ACMI vs American
 

For those of you that have moved on from an ACMI with home basing/gateway cities, how is the commute at AA? I am expecting 777CA training this summer at my ACMI, but have an upcoming interview at AA. Just wondering how its working out for those of you the have made the jump. I'm over circling the globe non-stop and 24 hr duty days. I, however, already commuted for 15 years at previous regional, so I know how that goes. S Florida or Charlotte are an option at some point down the road.

Are you guys happy with the jump? Thanks.

I came from an ACMI. I regret it. Work rules suck, commuting sucks, and the pay here is terrible. The grass isn't always greener. Sounds like you're at atlas? Stay with them, upgrade on the 777, you will never have the amount of time off you have at atlas here at AA, not to mention it will be close to 3 decades until you can upgrade on the 777 at AA. And at this point it will take you years to recover financially from the pay cut. There's really no sense in coming to AA unless you live within an hour of MIA,DFW, or CLT and are willing to have crappy short haul schedules the rest of your career.

I made the switch from ACMI 767 CA, and I’m happy with it. Everyone has what they want and needs. I had enough of 2-3 to sometimes 4 weeks on the road. Bazillion red eyes, and being away from family. Now I’m home way more, I’ll make more in a few years, and have a better QOL. If all you want is international WB, stay. But if that’s not the main drive I would leave. The difference in money when I retire will amount to Millions more at AA vs if I stayed. And there’s MANY pilots from my company that left and are here at American now and they’re all happy as well.

If you regret it why don’t you go back to ACMI? Everyone is hiring. You can go back to ACMI and upgrade in 2-4 years so nothing should stop you from leaving if you’re that miserable just sayin.

Thanks for the replies. Currently at Kalitta, but our contract sucks as well. I'm good if I never leave the country again, lol. Ready to get back to domestic and beyond happy that if all my career "amounts to" is a narrowbody CA. I'm 40, and just don't see myself living the ACMI grind for the rest of my career.

Thanks again for the insights.

Then. 100% go to AA. QOL at 121 with 117 rules will top ACMI any day! You’ll get 16% Direct contribution which will probably go up which is far better than 6% at K4. My last CA on 320 made 650K in 2022. You’ll be fine with money. I’m new here but haven’t done even a red eye yet :)

650k is not the norm. You need seniority to pull that money.

It wouldn't be APC if people didn't sit around and post about the outliers! :D

That said, if the OP plans to live in base I'd come on over. Few jobs are better than living in base at a major airline.

Just for "the record" there are Atlas 767 Captains making 500k a year. 100%, for a fact.

So...

On the road for how long a month?