Originally Posted by
WhipWhitaker
DC8, my god. You can't honestly expect people to stop making a POSITIVE career move (to Atlas from 135/regional) for themselves because the old guard at Atlas perceives themselves "stuck" and that it will hinder their negotiating potential. I haven't seen anyone here encouraging anyone to do anything, just honest assessment of this place. As hard as this is for you to stomach, it is infinitely better than a regional, and for a young guy, it can even be fun. I didn't get the memo that part of the "Union's strategy " as you put it, is to lie to people when they ask about life here.
Actually, what I expect is for the new Atlas pilots, at least for the few months that they here at Atlas, to see the big picture and understand what is going on. And all of them do understand. But, apparently you don’t. I’ll use simple words because you seem to have trouble grasping the subtle messages from the union, you know, the ATAM’s, the chairman’s messages, the P2P messages, the emails, etc., etc.
BOOT means Block Out On Time. This takes away any advantage the company may get by aircraft departing early.
SHOP means Stop Helping Out Purchase (Purchase, New York is where Atlas HQ is).
Then there is a grassroots movement to educate pilots about what a poor decision outbasing is because you are flying 31 days in a row with only the minimum legal breaks for straight pay. No premium pay there. You are,literally doing the work of two pilots in one month.
There is also the grassroots movement to educate pilots about picking up open time trips which also serves to help management by reducing their staffing problems.
An extension of these last two pilot initiated movements is the education of potential Atlas new hires. Some of our pilots have actually gone to airline job fairs and distributed information sheets to job seekers that explain the low first year pay, the law suits that the company has filed against the pilot group, the persistent contractual violations, and many other facts that they need to know in order to make an informed decision about whether or not to apply at Atlas.
All of these union and pilot group initiatives are designed to bring pressure on the company to actively perform at the negotiating table. So when people get on the message boards and crow about what a cool place Atlas is, it doesn’t help out that strategy which affects the entire pilot group - not just “the old guard”. It would help you out, too, by the way if you thought it out.
Or perhaps your intention is not to stay and you don’t give a squat about our pilot group. It seems that you even have quite a bit of distain for “the old guard”, you know, the ones that paved the way for you. You may want to rethink this last position when you land your dream job at American. All of the majors have pretty strong unions and you will be expected to understand and contribute positively to their efforts. You may be able to slide along whistling your own tune for the little time you’re here at Atlas, but after a while, whether it is here or at a major, you’ll need to man up and be a team player or you will continue to have “painful trips across the Pacific”.
And when you say “As hard as this is for you to stomach, it is infinitely better than a regional” that is your opinion, not a fact. I spent six years at a regional and in many ways, that regional’s work rules were better than they are here at Atlas.
What it really comes down to is knowing what your true professional worth is. Would you accept a job flying a heavy jet if a company paid captains $200 an hour? How about $150? How about $140?
Atlas pays $137 an hour for a 767 captain. That’s barely $16 an hour more than a regional airline captains pay. That’s “infinitely better”? Atlas first year pay is
less than most regional pilots first year pay. That’s “infinitely better”? Atlas doesn’t pay sick days until you drop down to min guarantee. That’s “infinitely better”? Regional min guarantee is 75 hours. At Atlas it’s 62. That’s “infinitely better”? At Atlas, we lose money in every month that we have training, vacation, or are sick. That’s “infinitely better”? We pilots are the defendants in TWO lawsuits that our company has filed against us. That’s “infinitely better”?
These things are all true. They are not lies and if you think that the vast majority of the pilot group and the union are spreading lies, you will indeed have many more “painful trips across the Pacific”.
The only positive career move a regional pilot would get here is a type rating. Everybody understands that. And every other regional pilot that is here for the type also contributes to the cause as long as they are here.
Maybe you should think about doing the same.
Hope this clears things up for you.
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