American Airlines

Work-life balance was terrific at the Corporate office. It was very easy to put in 40-45 hours a week if you so choose, and often it was difficult to see the motivation to do more (see downsides).

The travel benefit can't be beat, as long as you are in a city where you can fly standby out.

The people are great to work with, and the work is very interesting.

Working for the airlines is something others are always interested in, which often makes conversations outside of the office fun. You'll always know how to "work the system" on personal travel.

Career advancement seemed non-existent, and leadership didn't seem to have any plan to improve. After working for other organizations that showed intense focus on talent development, it was painfully obvious American lacks the long-term vision to create new leaders within the organization. This, and the long-term prospects of the industry itself, make it very difficult to dedicate 10-20 years to the company. Continuous concessions between management and frontline employees make things very difficult. In summary, this is a once great customer service company that no longer focuses on customer service due to the difficulties the industry as a whole has felt over the last decade.

Focus on your talent so they don't leave (like so many have).

Short-term financial performance and sustainability of the company is clearly the top priority, but you must have a pipeline of leaders for down the road.