Originally Posted by
sandrich
In regards to future hiring and Atlas's new mins, is it possible Atlas is realizing a lot of their current pilots/applicants will be qualified for the majors and may jump ship the day that Delta/United/AmeriWays/Alaska calls them? Perhaps they are looking for lower time guys that they can confidently invest money and training in, knowing they can at least get a few years out of them? I only ask because why else would they put a stipulation to ALSO accept 1500hr/141grad applicants, with a turbo jet rating requirement maybe to prove they can hack it in training?
IMO you may be overthinking what drives decisions at Atlas HR. My guess would be that lowering mins is a result of fewer resumes, some pilots pulling out of interviews and class dates, and the exit interviews of the pilots who have already left. Simple math.
Beyond that, my recent unscientific poll of the younger pilots here indicates that (surprisingly) there are many folks that I would consider highly likely to move over to the majors who have decided to remain at Atlas ... at least for the time being. Atlas seems to interview and hire a broad spectrum of applicants. Consequently, the retired military pilots who already have a pension will probably stay, the older previously furloughed 121 cargo pilots will probably stay, and of the younger crowd who would theoretically jump ship, quite a few it seems simply like flying for Atlas and may stay (at least until they see what the next contract provides - this will be a critically important event for our pilot group).
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