"Seriously?! Please promise us that when the negotiation rubber meets the road sometime this year that you won't go sounding that nonsense in the flight deck. Sit down and have a read of our competitors contracts...get back to us on that exaggeration.
I appreciate your desire to be moderate in tone...but is it really time for that?"
My interest isn't so much in moderation as it is accuracy. We do everyone, especially ourselves, a disservice when we state inaccurate or untruthful things. One of our most valuable assets at the negotiating table is our credibility as a pilot group. While I appreciate your sentiment, we must not let our enthusiasms undermine our credibility, because it will take both to achieve the contract we deserve.
" I can tell tell you with a great deal of certainty that there are no pilots on the FO list who are eligible to move on from Atlas who are not actively seeking to do so."
Not only is this a demonstrably inaccurate statement, but it is precisely this kind of "certainty" that has led to so many self inflicted economic wounds to this profession over the past 70 years.
The union tweet was a negotiating tactic. Which is not to say it's a bluff. Far from it. I applaud the union's efforts to do what it can to help pilots get hired at other airlines, as I believe they see this as a good way to bring pressure to bear on management in our contract negotiations. But let's not infer more from the tweet than is prudent.
Let me reiterate that you and I are on the same side. Whatever disagreements we may have are nothing as compared to the differences we have with some in management.
For prospective Atlas applicants still following this thread, you need to be aware that our current contract lacks some basic pay and seniority protections that can be found even in many regional airline contracts. You should also know that the SOB in middle management that is making life miserable for you on a daily basis at your current company also works here at Atlas. While the hourly rates may look enticing, especially for pilots currently at regional airlines, they do not tell the whole story (and even then, as many have pointed out, a cursory comparison of them with other airlines will show them to be woefully inadequate).
That said, employment at Atlas does have upsides. But it is a unique work environment. Atlas is not a scheduled passenger service. It is not a night freight company. It is not a VIP charter outfit. It is not an ad hoc charter freight business. It is all of those, plus whatever other schemes management comes up with to make a buck. You will be forced to take a far more proactive role in making the operation work (due to an inadequate support structure as much as the frequent mismanagement of the few resources available), often in some remote part of the world with only the most tenuous of communication links to the rest of the company.
For many of you, Atlas would be a great place to come and work, even if only for a short time, while for others it would be a huge mistake. Just make sure you find out as much as you can about it before making a career impacting decision.