Bad Leadership:
-Has a reputation for insulting pilots who make no go decisions. Two years in a row they have insulted pilots who didn’t want to fly in a hurricane. They force pilots to fly, blatantly disregarding company safety protocols and procedures. They are a danger to the pilot, plane and passenger.
-They are condescending towards pilots. Have a tendency to have a superiority complex against pilots.
-Will act like your friend, but at the end of the day, management falls in line with company rather than what is best for pilots and operations.
-Has a recent track record of using intimidation, threatening to fire pilots, and even has used covered threats at black balling pilots who don’t fall in line.
The company does not receive criticism or suggestions well. There is an increasing culture problem in the company. Many pilots are preparing to leave. And now the company is low balling incoming pilots salary to attempt to cut corners and save money. The company furloughed all pilots April 2020, received federal funds, then rather than using that toward salary, made comments that they could use that money to buy a new plane.
Non-Certified Dispatchers:
-Some of them are decent. But it is very common that pilots do their job for them. There are so many inconsistencies in the schedule and seemingly at least once or twice a month we fly an empty round trip because dispatch didn’t do their job properly. It is often a point of frustration and contention for pilots. Keep in mind, pilots are expected to catch and correct errors made by dispatch. While the schedule is “approved” by operational control, it’s often changing and in situations where it costs the company money, pilots have been shamed for not catching their errors.
Old Planes
-When it was mentioned that the company considered using the federal funding on planes, that is because one of the most frequent customer complaints are about the airplanes. They are just getting old. The fleet is due for a refresh. But that isn’t a priority.
No room for pilot growth
-DO NOT BE FOOLED, they dangle the CJ3, but there are pilots who have been with the company 3-5 years that still HAVENT BEEN OFFERED A POSITION. It isn’t a viable option to move up in your career unless you intend to stay with the company 7 years or more.
Accommodations in Caribbean
-The houses which we use are not bad. They are usually highly functional. However, condos in SJU often have many issues and it may take months for the company to address them. Cold Showers, spotty wifi, and bad cell coverage are just normal issues with the life in the Caribbean. But you live 3 blocks from the beach... Otherwise, the Caribbean life is often similar to a frat party amongst the condos. Guys have fun, they go hard, but mostly they just try to stay sane long enough to make it back home to NY/CT
Work Hours and Expectations:
-14 hour days aren’t uncommon.
-Starting at 0500 and finishing at 1900 is not uncommon. Only to do it multiple days in a row. It takes a toll. But what makes it worse is sometimes you will only have 2 legs to fly in that time frame. It can be a lot of “hurry up and wait”.
Beware of the Contract
- It’s a poorly written contract. Pilots and lawyers alike stare at it in confusion as the realize it’s not quite clear enough to be actually binding, but they also will report you to collections if they feel you didn’t complete your end of the arrangement.
Also, there have been a couple examples of the company falsifying records to hurt pilots who leave.
Oh, and an advertised 4 on 3 off schedule looks very similar to a 5 on 1 off....
