Originally Posted by ACMIguy

Well I chose to stay here over going to AA so I must like it. That said, I’ve been here 11 years and am in my early 40s. Younger and/or guys with less longevity here will probably have a different perspective. When I hired on in 2011 I was afraid I would hate it here having flown for two ACMI outfits prior. Turns out I loved it from day 1. My first trip off OE was a week layover in HNL followed by a week in SYD. Of course a month later I was in Bagram and Dubai. My five years on the 747 was a two week adventure every month. From going on Safari in Kenya to eating dinner in a tent in Casablanca with belly dancers providing the entertainment. The whale is where you want to be if you’re an adventurer.
I’ve been in the left seat on the 767 for the last six years and have equally enjoyed it, but for different reasons. I now am fairly senior and can hold basically week on/week off schedules with layovers in base (I live in base) so I’m rarely gone from home more than 2 or 3 days. the flying is the easiest I’ve ever done. Usually one leg and then 24-30 hours off. Kinda routine boring stuff but great if you have a family life. Atlas puts us in decent hotels. Lots of Hilton’s, Hyatts and the like. This side of the operation has made me very lazy and comfortable. Eventually I’d like to move to Alaska and bid Anchorage turns on the Queen again but that’s a matter of convincing the other half.
Back, to AA. Most people would think I’m crazy for not leaving in a heartbeat but after doing my research my overall QOL would suffer. I currently live in base and would end up commuting. I’ve done the crash pad game before and it’s a miserable existence for the most part. At 42, I calculated the min guarantee salary of both companies and I am past the break even point. I’d make roughly $5.1 mil at at Atlas vs. $5.0 mil at AA if I went to the bottom there and worked my way up (assuming a 7 year upgrade and 50/50 narrow body/wide body). That said, AA has a significantly better retirement contribution than Giant (although ours did improve somewhat with this new CBA). I’d be at the bottom of a 15,000 seniority list vs. being in the top 1/5th at Atlas. I made my choice (with slight hesitation) and stick by it.
Atlas pro’s:
-Gateway travel is a major selling point.
-Long haul (747/777) & short trips (767/737)
-Awesome vacation and slide policy.
-No PTO but fairly liberal sick call policy.
-Greatest group of pilots I’ve flown with.
-You can be Indiana Jones with a pilots license if you want.
-You’re sort of on your own here. They hand you the keys and let you do your job. No babysitting.
-You accumulate elite hotel/airline status quickly.
-World’s largest fleet of 747s
-Open time pay policy can be lucrative.

Atlas cons:
-Retirement plan is there but lackluster
-17 days on the 747 can get old after a few years.
-For a large aircraft operator the pay is more in line with a LCC (Spirit/Frontier). But if you can live comfortably on 250k a year instead of 350k you’ll be fine.
-Schedule changes on the 747 fleet could be a blessing or a curse. One minute you’re scheduled to fly to Fiji and the next minute it’s blown up and you’re headed to Accra. But the opposite holds true as well.