ARINC Reviews

Pros

ARINC is a worldwide company with far ranging jobs and positions for many levels of employee. With office all over the world you can't find a better international company to be interested in.

Cons

The only way to advance is through knowing someone in that division before applying. I believe eventhough this company is worldwide and international, ARINCs employee base does not represent this in its management or opportunities for advancement. Our new ownership could careless what our company does, besides bring them profits, which has affected retention of knowledgeable employees, employee work attitudes, and managements roles as professional leaders. Management does what they want and expects their workers to respect them. A total revamp of the advancement process and management and leadership training needs to be implemented at all levels of management so they can understand their shortcomings in being good leaders, at best.

Advice to Senior Management

Management needs leadership training. Most have a better than you attitude and have no idea of what a simple compliment can do to raise moral, which over the last decade, is at an all time low. Practice what you preach comes into mind.

Pros

Competitive benefits, comparative salaries, progressive growth potential for driven career path, strong growth in emerging markets, potential for learning addition al skill sets.

Cons

Communication is sometimes broken down, lean environment but gives to abiltity of learning additional roles, cross functional teams sometimes independent of overall goal.

Pros

Still the best benefits of any company.

Cons

Lost vision, unfocused direction, poor communications.

Advice to Senior Management

Communicate effectively with employees and instill a vision of the future.

Pros

Salaries are ok, but the benefits package has been very good (though not as great as it was before ARINC was purchased by Carlyle).

ARINC has been very flexible with their hours as long as you treat your customer and duties with the appropriate level of attention and diligence that they deserve.

ARINC has very rarely attempted to micromanage employees, and this is generally not a problem.

Cons

ARINC has lost its way since it was purchased by Carlyle. The company has gone through some major re-organization. In many ways ARINC has been top heavy with too many managers and not enough workers, and ARINC had a good opportunity to re-organize in a smart way. However, ARINC seems to have blown the opportunity and re-organized solely on the basis of current EBITDA without a real plan for the future. It got caught up in becoming an Aircraft Modification and Integration company and didn't invest properly in its Engineering and Technical services capabilities. In the middle of the recession, instead of diversifying itself, ARINC tried to narrow its line of business into an already saturated market. At the same time, Carlyle has gone through cycles of wanting to sell all or parts of the company, so in those times ARINC often restricted capital investment in products. The result is that morale has dropped significantly in the last 3 years at ARINC, and a good bit of the talent has left the company. ARINC seems to be at a point where they are bidding on business that they do not have the capability to perform with the hopes that they can hire off the street talent to do the work if it comes in.

Advice to Senior Management

Communication within the management chain and the business development area needs improvement. ARINC needs to realize that strong engineering talent is hard to come by in the market, and that even strong talent takes time to familiarize itself with your products, services, and processes in order to become effective. To be able to compete, ARINC needs to invest in its products and services rather than relying on developing these things on the customers dollar. A research and development budget would go a long way towards sustaining success.

Pros

Good benefits, age based retirement company contributions. Well known and respected. Able to compete with large integrators like Lockheed, Boeing, Northrop Grumman. Small company culture but solid ISO 9000 and AS9100 processes.

Cons

The Carlyle Group will be the death of this company. Talented people are leaving the company in droves. It's really sad to see what's happening with the culture. John Belcher, CEO, wanted to take the company public and allowed the Carlyle to buy the company in a leveraged buy out. Despite paying off the debt, Carlyle has done nothing positive for the company. I thought I'd be with this company until retirement, but I see little future here unless Carlyle sells to a company that will make a commitment to growth.

Pros

Very good technologies, with a lot of potential. ARINC gave me an opportunity to develop know how and skills necessary to handle airport complex IT projects

Cons

BEsides the above, there is too much internal politics, which negatively affect emplyees morale. Not so much space for self development and no perspectives of a decent career path, even after successful delivery of a very complex airport project.

Advice to Senior Management

Respect your emplyees and reward them for doing a good job. Stop demanding more for less money - you will only discourage talented people and force them go elsewhere

Pros

Good interesting work with good technology. You do feel you make a difference

Cons

Like all companies, there is politics, cliques, premadonas, butt kissers, brown nosers, rebels and ignorant sheep. However money is the bottom line. Since the Carlyle take over, morale has plumented. There is barely discernable investment in technology advancement or career expansion. Most employees spend the majority of their time finding policy loopholes to get out of work and leave early, especially fridays. The every-other-friday off work schedule is badly abused. Everyone is scared to death to correct a female employee or minority employee. However others are quickly 'written up". The work ethic is to do as little as possible and pass off work to others. Business trips are scheduled to maximize 'off-time' and party/drinking stories abound. Senior management is fixated on "dont spend money" mantra. Any requests for funds are met with pained expressions as if you just inserted an ice water enema tube. Promotions are given to the popular and the hottest unqualified females. Peyton place scenarios abound as extra marital affairs seem to be the norm and are seemingly rewarded by top management. At least twice a week employees can be found 'gettin their grove on' in the company parking lot. CTS treats employees needs as if they are hackers. The opening of the tech employment market will create a massive vacuum inside the facility as their will be a stampede for the doors. Pay is good to start, but raises have been less than COLA for last 4 years, despite the "all is great" reports from the CEO. For a communications company, there seems to be very little of it internally.

Advice to Senior Management

Spend money on product advancements and people. Treat customers with respect and dont let problems fester. Be proactive and listen to your people who are doing the heavy lifting. Visit their cubicals and let them know they matter. Fire any middle manager that rebukes an employee that speaks to a senior staffer. Communicate more often and truthfully to the employees.

Pros

Mostly interesting technical work and projects. Good facilities and nice people working at the company. Great company location if you live in Annapolis.

Cons

Political infighting and cliques sometimes interfere with technical decisions. If you run out of work then you are let go if you can't get something lined up quickly. Tenure and performance don't factor into the decision of cutting people. Creates atmosphere of uncertainty and lowers morale.

Advice to Senior Management

Focus on supporting people doing the technical work and not on looking good to upper management. Work to keep best people on board, not just people who keep busy.

Pros

Flexible hours
Potential for fun work depending on funding availability

Cons

Carlyle & Senior management are ruining this company. Company has been meeting goals every year, yet raises/bonuses are poor and benefits keep declining. Nothing is worse than getting the "great job on meeting goals we couldn't have done it without all your hard work" speech, and then a few days later getting an email stating that once again benefits will be reduced in order to make the company stronger. What a bunch of BS, it's all about Carlyle greed. Sr management obviously doesn't understand many of the business units, nor do they listen to inputs from those who work directly with customers. There is not much job security, if you loose tasking you will most likely be let go. Morale is low and not getting any better. I thought I would stay with this company until retirement, but now after 15 years I'm reconsidering. This company has become another example of overpaid CEO/Wall Street type greed.

Advice to Senior Management

Stop trying to sqeeze every penny of profit out of this company and get back to basics of keeping employees and customer happy.

Pros

Nice area to live in and raise a family if you can afford it - which you soon won't be able to do working at ARINC

Cons

The Carlyle acquisition has slowly destroyed a great company. They only care about bleeding the last penny out of the company. Our current CEO is only looking out for himself. Benefits, pay, and morale continue to erode. It's the typical sad story of corporate greed and taking advantage of the very employees that lay the golden eggs. It's a microcosm of what's wrong with this country.

Advice to Senior Management

Grow a spine. Being a philanthropist includes looking out for the very employees that put you in that position. Understand that you are not fooling your top performers. People will leave, it's just a matter of time, poor economy or not.