A Review of Avantair

[BeenThereDoneIt]

You guys have given this thread so much life, it is almost funny. It was just a post about current policies/pay at Avantair (not one was disputed, but you did try to sugar-coat them)....and my particular experience there. CM is probably about to crap his pants because of you guys. Heck, I didn't even mention the 1-week vacation compared to other companies, etc. I just posted about current Avantair sick day policies, crew meal policies, "ya can't get another job flying a Piaggio for a year after quitting Avantair policies"...etc. All of those policies are in writing.

Some of you guys actually think that only 55% of your flights are passenger flights. Whose to argue with you? The BEST service you guys can do for your company is say, "he's right, but we are working on it." The best thing you can do for fellow aviators who read here is to tell the the truth about pay, upgrades, written policies, etc. They will appreciate it. Good luck to ALL pilots.

Oh, Hazmat.....if you guys are "hoping for" 30 captain upgrades over the next year, and 30 more after the second year, and so on......and you know how many FOs are already waiting...then you just showed everyone that the FO's at the bottom of the list are looking at 3+ years for upgrades. You just proved my point. Thanks.

 

[HazMat]

Btdi all we are asking is for you to be truthful about all aspects. Not outright lie and sprinkle in some truth and then use another username to support yourself. You posted as if you knew what was said on the conference call we just responded to the misinformation u posted. As long as you continue to put out untruthful information we will continue to correct your attempts to mislead. In the meantime enjoy your new job

 

[BeenThereDoneIt]

Hazmat...sounds like a great idea. Just tell me which one of these things I mentioned are NOT current Avantair written policy:

2nd year FO pay for new hires STILL = $37,000 per year.

1 week paid vacation for the first few years.

7 sick days, after using 2, you need a doctors excuse. After 3 in a row, they will NOT send you out on your tour and use must either use all 7, or do without pay.

No FO night take-off or landings.

No FO passenger legs until 225 hours in type.

Only 1/3 of the number of domiciles as the leading competitor has.

Pilots must pay for crew meals.

Blackberrys for captains only.

No-Compete clause in contract that says YOU can't fly another Piaggio for 1 year after leaving Avantair.

FO's required to do captain checkride and 6-month checks without actually upgrading.

Heck...that's just the WRITTEN policies. I didn't even mention the safety issues, accidents, etc. Just let the readers know......are any of those policies mentioned above NOT in the policy manuals?

 

[HazMat]

Hazmat...sounds like a great idea. Just tell me which one of these things I mentioned are NOT current Avantair written policy:
2nd year FO pay for new hires STILL = $37,000 per year.

Correct, 2nd year FO pay has not changed since January 2005 in part due to the fact that upgrade was likely in 12 months or less. Once it was identified that a slow down of upgrade time was occurring, an effort to revisit pay scales began between the Pilot Advisory Committee and management. To date, the company responded during a down economy to take care of current First Officers. We expect to see changes in the future.

1 week paid vacation for the first few years.
Correct, and if you are hired prior to April, you can get that vacation in the first 8 months of hire.

7 sick days, after using 2, you need a doctors excuse. After 3 in a row, they will NOT send you out on your tour and use must either use all 7, or do without pay.
Incorrect, they will send you out but you must commit to a minimum of 5 days out. If you can not commit to that you can either take an unpaid leave or collect sick time

No FO night take-off or landings.
Correct but an incomplete statement - due to turbo prop catagory night T/O and landings for the PIC are required every 90 days (different than turbo jet rules) to keep current with the number of night landings, since summer night time is so limited, it makes more sense to have the PIC complete them. In the summer time the night take offs are typically the issue.

Only 1/3 of the number of domiciles as the leading competitor has.
Incorrect statement - I count 46 domiciles, i think the NJ has 100 CS has 25 FJ has 5 FO has 18.

Pilots must pay for crew meals.
Incorrect - they pay only a portion, the amount is dependant on if it is breakfast, lunch or dinner. With no more than $15.00 being shelled out.

Blackberrys for captains only.
Incomplete - First Officers recieve $25.00 for use of their personal cell phones while on the line. Captains recieve trip sheets and coordinate with the FO prior to flight.

No-Compete clause in contract that says YOU can't fly another Piaggio for 1 year after leaving Avantair.
Incomplete statement - I believe this applies to the first year training contract period and the year following. I personally know of four friends that have left to fly very nice private/corporate piaggio jobs.

FO's required to do captain checkride and 6-month checks without actually upgrading.
Incorrect again - FO's after the completion of their first recurrent are required to complete all check rides to the same standards as a Captain.

Heck...that's just the WRITTEN policies. I didn't even mention the safety issues, accidents, etc. Just let the readers know......are any of those policies mentioned above NOT in the policy manuals?

It is clear you that you left over not getting an upgrade and I am happy that you were able to secure a ground instructor position with decent goverment pay. Given your background, that should be a very good fit for you.

 

[BeenThereDoneIt]

I'll let your post speak for me...LOL

 

[cherry20's]

I think BTDI has a point hazmat... He isn't speaking outright lies, just has a couple of fine details wrong. You guys are just feeding the fire here.

I wish the best for your company BTW. Have a couple friends there...

 

[myrealnameis]

I think BTDI has a point hazmat... He isn't speaking outright lies, just has a couple of fine details wrong. You guys are just feeding the fire here.

I wish the best for your company BTW. Have a couple friends there...

I agree, feeding the fire. This mr. bryant is a ****************************** bag troll.

 

[corpflunkie]

I agree, feeding the fire. This mr. bryant is a ****************************** bag troll.

Completely uncalled for

 

[wacoflyr]

Just let it die. He's happy to be gone, and we're happy to be here. I agree that names have no place in this. When we hire in this economy, our new pilots will certainly know what they are getting into, and I suspect they will get there information from far more reliable sources than can be found here. So good luck BTDT, I wish you the very best. I am happy here, and I wish you all the happiness that you can find.

Regards, Wacoflyr

 

[mushroom]

Hi all:

Reviving an older thread, which has made interesting reading to say the least! Filtering through everything, it does give some good info about the company and the lifestyles and etc. there though.

What's new at Avantair? One of my F/O's at my present company was there from the beginning and was very senior, but left for greener (at the time) pastures. I don't think he necessarily had any problems with the company and enjoyed working there. I just applied online and am wondering if you guys have any hiring planned in the future? I would ask my F/O but I think he's a little out of the loop with what's up there.

As far as the "bad" things about a company...don't complain until you have to be out of the U.S. in a third-world country for months at a time! There are LOTS of worse jobs out there, believe me. Even if they pay a lot more. Time at home is precious.

Anyone who has some good info, please chime in, or feel free to PM me. Thanks!