quality assurance inspector

mechanical engineer

engineer

system engineer

manufacturing engineer

Aurora Flight Sciences

My experience at Aurora Flight Sciences, a Boeing Company, was a mix of positive and negative aspects. While there were some opportunities to work on cutting-edge aerospace projects, several issues made the overall experience mediocre. I am rating my time at Aurora two and a half stars out of five due to the following reasons:

1.	Management and Communication (2/5): The management at Aurora demonstrated poor organizational and communication skills. Frequent changes in project direction were not clearly communicated, often resulting in confusion and frustration among team members. A deeper understanding of the intricacies of our job functions by management would have been helpful.
2.	Off-Shift Employee Concerns (1.5/5): The off-shift employee experience at Aurora was unsatisfactory. Management provided limited support during off-shifts, which left employees to manage challenges on their own. This lack of support made off-shift employees feel disconnected and detached from the company, undermining their sense of belonging and engagement.
3.	Work-Life Balance (2.5/5): The work-life balance at Aurora was average, with employees sometimes facing demands for weekend work or additional hours. A more flexible approach and greater respect for personal time would have made it easier to maintain a healthy balance between work and personal life.
4.	Compensation and Benefits (3/5): While the base compensation at Aurora was competitive, the additional compensation ($0.55/hr) for off-shift work could have been more substantial to better compensate for the change in lifestyle that was required. Addressing this disparity in compensation would contribute to higher satisfaction among off-shift employees.
5.	Job Expectations and Transparency (2/5): During the initial interviews, not all aspects of the job were adequately disclosed, leading to some discrepancies between the role for which I applied and the actual work responsibilities. Greater transparency in the hiring process would have resulted in a more accurate understanding of the role and its challenges.
6.	Dull and Monotonous Work (1.5/5): The work at Aurora was somewhat dull and monotonous. The tasks were repetitive and less challenging than I had hoped, which affected my motivation and engagement. Providing more variety and challenge in the work content would have improved the overall experience at the company.
7.	Company Culture (2.5/5): The company culture at Aurora had both positive and negative aspects. The opportunity to work on cutting-edge aerospace projects was appealing, but the overall atmosphere was sometimes affected by the disconnect between management and employees and the lack of support for off-shift workers. Improving these aspects of company culture would make it easier for employees to feel truly connected and invested in the company's mission.
8.	Employee Retention (2/5): Aurora experienced some employee turnover, which occasionally affected the team cohesion and overall productivity. A more focused approach to employee retention, addressing the root causes of dissatisfaction, would help create a more stable and positive work environment.
9.	Inefficient Workflow and Lack of Consultation (2/5): The workflow at Aurora could be improved, as plans for enhancement were sometimes made by individuals with limited experience doing our jobs. Consulting those in the roles for advice on how to improve would lead to more effective solutions and a smoother workflow.
10.	Limited Career Growth and Company Ladder (1.5/5): Aurora did not offer much room for career growth or a clear company ladder to advance within the organization. This lack of growth opportunities made it difficult to stay motivated and engaged in the long term, as employees felt stagnant in their roles. Implementing a clearer career path and providing opportunities for advancement would be crucial in retaining and motivating employees.




Companies have personnel problems.  This is part of life.  But Aurora is the only company I've worked for where the personnel problems primarily resided in upper and middle management.  Every project I worked on in the 3.5 years I was there missed its deadline.  Most of them missed multiple deadlines, since then deadlines would change every time the previous one was missed. Most of the time it's not a matter of committing to do a project in an unreasonable amount of time, but a sever lack of planning and coordination.

Most of the people I knew who worked there got compensated pretty fairly considering the fact that they were hired to build aircraft components with absolutely no experience coming in the door.  BIG PROBLEM!  There were only a handful of floor workers with previous experience, and I think we've all left at this point.  I was told in my interview that they give program bonuses. I only saw one of those bonuses the entire time I was there, and it was a whopping $26 after working weeks of overtime.

The company tries to cut corners every single chance they get, and it never fails to come back to bite them.  As one employee used to say "They never have enough money to do it right the first time, but somehow always have the money to do it 3 times before getting it right."  I can't express enough how true that statement is.

Successful businesses are run by successful businessmen.  Aurora is run by engineers, and engineers just aren't typically very good businessmen.  On top of that, their engineers aren't even very good engineers.  I've always heard that good engineering isn't gaged by how well you can design something, but how well you can design something so that the sum of it's components remain less than the value of the product.  I'm pretty sure none of the engineers working there have ever had this explained to them, because they lose money on everything.

In a nut shell, Aurora might be a good stepping stone if you're trying to work your way into the aerospace field, but don't plan on staying their too long.  If they continue with the path they are on, the doors will close within a year.  The best the company can hope for is to be bought out by a more competent corporation.

A typical day would start rather early at 5:00 a.m. to support staff who began the early shift. I would resolve any issues that was brought to my attention. I would check the backups from the night before. Log the backups place new tapes in the backup device for the next backup. I would check all the servers to make sure they were all operating as they should without errors. The rest of my day performing technical refresh, troubleshooting repairing issues, manage the phone sytem make all changes if needed.

I learned how to troubleshoot and repair CAD issues / Plotter issues / Setup and configure MAC Laptops and WIFI's. I learned to migrate servers from Windows NT to Windows Server 2003. I learned to manage Exchange 5.5. I learned how to configure VoIP on a Seimans phone switch and well as manage TDM Phones. I learned how to troubleshoot and repair issues with ADP Accounting software. I learned to manage the companies database. I learned to troubleshoot why vendors were not able to connect to their VPN though our network system. I learned how to troubleshoot and repair communication issues via WAN. I learned how to attend the morning management meetings and give a report on technologies that were being implemented, their status, and any new ideas to be presented for approval. I learned a lot about how products the company were making were being made from the design perspective to the finished product.

My co-workers were great to work with. There needed to be more of us. We worked very well as a team and learned from each other.

I did not get an opportunity to work very much with management other than to resolve issues with their MAC.

There wasn't a hardest part to the job. I enjoyed everything I did. I looked forward to every challenge and every task.

The most enjoyable part of the job was to watch the engineers build a piece of the product on the computer and watch it become a product in the clean room.

The company goes above and beyond the standard pay, benefits, morale boosters, and safety precautions. I feel confident that I will be able to have a long, productive, and fulfilling career at Aurora Flight Sciences. The company trusts its employees and best utilizes their talents. There is an atmosphere of respect for all peoples and positions. 
The company is currently experiencing significant growth and diversifying its portfolio of products. It feels great to be on a winning team.  

I worked at Aurora as an Electrical engineer for almost three years, and enjoyed it very much. There were interesting projects to work on, and also some very fun, interesting coworkers. Engineers can have a large job scope if desired, and every person’s idea is heard (even if it a bad idea).
Unfortunately, after the Boeing acquisition, things have gotten significantly worse. Boeing pulled most of the funding for the most projects and this resulted in massive layoffs and attrition. I would say that employee moral has also taken a hit.
Also, Aurora is not very good at retaining more senior level engineers (probably due to lower compensation and lower job security). So there are a bunch or more junior engineers working with large responsibilities, which can be both a good thing and bad thing.

A typical day would be: Reworking completed composite panels that failed NDI or Conformity inspection, but could be accepted if I am able to repair the discrepancy.

 I have learned to read and accomplish conformity requirements submitted by the engineering department.

Since the management team consist of engineers we are in need of authority with "people skills".

 I like my fellow workers and would miss them as they were kind and very helpful.

The hardest part of my job is accomplishing a task without the necessary tools, as I stated earlier the company is R&D oriented they have minimal repair material/equipment and I have to "improvise" in order to complete the task.

I really like to restore a composite part to "perfect" condition.

My honest review is that I love working here. The challenges make everyday exciting, and it feels like the work I do makes a difference in the world. Aurora uses cutting-edge techniques in the work, making employees feel like they're learning something new everyday. 

However,  they are severely understaffed. While the work is challenging and exciting, the stress and workload of the job can be overwhelming. Work that should cover 10 engineers usually ends up getting thrown onto 2 instead, leading to burnout and long hours. Even when on vacation, coworkers tend to respond to messages and attend meetings, leading to a culture of having to be available 24/7. 

They are very unorganized and very young management that think you have to have a bachelors degree to hold any job other than a laborer, they feed employees pipeline dreams of advancement and opportunities but will do everything in their power to prevent you from advancing unless your in the buddy system. They often take advantage of people and do not reward the hard working individuals that constantly bail them out because of poor planning with they do as little as possible because they are “salary” and they don’t get paid overtime with their six figure salaries. 

Very poor management. Unavailable for up to weeks at a time to sign purchasing requisitions that were required on ALL purchases; This of course caused missed deadlines which were then blamed on purchasing. Always seemed to be a sense of cash-flow problems. Outright hostility between the various locations instead of an atmosphere of teamwork. I received a consistantly positive performance appraisal, but while working out my two week notice, I suddenly became the worst employee they ever had, according to management.

Don’t even think about ruining you life my taking a job with this company. They try and leverage  Boeings name to make it seem like they have a clue about what they do. Very toxic work place the more you say to help the more they do to ruin your employment. Very unskilled workers that have no idea about IT. Of course they know everything and don’t want to hear advice from actually skilled professionals. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Quality assurance inspector 7 salaries reported	$60,500 per year
Mechanical engineer 3 salaries reported	$102,333 per year
Engineer 2 salaries reported	$98,250 per year
System engineer 3 salaries reported	$128,333 per year
Manufacturing engineer 3 salaries reported	$89,000 per year

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