Originally Posted by
744driver
Okay, let us reframe this debate a little...
Talon, and Sirecks,
IMHO, this is not about the best job you and I have ever had, or even how much better life at Atlas is than the military.
This thread is about the prospective newbie that wants to make a reasonable and smart choice about Atlas vs all the rest...this is a comparison against our peers at the Legacy, the LCCs, and the two or three major cargo airlines (FDX, UPS, and ABX). I am not going to concede even one dollar, one period, one comma, etc that they have in their CBA by saying that my life is better than my former carrier and the military. I think that argument misses the point...
This is a comparison among airlines that fly similar equipment, similar routes, etc...by not comparing ourselves with the others in our group, we are giving the company a pass. We are also saying we don't deserve what they have.
I do agree that our future is bright, our fleet is a good mix, our business plan seems like a winner, but I am not going to tell a 35-year old pilot that he should come here and stay here for the rest of his career...Those days are gone. The recent CBAs at Delta, United, (and the ones to come soon at American, FedEx, and UPS), have made a long-term stay at Atlas for a young pilot a bad choice.
Guys, this needs to be a comparison among peers, not what we have seen in our past lives. We do a great disservice to the young pilot by saying that our QoL, our pay, our retirement, etc are the standard...it most certainly is NOT.
AGREED!
We are
NOT flying for the military (paycheck wise), we are a 121 airline and that is what we need to be comparing ourselves to, our 121 peers! The military didn't tell you they were going to pay you $$$$ for the month and then pay you $$ because they found a work rule loophole they could exploit month after month after month while offering your $$ that they took from you for $$$/$$$$ to other people. (If they did a cost-bennefit analysis on the current scheduling practices here they would find the true money drainer was not the field labor)
We have some serious CRM issues too while we are at it. The Captain is "ultimately responsible for the aircraft" not how I wear my tie. I'm sorry but you may have been a commander in your previous job commanding when and how people wore their ties, ... not here. The overhead panel is OUR panel, not "yours that shall be touched only with express permission." This 1950's attitude needs to stop! I'm not saying it's only the military pilots that have this rank=control attitude but it exists. We are a team, we don't yell when we want something, we tactfully ask.
But back to comparisons talk. Like 744 is saying, apples to apples, not apples to tanks.
(dang 744, now you've got me ranting! lol)