Originally Posted by
Atlas Shrugged
This is the frustrating part. I have been here 12 years now and have been a 74 CA for almost 4 years. Those who can leave, and are in an earlier stage of their career, are leaving. But for many of us, leaving is easier said than done.
Almost everyone will tell you that they enjoy the actual job, but the lies and abuse from management, including the absolute refusal to negotiate a fair contract that would stop the bleeding and allow Atlas Air to capture market share, has reached suicidal levels and left most of us shaking our heads.
Everything is punitive at Atlas. I average about 70 hours a month. The only way to make any real money here is work a lot of overtime. But you have to be able to get the overtime which comes and goes in waves.
The pilots are viewed as the enemy by Bill and John which is why we have a toxic work culture here. We will be lucky if we don't kill more people before it is all said and done.
The crazy thing is that pilots come to this site and hear all this, but somehow don't believe it.
Atlas could be one of the best jobs in aviation if only for a fair contract. Many of us are going to have to ride it out one way or another.
Atlas was built on the back of guys like shrugged here. And when it came time to pay up the company chose to litigate and stall instead of negotiate fairly and this is the mess we are in now.
I am also worried about the lasting legacy this protracted labor dispute will leave. Guys with 4-5 yrs on property came in with tons of experience from other carriers and have now all upgraded , but as they steadily flow from the left seat to other jobs the newest captains will have less and less. I’m sure most are sharp and will be fine but for many this will be their first pic experience. You just don’t get good at flying doing this kind of work. If they didn’t get some good hands on Time from where they came I don’t know how they will get it now.