It's all a matter of attitude and perspective
Pros
Free flight benefits are better than any airline in the industry and begin on the first day of employment. There's never a missed opportunity to get plenty of exercise while getting paid. Short of a desert retreat, you will never get a better view of beautiful sunrises, sunsets and night sky than from the vast openness of an airport tarmac. The company often provides small gestures of appreciation with catered meals or cash bonuses when on-time goals are met, nothing to make you rich but a nice recognition. Admittedly there is ample turnover but an opportunity to meet and mentor new hires. I've made a lot of new friends here and it's a kick to occasionally take flying day trips together, just because you can! Basically it's a matter of attitude and perspective if you accept that it's a low paying job with cool benefits. If you enjoy travel and getting paid to exercise, this job fits the bill. It's a perfect second job or for someone retired that wants to stay active and see the world without breaking the bank purchasing tickets. If you can ignore poor people skills by mid-level supervisors, accept the fact that you are getting relative low pay without expectation of advancement with the attitude that you are getting plenty of exercise, enjoy working outside in shorts with knowledge that you can be in Hawaii tomorrow and Paris next week, all on a whim, life is good. Piedmont corporate seems to have a great vision and demonstrates a constant effort to make air travel a safe and enjoyable experience for our customers and are not timid in expressing appreciation to their employees for their contribution. The best travel benefits imaginable!
Cons
In my experience, mid-level management leaves a lot to be desired. I'm guessing that this is the result of being given supervisory roles for tenure as opposed to management training and people skills. I haven't observed a remarkable amount of motivation from supervision and certainly none that I would consider a role model. More often than not, the best phrase I could use to describe these mid-level supervisors is "rampant apathy". Although Piedmont Corporate liberally expresses gratitude for safe operations and goals met, mid-level supervision is typically "management by intimidation" quick to criticize and short on praise. The pay is extremely low, offset by nice perks, for often fairly strenuous work in all types of weather. I consider the issue of this being a Union shop, Communication Workers of America, to be a great disservice to the employees. Although no fault of Piedmont, there is no option to not be a Union member and pay dues. The contract is poorly written, weak, full of exceptions and guarantees that the pay remains low and capped without exception. The Union contract guarantees that regardless of how hard you work, go beyond the call of duty or try to advance, you will be paid the same low wages as someone that does the bare minimum. Unfortunately there is no choice to opt out of Union membership and dues. There is a great deal of turnover, constantly bringing in new employees to replace fallen soldiers. While new talent is welcome, the constant lack of a full experienced team requires a great deal of extra work on existing employees before new hires get up to speed. It's unfortunate that most turnover is not due to low pay, hard work required or weather conditions but a repeated pattern of lack of people skills by low level management.