I'm Here Doing It...at Avantair

[rettofly]

Of course not.

Addendum: I wouldn't comply with such an audacious request, however, unless the job was hella-special.

In the vernacular of Praetorius: Were you abused as a pilot?

A management that requires a training contract is not inherently evil or incompetent.

A management that does not require a training contract is not inherently good or competent.

 

[Ultrabandit]

Well, when I got to Avantair they were exactly what I was looking for. A young company with a TON of potential. I wanted to get in on the ground floor of a company that was going to "explode". I knew a guy who was hired as number 40 at Jet Blue. At the time we all said, "JetWho?" and wished him luck at his little project. We sort of snickered at the time too.

Well, I learned a great lesson there! Now he is senior as God at a great airline. I ate a bunch of crow there...but I learned. Don't chase that "great job". I turned down an interview at NetJets for that very reason. I went to a job fair and stood in all the lines I wanted to and at the end I saw the NetJet table and figured "why not"? Well I was given an interview date and respectfully turned it down as at the time they had 2,600 pilots. I just couldn't imagine being 2,601 of 2,604. They'd have to buy 500 planes just so I could upgrade!

Anyway, I wanted a small little up and comming company that I could get in on the ground floor. I found EXACTLY what I was looking for at Avantair. They ran a plane that sipped gas and nobody had ever heard of them. I interviewed and liked what I saw. Then came what I didn't like...the training contract.

In the end I weighed that against all that I liked and decided to bite the bullet and do it. If I was pissed after 3 months and had to leave I would have sucked it up and honored the contract that signed. As it were, I liked this job more than any I've had so it was not a problem.

I make more money than I've ever made and I really enjoy the flying that I do. Is it perfect? Nope. But that's okay. I feel like I'm a part of the solutions to fix what needs fixing.

I understand why they have a training contract. I do not support it. But with all that's going on in the world I figure I can live with that. I'm happy and very glad I signed that stupid document that I didn't agree with. That was 5+ years ago. Moot point now...

I guess this job, for me, has been "hella-special".

Fly safe,

gp

GP,

You are not being truthful!.. You weren't looking for a place like Avantair to get in on the ground floor or a new company, with a different kinda of aircraft. After your last company went out business, Avantair was the only place that hired you. I remember when you first came to Avantair. You had a real bad attitude, cocky, and arrogant because you flew a Barbie Jet at a 121 operation and thought you knew it all. Guys didn't care for you much at Avantair and I don't know if that has changed. But I doubt that. What about all of the issues that you have had at Avantair, you never seem to mention any of that in all of your post. I won't disclose them but you know what I am talking about. I have read alot of you post here on FI, not saying a thing...but it was time to. Avantair is not perfect, that is an understatement, it is Far from perfect and will never get better under the current management.Avantair is not not all that you protest it to be. You have a Nazi as a DO, who has his own interpretation of the GOM to make guys do things that not in the best interest of the Pilots and a greedy CEO who just took another pay raise and wanted to force 14/14 day schedule in order to try to save money. I'm glad you all did not let that happen..Cudos to you all I know that they are having major issues with maint, finances and the FAA, now tell me I'm lying. Just be truthful. Have you ever asked yourself, Have things really gotten better over the last 5 years at Avantair OR Have I just become immune to this Crap? As long as the industry is in the state that it is in, there will always be very qualified guys going after any Jobs, with the word "AIR" in them, even those with Air Conditioning. So getting good qualified guys at Avantair will not be an issue until the industry turns around. After that Avantair will become just a steeping stone flying job until something better comes along,
I know there will be a lot of comment on this post from you and the other guys at Avantair. I am not attacking you guys at Avantair, there are some great guys there trying to make it work and I commend you all on the Job that you are doing, but under the current management it will never change for the better for you guys, I know first hand!
Peace Out!

 

[glasspilot]

Oh look, btdi is back.

Nice first post. I guess I'm honored I rates high in your book to deserve a "first post".

 

[rajflyboy]

I ran into an Avantair crew the other day. They were very unhappy about how things were going lately. Company had these guys on several hours of "Airport Appreciation" and the captain even said that they were staying in a Super 8 hotel that night. They said things were going down hill fast.

Any truth to this or were these guys just disgruntled people?

 

[Lear70]

Moderator reviewed:

Members who come out swinging on their first post are subject to review and removal at the sole discretion of the board moderators and webmaster.

While the IP addresses for the afore-mentioned poster do not match, a word of warning. Similar writing styles, intimate knowledge of inner workings of the company, etc might give us reason to believe you might not be a new member, rather a member with a new user name after being previously-banned. As such, repeated inflammatory postings will be approached as if you are an experienced member, rather than a NooB.

Post accordingly, aka, play nice please.

Thanks,

/mod

 

[AftCG182]

I ran into an Avantair crew the other day. They were very unhappy about how things were going lately. Company had these guys on several hours of "Airport Appreciation" and the captain even said that they were staying in a Super 8 hotel that night. They said things were going down hill fast.

Any truth to this or were these guys just disgruntled people?

Change in general makes some people unhappy. The current changes stem from posturing maneuvers that will help us endure this recession a little better. Possibly even to prepare for the dreaded "double dip" recession, should one occur. Generally speaking, the economy seems to be improving. Hopefully the recovery is firmly underway. Let's also hope those tax cuts get at least a temporary extension.

Increased "airport appreciation": Accurate. Not the norm, but we do find ourselves on standby to cover maintainence problems elsewhere in the system more than we used to. Makes good business sense to me.

Super 8 hotels: Not accurate, at least on a regular/repeated basis. Every once in a while we overnight in East Bunglef-ck, where the nearest Hilton or Holiday Inn property is 45 minutes away. Maybe, on that night, Super 8 was the only reasonable lodging available.

Things are going downhill fast: Not accurate. Again, change (along with the uncertainty about what will result from change) makes some people uneasy/unhappy. Some grumbling is reasonable, and should be expected.

Hope this addresses your points.

 

[AftCG182]

GP,

You are not being truthful!.. You weren't looking for a place like Avantair to get in on the ground floor or a new company, with a different kinda of aircraft. After your last company went out business, Avantair was the only place that hired you. I remember when you first came to Avantair. You had a real bad attitude, cocky, and arrogant because you flew a Barbie Jet at a 121 operation and thought you knew it all. Guys didn't care for you much at Avantair and I don't know if that has changed. But I doubt that. What about all of the issues that you have had at Avantair, you never seem to mention any of that in all of your post. I won't disclose them but you know what I am talking about. I have read alot of you post here on FI, not saying a thing...but it was time to. Avantair is not perfect, that is an understatement, it is Far from perfect and will never get better under the current management.Avantair is not not all that you protest it to be. You have a Nazi as a DO, who has his own interpretation of the GOM to make guys do things that not in the best interest of the Pilots and a greedy CEO who just took another pay raise and wanted to force 14/14 day schedule in order to try to save money. I'm glad you all did not let that happen..Cudos to you all I know that they are having major issues with maint, finances and the FAA, now tell me I'm lying. Just be truthful. Have you ever asked yourself, Have things really gotten better over the last 5 years at Avantair OR Have I just become immune to this Crap? As long as the industry is in the state that it is in, there will always be very qualified guys going after any Jobs, with the word "AIR" in them, even those with Air Conditioning. So getting good qualified guys at Avantair will not be an issue until the industry turns around. After that Avantair will become just a steeping stone flying job until something better comes along,
I know there will be a lot of comment on this post from you and the other guys at Avantair. I am not attacking you guys at Avantair, there are some great guys there trying to make it work and I commend you all on the Job that you are doing, but under the current management it will never change for the better for you guys, I know first hand!
Peace Out!

Welcome back, BTDI. Since you decided to call out glasspilot, I'll let him take up this discussion.

 

[rajflyboy]

Change in general makes some people unhappy. The current changes stem from posturing maneuvers that will help us endure this recession a little better. Possibly even to prepare for the dreaded "double dip" recession, should one occur. Generally speaking, the economy seems to be improving. Hopefully the recovery is firmly underway. Let's also hope those tax cuts get at least a temporary extension.

Increased "airport appreciation": Accurate. Not the norm, but we do find ourselves on standby to cover maintainence problems elsewhere in the system more than we used to. Makes good business sense to me.

Super 8 hotels: Not accurate, at least on a regular/repeated basis. Every once in a while we overnight in East Bunglef-ck, where the nearest Hilton or Holiday Inn property is 45 minutes away. Maybe, on that night, Super 8 was the only reasonable lodging available.

Things are going downhill fast: Not accurate. Again, change (along with the uncertainty about what will result from change) makes some people uneasy/unhappy. Some grumbling is reasonable, and should be expected.

Hope this addresses your points.

Thanks for the insight

 

[Praetorian]

I hear the Avantair guys got screwed on their schedule. 7&7 unilaterally changed by mangt. to an 8&6 schedule. I also hear there is an organizing campaign underway. I guess we now know why B19 is back at work on here. I perdect the FUD will now be flowing. I wonder which union-busting law firm Avantair will hire?

Popcorn anyone?

 

[gunfyter]

I hear the Avantair guys got screwed on their schedule. 7&7 unilaterally changed by mangt. to an 8&6 schedule. I also hear there is an organizing campaign underway. I guess we now know why B19 is back at work on here. I perdect the FUD will now be flowing. I wonder which union-busting law firm Avantair will hire?

Popcorn anyone?

Perceptive....