A Review of Avantair

[BeenThereDoneIt]

Mush.....overall it is a good company. The major downside is FO pay for new hires....$35,000 for the first year, $37,000 for the second year. Upgrade times are at 2 years + right now. They are fat on Captains too. Every man/woman has to either decide for themselves what they are worth, or let an employer do it for them. That choice was simple for me. Good luck.

 

[corpflunkie]

Mush.....overall it is a good company. The major downside is FO pay for new hires....$35,000 for the first year, $37,000 for the second year. Upgrade times are at 2 years + right now. They are fat on Captains too. Every man/woman has to either decide for themselves what they are worth, or let an employer do it for them. That choice was simple for me. Good luck.

have fun with newbies getting airsick in the Katana.

 

[Paradoxus]

No hyperbole needed, this has hands-down been one of the most entertaining threads I've come across in a long while. To be fair, I concede that I know nothing of Avantair beyond the fact we shared a layover hotel with them in PIE.

Certainly neutral in the conflict, I'm bothered by some aspects, however.

First among them, what difference does it make if dirty company laundry is aired in public as opposed to a controlled, sterile environment like a company board? What are you Avantair types so afraid of in grievances being made known in the open? Does the company (or more importantly, you yourselves?) really stand to suffer so much from the disclosures of one former employee? Red flag number one.

I believe it soundly proven that this level of anger-driven defense of an operator by flight crews is totally without precedent. What is this, The Firm? Are no outsiders privy to make-or-break, critical problems that might better help them make a future decision? It sounds to me that all of his complaints were directed toward the management of Avantair, not the pilot group itself (although one would wonder with the kind of unorthodox defenses against them errected by some here). Are all who leave and become publically critical of the operation due the same flavor of internet gang-rape?

It does strike me as a bit terrifying so many have made this such an issue. I know nothing about whatever sordid history this BTDI character may have had surrounding his departure, but the virulent crucifixion (character assassination, disclosure of BTDI's initials and last name, etc.) he has suffered is inexcusably unprofessional.

It seems more like he's left a gang of cultists on less-than-friendly terms judging from the general "this guy is instantly familiar, he didn't exactly fit-in/we know full well who this guy is, and he was a complete f*ck up" attitudes permeating this exchange.

Nobody likes complainers, most love their jobs and do them well in this industry....however, to go to such extraordinary lengths to defend the failings of any company in any economic climate so that you destroy the character of a collegue (given the docile extent of his failings--this guy dosen't strike me as anything so insidious as say, a scab*) for even daring to give a rough estimation of the pros and cons of Avantair markedly defies belief.

It would have been sufficient to simply refute this guy's claims, people. The creepy, slavish promotion of management coupled with stomping BTDI was thoroughly uncalled for.


The whole business was an entertaining read, be it darkly so.



*Without question the greatest crime in professional aviation, and one deserving of such smear campaigns.

 

[avbug]

what difference does it make if dirty company laundry is aired in public as opposed to a controlled, sterile environment like a company board?

On several occasions the company has taken reprisals on individuals who have posted here, and elsewhere, including firing some pilots. In several cases of which I'm personally aware, they fired the wrong pilots, and later brought them back on board.

 

[Paradoxus]

On several occasions the company has taken reprisals on individuals who have posted here, and elsewhere, including firing some pilots. In several cases of which I'm personally aware, they fired the wrong pilots, and later brought them back on board.

A repulsive violation of employer-labor trust. Still, a valid enough consideration for practical purposes.

 

[mushroom]

Paradoxus, great post.

Thanks for the reply, BTDI, and thanks to those who PM'ed me. Much appreciated.

--m

 

[BeenThereDoneIt]

Paradoxus, thanks for the defense, but those few guys from Avantair don't bother me. They have never had a better job than the one at Avantair so they dont know any better. We were all once there. For some bizzare reason they are scared, I suppose. Other pilots from Avantair refer to them as Kool-Aid Drinkers. Heck, I don't care what they do. I wish them all the best.

 

[Paradoxus]

Paradoxus, thanks for the defense, but those few guys from Avantair don't bother me. They have never had a better job than the one at Avantair so they dont know any better. We were all once there. For some bizzare reason they are scared, I suppose. Other pilots from Avantair refer to them as Kool-Aid Drinkers. Heck, I don't care what they do. I wish them all the best.

I dunno...

As a far-removed observer, I'd always perceived Avantair as probably being a rather classy place to work. The pilots I've seen around PIE and in various FBO's around the country seemed to be well-dressed professionals who seemed happy in their much coveted seven-on-seven-off lives. I had no preconceived reservations about them whatsoever.

To his credit, the avbug did propose that a certain level of discretion is warranted, but I think it safely apparent that much of what has gone on here vastly oversteps as much.

Whether or not it is representative of the corpus laborare, the behavior and cultish attitude of many of the Avant pilots in this thread is atrocious and entirely without precedence. Any serious professional considering employment at Avant would be compelled to question the integrity of the culture within based on what was showcased here. I can't think of anyone who would enjoy living under the spectre of reprisal from management and/or his fellow pilots for a moment of candidness in the cockpit.

It's one thing to take pride in your work as a professional, as well as much in your company and product. What has happened here is entirely something else.

On a side note:

I seem to recall a few cavalier comparisons made between the operation and SWA. Such comparisons are grotesquely flawed, as the SWA crews enjoy the benefits of unionized labor.

 

[Geronimo4497]

:laugh:

 

[wacoflyr]

And the silliness continues....