My guess is musketeerman is talking about my post. I too hope he didn't make his decision solely on my one opinion and of the union site but came to the conclusion from multiple sources that he didn't see himself having a future at AWAC.
AWAC's future will HINGE on getting larger aircraft IMO. I personally wouldn't bet 3-4 years of my life on the company as it stands, I'd consider Mesaba, Republic, possibly even SkyWest due to all of their bases. If AWAC signs a deal for bigger planes it will probably be around but I have to ask myself what the future of a 69 aircraft fleet of 50 seat RJ's really is. CaptChris is much more optimistic however, I support him on that effort and I agree AWAC is a great place to work, but I just wouldn't bet my career on the company right now. I don't know where musketeerman ended up but hopefully it fits him and I would bet he has a future there.
As far as AWAC being THE BEST I'm sure you will find many who disagree. "The best" as ranked in what? Certainly not performance or service quality, or growth (negative growth of - 20% over the past 3 years). One thing the pilot group does have going for it is a fairly unified group with good leadership. Keep in mind AWAC pilots lost their formal grievance against the company and it's been ruled the "old" contract will not be coming back.
Also I suppose I should disclose that I am involved with ALPA so my views are slightly biased
.