Pertaining to Bell Helicopter - Amarillo
Pros
Salaries are decent, although senior engineers are hit by salary compression. The plant's non-union status makes for a pleasant and cooperative work environment as compared to the adversarial "us versus them" atmosphere prevalent in the unionized plants at which I've worked. Local engineering management is generally competent. Management continues to utilize Amarillo as Bell's go-to manufacturing facility. Overall, it's a good engineering job for those who don't want to live in the big city.
Cons
Draconian carve-out policy makes it virtually impossible for engineers to get paid for overtime. Promotion opportunities are almost nonexistent for engineers who wish to remain in Amarillo. There is a general mistrust of upper-level engineering management at corporate headquarters which has greatly intensified following a recent shake-up in local engineering management. Challenging the top-level engineering management with regard to facts or philosophies has been known to result in demotions.
