Still Happy At Avantair

[AftCG182]

A little less than three months after being hired, I guess it's safe to say the honeymoon period is over. No need to rehash all of the stuff from my original thread on this topic, but I stated that I'd post a followup thread and let you know it is going.

It's going great, still think it's the best move I've ever made in my aviation career.

Who cares, you ask? Well, based on the number of PM's I've gotten over the last couple of months, I'd say quite a few of you are looking for an alternative to the regionals. They're just afraid of getting bashed if they post a public response.

I can take it, let the bashing begin. For those who'd like to PM me, feel free to do that as well.

As always, "Keep the blue side up!"

Dave

 

[FurloughedAgain]

Good for you Dave! That thing's a neat looking machine. Saw one in Chicago the other day. Especially with the EFIS upgrade, it's impressive looking. Any company that values corporate aircraft but is also looking at sustainability should be looking at that thing.

 

[CA1900]

It's going great, still think it's the best move I've ever made in my aviation career.

Who cares, you ask?

You do, which is really all that matters! Glad things are going well.

The real world really is a much better gig than the regionals, ain't it?

 

[johnsonrod]

Cool picture of the P180 Dave. We all appreciate your enthusiasm for your job and I hope a lot of us will at least look at other options out there like Avantair which has a lot of growth on the horizon.

Merry X-MAS

 

[AftCG182]

Great point. As a company, Avantair is trying to balance growth, pilot satisfaction, owner satisfaction, equipment and maintainence issues, scheduling issues, and so on... all while taking delivery of new Avanti's and trying to make the balance sustainable. All of that other stuff means nothing is you can't keep the ball rolling forward...

Or in the case of my N.Y. Jets, surviving until next season!

Merry x-mas to you too, Rod!

 

[johnsonrod]

Anyone who wants to get a good look at flying the Avanti II (Pro Line equipped) at Avantair can also take a look at this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PozsRQUjem4

Check it out - a pretty cool airplane.

 

[MarineGrunt]

Did I hear one of you guys at FL410 the other day??? Pretty fargin high for a turboprop!

 

[AftCG182]

The real world really is a much better gig than the regionals, ain't it?

Yes it is, my friend. But I have to point out that I'm not bashing the regionals. I understand that without the great experience that the regional industry provided, I never would have been able to apply at Avantair in the first place.

I just want to make sure noone misinterprets my intentions...

Yup, we were the ones at FL410, burning 500lbs/hr or less! (yes, TOTAL fuel burn!) hahaha!

 

[WSurf]

Did I hear one of you guys at FL410 the other day??? Pretty fargin high for a turboprop!

Yea, I got a buddy over there and the controllers were laughing cause they were in the high 30's and overtaking a Airbus at a lower altitude (winds of course).

What the hell is the fuel burn up there? Like 300PPH on each side????

Anyway, glad your happy!

 

[learflyer]

Still not hiring in the florida bases?

 

[AftCG182]

I'll check with Elizabeth Place when she gets in tomorrow. She's our pilot recruiter. I thought we were hiring into all of our gateways(bases), but I can check that.

 

[greyskyracer]

is there a training contract?

 

[AftCG182]

There is, but that may have changed, too. I'll check on that as well.

 

[eagle06]

Glad to hear you are still enjoying the company. Good luck and Merry Christmas!

 

[Boris Badenov]

Glad you're enjoying yourself. Cool airplane.

In other news, and a propos to nothing, if I see one more aviation-themed video set to the rousing strains of "Learn to Fly", I'm going to run over Dave Grohl's dog.

 

[Heavy Set]

I just talked to a happy Avantair crew at LAS a couple days ago. I got a nice tour of the Avanti and I was very impressed - very comfortable in the back. That Avanti is a real sports car.

I think Avantair is filling a big void in the market (people who don't want to buy more expensive jet shares but still want luxury travel and convenience of flying to smaller airports). That's a big market of people when you think about it - not everyone can afford Gulfstreams. Over relatively short distances the Avanti compares favorably with more expensive jets anyway in terms of flight times - NYC area to Boston or LA to Las Vegas or San Francisco will not see much benefit in a jet. Obviously jets make more sense over medium to longer flights. From what I have heard Avantair has been selling a lot of shares (especially with the higher fuel costs).

 

[Guitar Guy]

...if I see one more aviation-themed video set to the rousing strains of "Learn to Fly", I'm going to run over Dave Grohl's dog.

That's really mean-spirited during this holiday season.


Run over Dave instead: he's the one who wrote that song.

 

[AftCG182]

One last post before I go to bed

One last post and I'm out...

To address a couple of points:

-The cabin is so roomy due to the aerodynamic shape of the fuselage. We actually get 20% of our lift from the fuselage itself. At 5'9" I can just about stand upright in the cabin.

-Avantair is filling a niche in the market. We're optimized for ultra-short to medium range trips. However, we have plenty of owners that use us for long-haul trips. Just my opinion, but I credit it to the airplane's efficiency and low impact on the environment, combined with the high level of crew interaction. It's almost like flying family. The owners don't mind a fuel stop at all. Note: If you don't like connecting with your pax, maybe Avantair isn't the best place for you to work. No bulletproof door here!

-Another thing is giving tours of the airplane. The Avanti is such an attention getter, you really need to like giving tours. You give 'em all the time. It makes remembering the limitations and specs easy when you have to recite them day after day! Also, don't take the harsh comments from the King Air 200 owners & pilots personally. We're their worst nightmare

The jets and larger aircraft operated by the bigger fractionals are pretty much serving a different market than we are. There's never any hard feelings when you sit near a NetJets guy at the breakfast buffet. Again, it's only my opinion, but the big guys like NetJets and Flexjet serve a different customer base than we do.

In closing, I'd like to say that I find it refreshing to actually look forward to going to work, then to be taken care of by the people who sign my paycheck. Flying a kickass airplane and having cool coworkers is just icing on the cake.

As I always say, "keep the blue side up", and have a great night.

Dave

 

[Heavy Set]

What's the "average" upgrade time again - 1-3 years? Also, how many Avanti IIs will be added in 2008?

Thanks

 

[johnsonrod]

I thought I heard upgrades were running at 12-18 months. Looks like a bunch of Avantis (40 now with 100 total by 2012) and some light jets (Phenom 100s) are expected over the next 3-5 years:

http://airlinepilotcentral.com/airlines/fractional/avantair.html