it's all peaches and cream anywhere else. The industry is in a shambles and will be for a while.

But between now and 2015 is a long, long time in the business. I doubt the owners will just let it die at that time. They are making money. Why would they get out?

In the meantime they milk the -200s for everything they can because that's what smart airlines do.

Look at NWA, now Delta, with the DC-9s. Think everyone wants to fly ancient DC-9s? I very much doubt it. But you know what? They're paid for and making money. Same with the CRJ-200s at AWAC. Whether or not they're paid for I don't know, but money is being made somewhere and as long as that's the case they will be around. When they stop making money the -200s will be gone.

The owners of ZW have made a killing by shrewd business decisions. I doubt that will change. In the meantime either live with the decent-for-a-regional contract or find another airline that suits you better. Some are indeed hiring. I nearly left last year myself in order to be home more. Didn't, but came very, very close.

No shame in making the right decision for you.

Right-- Add into the mix that the owners would have to take a much lesser risk in 2015 than they did in 2004/05. They had aircraft in 2004 with 10+ yr leases left. Now we are left with a company in which the owners can park airplanes at a much less risk. My money is on repo flights to CA and AZ.

These owners are used to high profit margins in this world they should move on and invest into better industries. In the meantime be honest to the employees for once that they are shutting this place down! Easier said than done to leave this place but anyone on this property should be "Looking for a new job"

Believe me, I hope my future is not here for the rest of my career. But I do believe there will continue to be an Air Wisconsin after 2015.

That said, my blinders are not on and I do of course look for other opportunities. But I'm for sure not going to make the mistake of simply taking the first non-Air Wisconsin job to come along right now. Many folks have done that over the past 6 years that I've been here and came to regret that decision very quickly.

The grass is not always greener 'over there'.

Right now it sucks because there is essentially zero movement anywhere in the industry. That will change.

One Captain i just flew with said it best...."My friend....we have the terminal cancer...." :(

I think AWAC should buy PSA and move their HQ to CLT. Then we could be one big happy yet dysfunctional family. :D

And Republic....maybe we can save them lol

Because they won't be making money after the Airways contract runs out. Their revenue stream will dry up with the end of that contract.

While that is a nice point about the DC-9's, it doesn't apply to AWAC. The majority of our fleet is tied into leases which will be running out in the not so distant future. I could easily see them working out a deal with Airways to start drawing down flying and sending planes to the desert as those leases do indeed come to the end of their term.

Absolutely. That's all that any of us can do really. I keep my eyes and ears open daily for any opportunity that I think might be a better fit. Of course, there isn't much out there at the moment, but that will change at some point.

dont we own the leasing company though??? i thought thats why we had such a deal going....cuz we own about half the fleet and on the leasing company who leases the rest of them

United is still on the registrations on some of the older planes.... 405-07,409, 410.
AWAC owns a good chunk of the newer ones.

Back to the hiring thread....
Small class of new hires starting Feb 22 and another small class in March most likely.

anyone on here in those classes? just curious as to what kind of quals they went with.

Any idea if they will do more interviews soon? I know they interviewed last week, but I'm not sure of the total number. I heard initially they are only looking for 10-12 new hires either all in one class or split up in two classes, but possibly 30 new hires total spread out over the next few months into summer?

What are the junior FO bases at AWAC??

PHL and ORF are the junior bases..

ORF is pretty junior, as has been LGA. Nobody is really sure of the future of LGA though.

DCA is pretty senior.

Thank you for the info....anyone have any recent interview gouges on them??

anyone get calls?
Im still being reviewed.

Be humble, but confident. Know your stuff. No attitudes. They don't last very long at AWAC.

And most importantly don't wear your sunglasses indoors.:cool:

The guy in my interview who did that was never heard from again.

Thank you Saab!!!

I'm still being reviewed too..when did u submit? what r ur times?

I got a call...times are a little shy of 2000TT, 1190 Turbine...121 exp

2000TT
550 M
Internal Rec
No 121

been under review for 4+weeks

i applied..havent heard dog doo. 3300 hours, atp, 3200 ME turbine, mil time, 121 time, corp time.....who knows.

Are you guys that are still "under review" able to update your resume online? I'm not being considered but still want to annoy them buy updating my resume every week. I can log onto my application but there is no longer anywhere to upload a resume.

ok, well i'm definitely not getting a call...hah. thanks for sharing though. good luck to all those under review

why do you say that?

because i'm nowhere near that

as long as you meet the mins...go for it...you have nothing to lose except a possible job.