mécanicien

gérant

aeronautical engineer

webmaster

technicien aéronautique

Avmax Aviation Services

This company has only 1 priority and that is to make money. They are too cheap to spend any money to do things better either.  They would trip over a $10 dollar bill to pick up a quarter.   If they could outsource all their jobs they would. 

In fact, they will not invest in their employees if at all possible.  They would rather lose a quality person and hire 2 incompetent people to do it cheaper, than to train you to be better.  I was told many times that if I didn't like it there, that there were a 100 more people waiting to take my place.  Training was not available, and getting better at my job only meant to them that they'd have to pay me more so they didn't want any part of that.  I found out from friends that worked there that they had the same experiences.  

The rate I was paid was well below industry standard.  The benefits were weak with a really crummy dental plan, and no optical.  No sick days.  I had to clock in and out every day.  Only a 1/2 hour for lunch, and if I worked more than 40 hours in a week (ie: 42) then they would adjust my time card to only be 40.  There were no opportunities for overtime but I was expected to work more than my regular shift without compensation.  I had coworkers that worked approved overtime that was never paid out to them or was paid out less than they were entitled to. 

If something ever went wrong you had to make sure you had some way to cover your butt or you'd get blamed for it.  Managers always found ways to throw you under the bus when stuff broke or there were problems.  You were always afraid of making a mistake.  It was always someone else's fault. There was no proper planning or procedures.  It was always hurry up and wait.. .and then get it done as fast as possible.  If you thought of a way to save them $10 next week but it would cost them a dollar today, they wouldn't do it.  When that thing broke next week, they would happily spend $20 to fix it and still not do it right. It seemed like any problem was dealt with three times - 1st - the wrong way, 2nd a temporary way and then 3rd finally a better way. 

The buildings in Calgary are not well maintained. There are all kinds of safety problems in them. Stairwells not properly lighted. Chemical fumes from the shop were constantly a problem for office workers in the offices next door.  Poor cooling and heating systems - as it was either too hot or too cold.  Improper fire escape routes. In fact the owner of the company smokes in his office and all his admin staff have to put up with it or get fired. Busted office furniture was normal. The owner buys everything he can at auction so it is mostly used second hand junk.  I would be afraid to fly on any plane that Avmax fixed just based on how they do everything else. 

The owner hires family and friends into upper management positions.   In many of those cases they are incompetent.  They are protected and can do no wrong.  Those people would never be able to get the same jobs at any other company because they wouldn't be qualified to do them. 

I would warn anyone to stay away from working at this company. It's just not worth it.

Avmax definatly has a toxic environment to it. It seems as though the company is more worried about your time on tasks, rather than the quality of the work being done. Every day you have to have 8hours billable to the customer.... as a mechanic the last thing you want to do is worry about how many hours you have a day; that forces you to rush through the jobs.... as opposed to just doing a good job. 

One of the worst things is going over your time on a card.... which makes no sense to me, quality takes time, you rush on your task and you will miss something. Guaranteed.  Especially if you haven’t done the job before. *insert dirty dozen factors here*

That said there is no real standard to how things are done here, I.e. there is no paperwork training, no one really walks you through the processes/tasks..... They want you to do the job and the paperwork a certain way, but no one tells you how.... until way after the fact- by then it’s too late and someone will “yell” at you. 

Some of the more senior mechanics are way too bitter and hostile when it comes to dealing with newer staff. Especially apprentices. That said some of the younger staff are really easy going and care about each other. At times you can tell the leads have “favorites” if you aren’t on there you get pawned off to do the dirty work. 

You’ll learn a lot here, but you’ll hate it at the same time. It’ll really test if you are made for this line of work. 

Oh and the CEO really doesn’t care about you. Seriously, you are just another number to him - or so it seems.

Avmax has a good work force of competent individuals that know what they're doing for the most part.  However, some of the management decisions which affect quality of life have been questionable. 
Some examples:
- Sick days were removed awhile ago due to apparent employee abuse.  There are also no personal days.
- Salaried employees are docked hours like an hourly employee if they have to arrive late or leave early (even if it's something like a doctor's appointment).
- Company functions are few and far between.

Sunward (a Chinese company) has bought out Avmax, so perhaps things will improve but things like that take time, but this is a big unknown right now.

I can't recommend this company to job-seekers unless they're really hurting for work.

In my humble opinion;
The Avmax culture is set by the top management, as in many companies, and is only to serve the family owned business to get richer and richer and off the backs of their employees.

The employees are treated as if they are owned and are second class citizens.

The company is run by incompetent, inexperienced, poorly educated family and family friends only.

Management is micromanaging everything the employees are doing, clock punching is rampant and no creative freedom is promoted.

I would recommend to stay away from this company for the health of your sanity.

Overtime is disallowed and many times not approved, even if the employees have done the work already.

The company expects employees to use their personal mobile phones for work so the company doesn't have to spend money on the devices and plans.

Ridiculous!

This company has only 1 priority and that is to make money. They are too cheap to spend any money to do things better either. They would trip over a $10 dollar bill to pick up a quarter. If they could outsource all their jobs they would.

In fact, they will not invest in their employees if at all possible. They would rather lose a quality person and hire 2 incompetent people to do it cheaper, than to train you to be better. I was told many times that if I didn't like it there, that there were a 100 more people waiting to take my place. Training was not available, and getting better at my job only meant to them that they'd have to pay me more so they didn't want any part of that. I found out from friends that worked there that they had the same experiences.

low salaries with no existing salary reviews ever (they review your work yearly very low to support no increases or promotions, scoring you low in areas like safety in a office environment), no options of advance, where you got hired is where you stay forever. The culture is hire outside instead of promote. Since the company have multiple divisions ones are worst than others, depending to who you will report. They upper management believe that the solution of every issue is hire somebody else, without talk with workers, without training or software development. if you want to trade hours for some money this is the place but do not expect nothing else. 

The company does not pay well, many are paid minimum wages, no annual increases or bonuses, no growth, not good benefits or pension plan, they dont even offer benefits from the first day and you have to work to earn your vacation.
Management's main focus is making money while paying employees the least pay possible.
Work culture is suffering and people keep on quitting because of the lack of advancements, low pay, and corrupt management team especially the COO.
They promise many things only to become lies after you start with them. 
Always negotiate your offer because they default to low pay even when they have the budget,

They will promise you a raise, you will never see it.

If you ask questions about your pay to payroll, and your questions border the fact that what is being done is not okay. They will simply not answer your question.

Even though it's not in your contract, your paid in 15 minute blocks.

The nepotism here is incredible.

Leads just play on their phone all day and get angry at you when you ask for work.

If you upset a single lead, say goodbye to your progression. Hope you're good with panel closing and PRC

Raises and promotions get promised but never follow through or are rarely given. The management is terrible they ignore you when you raise problems/solutions and constantly get yelled at for not meeting unrealistic expectations they set. They understaff and overwork most positions. They promise a bonus opportunity but don’t pay it out and make excuses.  Sales dept promises customers unrealistic timelines for projects and expect the staff to make miracles happen.

Overall company has huge challenges as it moves into a new area of increased demands and deadlines. The entire system needs to be revamped in all departments in order to help make each project move at a greater and smoother pace. The voids of communication has been challenging in all departments. In todays high demands for turn arounds can never be met when the parts required or supplies continuously run out which, will always have adverse affects on the outcome and the financial budgets become practically impossible to be met.

Top Job Titles	Average salary
Mécanicien 4 salaries reported	$39.92 per hour
Gérant 2 salaries reported	$48.08 per hour
Aeronautical engineer 1 salary reported	$39.92 per hour
Webmaster 1 salary reported	$38.80 per hour
Technicien aéronautique 1 salary reported	$32.90 per hour

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