Walmart Again

I was not a director. This slot has been open for a really long time. Figured I would throw it out here in case someone is desperate. There is a pretty interesting post on the other forum (FI) about the atmosphere there right now.
 
Their pilots earn a very respectable salary. That's the problem. Everytime they take away a QOL item they throw the pilots a few percent on the bonus, a few thousand dollars more in RSU, or a salary increase. The money quiets people down for a few months until they realize that the QOL is still degraded and they're still being mistreated by chief pilots who know only how to manage by fear, uncertainty, and doubt. But at least it pays well... If money is all that you value.
 
Their pilots earn a very respectable salary. That's the problem. Everytime they take away a QOL item they throw the pilots a few percent on the bonus, a few thousand dollars more in RSU, or a salary increase. The money quiets people down for a few months until they realize that the QOL is still degraded and they're still being mistreated by chief pilots who know only how to manage by fear, uncertainty, and doubt. But at least it pays well... If money is all that you value.

Christ. They're giving you guys RSUs to stay around? I know a lot of companies do that (mine does, as a bonus/reward-type thing) but it's never in response to a QOL issue - we're not pilots, after all.) If they issue the RSUs, do they put a 4-year vesting on them or are they immediate?
 
Gotta ask.....what's RSU?

Restricted Stock Units. They're sort of like stock options. Some of them pay out in stock, some pay out in equivalent cash based on stock performance. Depends on how the company structures them.
 
I don't work there anymore. The RSUs were vested short term so that if you leave you're always leaving money at the table. I left around $32 grand in RSUs that hadn't vested yet when I resigned. You also have to have been employed at the end of January to be eligible for the bonus for the prior year which incentivizes people to try not to leave until after January... but not TOO far after January otherwise you're leaving the following years bonus at the table. ;-)

Golden handcuffs.
 
I don't work there anymore. The RSUs were vested short term so that if you leave you're always leaving money at the table. I left around $32 grand in RSUs that hadn't vested yet when I resigned. You also have to have been employed at the end of January to be eligible for the bonus for the prior year which incentivizes people to try not to leave until after January... but not TOO far after January otherwise you're leaving the following years bonus at the table. ;-)

Golden handcuffs.

32 grand? Sounds more like brass hand cuffs.
 
Their pilots earn a very respectable salary.

Could you through a number out for a starting pilot position there? I have heard the pay is not great. And please don't finish the sentence with "which is a great salary for living in Rogers AR."
 
They treat the truckers like royalty because they're desperately afraid that they'll unionize. That's one group that can shut the place down if they wanted to. So they get good pay, steak dinners at the distribution centers, etc... I've heard it's the best job in trucking. As such, it's trucking's equivalent of a legacy job, big prerequisites, high minimums, and tough to get.

Aviation, on the other hand, could be replaced by Flexjet tomorrow. Easily replaced with no impact to the company.

I wouldn't say the pilots lack self respect. I would say that in some cases it is still the best job they've ever had. In others they were born and raised in AR and can't conceive going elsewhere. In still others they live paycheck to paycheck and can't afford to take a hit for a year or two in order to start over at another job and work their way back up to what they were earning. Maybe a handful have Stockholm syndrome. And then there are those in the "good ol' boys" club. For them the job truly is different than it is for the rest. They're treated with dignity and respect. They get airlined home for holidays. They are selected to be G650 pilots or standards pilots or ops coordinators. They don't fly back to back to back trips or get days off taken away at short notice. Their expenses aren't scrutinized nor are their fuel-stop decisions constantly questions or critiqued.

Those that could leave have left. There are probably another 4-5 who will leave within the next year.

The company is about to throw more $$ and a 12 day off schedule at them to slow the attrition. My bet is that in a year the schedule improvements will have been rescinded when they couldn't staff long trips without airlining crews to swap out for days off. They change the "permanent" days off schedule there with great frequency.

The money will stick, but what good is money if you have no time at home to spend it?

When I was hired there it was a good alternative to a major airline job. It paid about what a senior FO at a major paid with better schedule and some fantastic benefits.

When I left it has degraded to the equivalent of a mediocre regional. It paid what a senior RJ captain paid with a schedule worse than most regionals. No longer family friendly.
 
Last edited:
I wouldn't say the pilots lack self respect.

Of course they do. And not just Wal Mart pilots, but all pilots. They're willing to put up with ridiculous pay and working conditions just because they "love to fly." Sorry, but that's a lack of self respect. Ask a truck driver if he would put up with crappy work conditions just because he "loves to drive." He might bust a gut laughing.
 
Back
Top