AWAC Interviews
03-10-2014, 02:33 AM
#61
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2010
Posts: 110
I was hired at AWAC in 2005. They were literally hiring anyone with a pulse back then. That was during the UAL/US transition and people were quitting left and right. Upgrade for me was 30 months just to give you an idea of how quickly people were leaving, and that was while shrinking 18 airplanes and around 200 pilots system wide. Avg of 18 CA's leaving a month for 2.5 years, that is a lot of guys for a small operation. It's about half that now from what I was seeing on the resignations list, and people think the movement is quick now...
Anyway, out of a class of 9 back then, 3 didn't make it thru training.
So about a 33% washout rate in that class, all were ATP rated with some being current 121 guys.
Meanwhile the rest of us were relatively lower time CFI's and ex-freight dawgs, some had ATP's but most of us did not.
AWAC training is about attitude - or at least it used to be. The same people doing check rides are still there now when I went thru, I assume it's probably still the same.
On a side note, 2 guys are left in that class. Thankfully, I am not one of them
.
My experience working with the new hires was vastly different than the others posting above. I loved working with them. They knew their stuff, were fairly happy/positive, were great pilots and didn't bitc* about the 22 hour overnight in Jackson, MS. OK maybe they'd complained about that one, but so did I. Who could blame them
.
To sum up my experience with the company, on my VERY LAST LEG I was junior manned into another turn. I had swapped in to the trip, had me done before 7:00 AM on my last day. I honestly thought that Scheduling was playing a joke. Would've been the perfect time to say "what are you going to do if I say no, fire me?". Ha. Anyway I still did it, not sure why, I hated every minute of it and was bitter and just bitc*ed the whole way to the brand new FO who took it like a champ (sorry). OK enough rambling. I made it home still that night (barely). They canceled every flight after the one I got on! So glad I'm done with the place. Get in and GTFO as fast as you can.
Anyway, out of a class of 9 back then, 3 didn't make it thru training.
- One fired during training due to attitude issues (Colgan Saab captain)
- One let go in sim due to inability to operate the automation (Beech 1900 captain)
- One let go in OE for lack of ability to fly the plane/attitude issues on the line (high, high time CFI, ex-mil Lt Col)
So about a 33% washout rate in that class, all were ATP rated with some being current 121 guys.
Meanwhile the rest of us were relatively lower time CFI's and ex-freight dawgs, some had ATP's but most of us did not.
AWAC training is about attitude - or at least it used to be. The same people doing check rides are still there now when I went thru, I assume it's probably still the same.
On a side note, 2 guys are left in that class. Thankfully, I am not one of them
.My experience working with the new hires was vastly different than the others posting above. I loved working with them. They knew their stuff, were fairly happy/positive, were great pilots and didn't bitc* about the 22 hour overnight in Jackson, MS. OK maybe they'd complained about that one, but so did I. Who could blame them
.To sum up my experience with the company, on my VERY LAST LEG I was junior manned into another turn. I had swapped in to the trip, had me done before 7:00 AM on my last day. I honestly thought that Scheduling was playing a joke. Would've been the perfect time to say "what are you going to do if I say no, fire me?". Ha. Anyway I still did it, not sure why, I hated every minute of it and was bitter and just bitc*ed the whole way to the brand new FO who took it like a champ (sorry). OK enough rambling. I made it home still that night (barely). They canceled every flight after the one I got on! So glad I'm done with the place. Get in and GTFO as fast as you can.
Last edited by Cubdriver; 03-30-2014 at 01:07 PM. Reason: name redacted
03-10-2014, 03:29 PM
#62
On Reserve
Joined APC: Jun 2013
Posts: 20
I'm a Sim Instructor for AWAC,
Our failure rate is not 50%.
We are having completion issues. More students are needing more time to finish. Where it use to take 9 sim sessions is taking 12-14 now.
If we feel a student can not safely operate the aircraft then we do not sign them off. If they are close to passing we recommend additional training.
Additional training use to be hard to request because supply and demand allowed the company to get rid of people who didn't complete the sim in the 9 training sessions. However we are now working with everyone to get them through. One person had 2 failed check rides and passed on his 3rd attempt. Still here.
Additional training is not initially planned because we expect you to be be done in 9 days. So when you need more time, it's often 20+ days later because we schedule a month in advance. So 20 days later you come back for 1-3 days and then take your check ride.
Your paid the entire time.
That being said our completion rate the first time through is more like 50% however the pass rate on the first attempt is more like 70-80% right now.
To say we are not fair is a lie. If I feel that my wife and kids would be endangered with you flying the aircraft I'm going to recommend more training. If you crash 6 times on the day before your check ride you will not take your check ride.
We do not train FO's meaning we expect our FO's to show leadership, situational awareness and have a detailed understanding of the systems; just as our captains do. If you are not willing to take your job seriously don't come here. We have an awesome and competent flight group.
I have taught every ground training program we offer. If you study hard, take this seriously, ask questions and perform within standards you will be fine. If your struggling but showing us that you are trying then we will work to get you through training.
Our failure rate is not 50%.
We are having completion issues. More students are needing more time to finish. Where it use to take 9 sim sessions is taking 12-14 now.
If we feel a student can not safely operate the aircraft then we do not sign them off. If they are close to passing we recommend additional training.
Additional training use to be hard to request because supply and demand allowed the company to get rid of people who didn't complete the sim in the 9 training sessions. However we are now working with everyone to get them through. One person had 2 failed check rides and passed on his 3rd attempt. Still here.
Additional training is not initially planned because we expect you to be be done in 9 days. So when you need more time, it's often 20+ days later because we schedule a month in advance. So 20 days later you come back for 1-3 days and then take your check ride.
Your paid the entire time.
That being said our completion rate the first time through is more like 50% however the pass rate on the first attempt is more like 70-80% right now.
To say we are not fair is a lie. If I feel that my wife and kids would be endangered with you flying the aircraft I'm going to recommend more training. If you crash 6 times on the day before your check ride you will not take your check ride.
We do not train FO's meaning we expect our FO's to show leadership, situational awareness and have a detailed understanding of the systems; just as our captains do. If you are not willing to take your job seriously don't come here. We have an awesome and competent flight group.
I have taught every ground training program we offer. If you study hard, take this seriously, ask questions and perform within standards you will be fine. If your struggling but showing us that you are trying then we will work to get you through training.
03-10-2014, 06:14 PM
#63
On Reserve
Joined APC: Jan 2013
Posts: 17
You don't know me personally and most likely have no clue on what my career expectations are.
I'm simply trying to state the facts; saying that we have a 50% failure rate is false.
As I said before, study hard and you will be fine.
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