First, with the exception of the VP, none of their managers have ever worked for the airlines so they aren't in a position to say which is better.
That said, he is probably correct that your husband would be home more nights at Walmart than he would if he worked for the airlines BUT, he would have no control over what days those were. Unless things have changed in the almost three years since I left, they are still on a days off rotation. X number of days on, followed by X number of days off. There's no control of when those days happen. One of the things that caused so many pilots to leave when I did was that the department was cancelling days off and even vacation with extremely short notice. Bottom line, people don't quit jobs. People quit people.
Keep in mind that in 2010 when they needed to lay off pilots, 10 pilots were chosen without regard to seniority. While we knew why some were let go, others were let go because they clearly had gotten themselves sideways with a manager. That does not breed safety culture, but rather a culture of fear, uncertainty, and doubt.
The money at WM is excellent right now and NW Arkansas is a great place to live. As soon as they replace about three of the four chief pilots I think it will go back to being a good place to work. Corporate jobs change with time and management priorities. WM will always be a discount retailer and they will pinch pennies wherever they can whether it be meals, hotels, or staffing. I absolutely LOVED that job for about 5 years, tolerated it for another 2, and left when I realized that I hated going to work and was either going to quit or ultimately be fired by a chief pilot who didn't think very highly of me.
At the end of the day, in 2013/14 about 10% of the pilots left the company to go to the airlines and other corporate flight departments. Most took big pay cuts. Two went to Saudi Arabia to fly the same airplane. They have families in the US. Since they left, the company increased staffing and increased salary. Nothing else changed. It stopped attrition though, so hopefully that was enough.
Best of luck whatever you decide.
