I think you're trying to make it look gloomier than it actually is. I agree there are many aspects that need to be addressed.
When you say "you kids need to get to the majors" are you implying the majors are offering them a position and they just can't decide if they should go to ABX or Delta? It's ok to warn prospects about ABX not being "Amazon Air" and being just another contractor, but you know, nobody questions that you'd be better off going to DL, UPS, FX, etc. ACMIs are becoming an intermediate step between regionals and the big boys. That's all.
ACMI is unstable, no news here. You live and die by the contracts.
As far as Amazon cancelling our contract, sure anything could happen. But I personally don't see that happening anytime soon. There's nobody else that could pick up all our flying overnight. Plus, we deliver. If they ever get their own certificate, it's going to be a slow process, they just can't start opertaing 40 767's overnight. As far as losing or gaining new contracts outside DHL and Amazon, who knows. Take a wild guess and multiply it by 4.
Some facts:
No lodging during training. Yeap you find where to live and how to get there.
First year pay: 42k plus perdiem. Very tight if things are slow. If things pick up a little bit, maybe 65k your first year. But plan on just the base salary.
Flying: Seems like it's been more or less slow for reserves. But that could change now. I started last year, and flew every single day of my reserve. Haven't gone back to reserve ever since, but surely enough R1 (airport reserve) is not fun unless you live close by. Expect 3-6 every month.
Pay: I turned into second year pay not too long ago. It makes a whole lot of a difference when you see your first paycheck. 100@68hrs= 6800$ base salary (before HI, taxes, etc) If you're a line holder add between 700$-1200$ a month in non-taxable perdiem.
Reserve: Living in the area makes the difference. There are about 10-20 senior FOs that bid reserve because they're locals. Tradding reserve days or trips is not than bad. Scheduling seems to be much friendlier and helpful than other companies I've been before coming here. If you commute, there are affordable crashpads but I would suggest having a crashpad car.
Schedules: Flying freight involves a lot of night turns. Again, no news here. But not everything is night time. Like anywhere else, it's all about seniority.
Some people appreciate having blocks of several days off. If you bid to combine days off, you could end up with 26-28 consecutive days off. Off course, that could also mean that you could be on the road for 34 days. Again, if it's good or bad, it all depends on the individual. I even heard about a guy that is living outside the US.
Lines are built more or less half 17 days in a single block, and the other half 17 days split in 2 (or sometimes 3 blocks).
Airplanes: No EFB. The 200s are really old. Plase know that nobody is going to force you to fly an airplane you're not confortable flying on as far maintenance goes.
Contract: yeap, it will take a while. Don't think it's happening this year at all.
I'm not advertising for anybody. Just like to be fair with facts.
ABX should be compared to other ACMIs and not to UPS or FX.
If I was looking to get into the ACMI world right now, this would be my PERSONAL list of preference:
1. Kalitta
2. ABX*
3. Atlas
4. Southern
5. ATI
5. Western Global
*I don't know where are we going to end up compared to Kalitta after we sign a new contract. (When, If: key words)
Hope it helps.