AV1...
Let me first start off by saying that we are referred to as an "airline" here at airnet and not a freight company. Maybe that can start to help ease some of the negative feelings that we all have towards the "freight haulers."
Hyper was very correct in his response to you about our way of dealing with the everyday occurances that come about in this industry. Throughout my tenure here i have cancelled 2 flights and diverted to another airport once due to weather. I have also delayed my departure numerous times due to weather. After doing this for awhile you kind of get the feeling of when you need to stay and when you can go, and it is always in your best interest, as well as the company's, to go. I will tell you one thing though, THAT CARGO I HAUL IS IN NO WAY WORTH MORE THAN MY LIFE!!! I would never put myself into harms way to make a deadline, and they understand that in Columbus.
As far as aircraft breaking go, well they tend to do that when they many thousands of hours on them. As hyper said, we have no budget for MX, if it's broke fix it, it's that simple. I am at a base where there are no backup planes like there are at most of our bases, so if my MX does not get done in the morning before i am supposed to depart i do one of two things. First i either determine whether i can defer the droken item so that i can safely make my run, or i simply let dispatch know that the plane is unairworthy and they are going to have to find another way to get things done that day. We have a charter company here on the field that we use for those kinds of things.
As far as being sick, we get 1 week of sick time every year, and then we can either have the rest of our sick time as unpaid time or use our vacation to cover it... don't worry, you usually have 3 weeks of vacation anyway, so you will still be able to take that planned trip down the road.
So overall, your experiences at the other company are far from what we have to offer, and remember the first thing i said above, we are an "airline" and not a freight company.