AWAC has some of the nastiest, grouchiest people around. Why they are so nasty... I guess it's because of the DEN base closure, pay concessions, crappy and non-commutable schedules and just all-around crusty old guys tired of the daily grind. The 146 guys are old and tired and flat out mean. The senior CRJ DEN guys are pissed off because they have to commute. All around an ugly situation for an FO just trying to do his job.
I disagree with this. in the 2+ years i have been here i have only flown with a couple guys i didnt care for. i have never flown with a captain that has been outright nasty and grouchy. most of the guys are nice and are tolerable to fly with if they are not totally cool. we all bitch a lot of the time, but given the state of the industry, we all deserve to vent and let off a bit of steam once in a while. and the guys that truly are that bitter are quiting, either finding other flying jobs or getting out altogether.
just like everyone else i have my gripes with the company. probably the biggest one would be the super tight control that scheduling has over the pilots. its almost impossible to anything to alter your schedule, wheter it be drop a turn on the last day or pick up part of a trip thats in open time. everytime you try to drop a trip, its always denied to "lack of reserve coverage", even though you know there are 10 other guys sitting reserve. we use FLICA to do our bids and schedules. however, its use is extremely limited and the data is not real time. also, if you want access outside of work, you have to pay for it yourself which blows.
my other gripe is some of the crap hotels we stay at. we layover in some awesome cities, yet we stay in the middle of nowhere in many cases. for instance, in savannah, GA we stay about 15-20 minutes from the river area downtown. it would be nice if we could stay somewhere near downtown, especially when you have a 18 hour layover. it sucks to pay $15 for a cab everytime you want to go downtown. Madison, WI and new orleans are among a few others.
having said that, AWAC is still a decent place to work. yes we took concessions which everyone is still bitter about and will be for atleast another 6 years and 328 days, but the pay is still decent because we still have decent work rules. we get weather/cancellation pay, full deadhead, and the greater of 1) 1 hr pay /2 hrs duty, 2)1 hr pay / 4 trip hours, 3) 3 hour min day, 4) scheduled flight time, or 5) actual flight time.
as far as the schedules go, im relatively senior now and dont commute, so i cant gripe about the schedules. i get 15-17 days off per month and have all weekends off. i know a lot of guys were displaced from denver and are entitled to bitch, but there are those that choose to commute and still bitch. me personally, id rather be a senior fo living in base than be a junior captain in dulles and commute, which many people choose to do.
anyway, hope this info is helpful to you.
