Cup holders and dice on the rearview?

That would be nice, but I would settle with one of our delinquent Sims having power seats like the others. Getting too old and fat for the crank elevation handle, lazy too...

One of the guys initially tasked with getting AQP rolling at 5Y is in his 6th year at Delta.

K4 has AQP (744/767) I think they are working on validation of the 777 program

K4's 777 AQP program for CQ was approved in June or July ....AQP initial is being worked on..i think

Plus we painted the Kalitta logo on the sim.

Any my input or clarity on what the Atlas new hire training footprint looks like for the 74? Things people wish they would have known before heading to Miami?

Bring your car to Miami, plan for at least 90 days of training. Start knocking out those CBTs when you get them.

Yeah, prepare to go back 35 years in time, mentally. Act nice and don't question anything. Keep that back up in case you dont like it here.

90 days? Oh boy…. Is the hotel at least decent?

I was the longest in my class at 78 days on the 767, the rest did between 4-8 days less. I think the 747 has a couple more sims at the end so probably pushing 80-85 is normal.

The hotel rooms have kitchenettes, with the occasional room with an oven. Nearby grocery store that was walkable when it wasn’t the middle of the day but a lot of people used a grocery delivery app.

Breakfast included but you get sick of the same stuff over and over pretty quick.

Around 95 days seems to be the norm for 747 right now, with a few breaks in between where most go home for a couple of days. With the way my schedule is set right now, it will be somewhere between 95 to 100 days including the stuff after the rating ride.
The pace of training is very, shall we say, relaxed.

The new hire packet says don't go home or else you'll be in big trouble. What is the actual story?

They will work with you if you have a longer block of days off. Don't go home if you have 2-3 days off, it's not worth it. But for 10 days, no problem.

They treat you well here while in training. Ignore all the "you'll be in big trouble" nonsense.

Your schedule in training will change often once you leave the classroom. All the trainer/sim based stuff will change a lot, often with very short notice that wouldn’t allow you to get back to MIA in time if you’re very far away and trying to travel by air. If you see 5 days off on your schedule…don’t be surprised if(when) that changes to a day off, a SIT session, a day off, another SIT session, a day off…. Sims and trainers break often. They’re rode hard and put away wet. That is what drives most of the changes.

Additionally, if you or your sim partner has troubles and has to get remedial training, you will likely be split up and that will throw both of your schedules into disarray.

If you feel the need to absolutely, positively go home…talk to the training schedulers. They will give you the official “you’re not supposed to leave”…but they will also keep in mind if you do leave that they need to give you as much notice as possible for changes…which, again, may not be much. 10 hours notice is what they’re supposed to give…but don’t always and new hires are often afraid to say “I can’t do that”.

If you have a block of days off and live very far away…you’re better off flying your family down to MIA, renting a car, and taking a trip not too far away. Who doesn’t want to go see the overcrowded beaches of South Florida, the swamps of Central Florida, the retirement land of West Florida, or the severely overpriced/overcrowded Keys?!

You can go home, but be prepared to perform when you get back. After oral and before sims is a worthwhile break. If you're struggling, consider skipping the trip. If you're nervous, make the trip more of a priority. You'll have a good read on what's best about three weeks in.

What fleet are you coming to?

the new contract does mandate 48 hours off after training if you have a 5 day stretch in a row, so that would protect you there from schedule changes. I had to make one stop at home during training just because I don't have anybody to check my mail and they sent my uniforms there (who's idea was that?). But if being gone for that long in a row is an absolute deal-breaker. It might not be the job for you. Although it's understandable the 90 days away is a lot different than 17.

The general consensus at the moment is that the training schedulers are decent people and will work with you for what you need.

But do not go home before your oral unless you absolutely have to.

That was your idea. They ask for delivery address on the order form. The hotel address worked perfect.

New contract scheduling rules are not in effect at this time. No telling when they will be….that has not yet been determined.

Ugh. Why would they drag 60 days of training out to 90 days and meanwhile not try to enable people to go home as often as possible?


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Every time I tried to get the ok from the schedulers to go home, they changed my schedule where I couldn’t go home. There is no apparent rhyme or reason to how they schedule. You may have 5 or 6 straight days on, then 1 off, and back into a string of in days. I had 3 consecutive days of 0400 sims. 1 day off, then an 0800 sim, back to 0400 sim. Ball buster. Some guys had almost 2 wks off. I was very happy to leave MIA.


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Your best bet is to bring the car down and have your family visit. The only time I saw folks get to go home was over Christmas when didn’t have any training going for a few days. I didn’t bother going home, I just stayed and took it easy.

Yeah, training will be a lot and schedules changes so often. It is almost more stressful just to travel home then it is to stay. Bring the car and try to enjoy Miami.

I had my truck and it was my sanity. I got out everyday to get away from the hotel and the trng ctr. There were times when I could have gone home, but I didn’t have that warm fuzzy feeling that the schedule wouldn’t change. My family came down for a week, which was awesome. I am just not a MIA fan. Love the weather but it is definitely like being in another country.

Trng is what you make it. The guys in my class were awesome. We hung out together, grilled after every big milestone, and kept each other motivated. It was a long 93 days, but we all made it thru and we’re glad it was over. We all stay in contact thru group text.


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Covid, sim availability, training capacity, and training footprint.

Im planning on driving down, and I have friends in the FLL area, plus my wife is coming down for a weekend or two. Looks like my class will extend over thanksgiving and Christmas, so at least I’ll be home twice. I’m not asking cause I cannot be away from home for that long, but if I have a chunk of time off I’d rather go home and pet the cat for a few days vs hang out in Miami. I hate Miami with the fire of 1000 suns.

Someone asked what airplane I’m in, and the answer is 767.

Years ago the training footprint was 70-72 days. Then they started adding things.. A manual handling sim session, because people couldn’t hand fly and it was causing problems. A landing sim session, because people were bending aircraft at an alarming rate just from bad landing techniques. A upset recovery sim session, because the FAA mandated it. I’ve heard there is another sim session or two in addition to these that have been added.

It used to be after type ride you just did a LOFT and CAT II/III, and a 2 day LQT class. There’s a ton more added on now to attempt to make up for the decrease in experience levels coming in the door. At one time, it was rare for anybody to get hired here without significant heavy time. That’s definitely not the case anymore. A while back I flew with somebody right off of OE that had zero turbine experience prior to coming here and had been flying a grand total of 3.5 years from first flight. The training here didn’t evolve to meet that change in experience until it started causing problems…and I still don’t think they’ve gotten there.

If you don’t already have a toll tag that works in Florida, get a Sunpass when you get there. A lot of the roads are toll and are by toll tag or “pay by plate” where they just bill you later. I’ve heard of people driving cars not registered in Florida having problems with the billing part and end up with a suspended license in their home state because Florida reports it as unpaid tolls. The Sunpass is easier and cheaper.

https://www.sunpass.com/en/about/whe...eSunPass.shtml

I really thought that first sim hand flying was a good way to get comfortable with flying the plane and landing it and not worrying about your flight director. I came from a regional and getting to feel the power of a lightweight 767 was a good intro I thought.

I’m a huge proponent of manual handling training and I always have been. Atlas only added it because there were problems on the line with pilots not being able to hand fly in the simplest situations. I don’t think it needs to be an extra sim session, though…it should be integrated into the training program. Too many people I see in the sim just want to get the autopilot on as quickly as possible and turn it off as late as possible…a lot in the airplane too.

At Atlas…we train for the check ride, not to proficiency/competency.

And they train you with all your schedule changes at the school house so you're acclimated once you arrive on the line, at least on the 74. 75-100 days of civilian internment camp makes 17 days of flip flopping around alot easier to handle at the beginning, but that warm fuzzy wears off fast. Just sarcastic, but it's the nature of this beast. Definitely bring a vehicle if able for sanity's sake, and not a nice one either... Traffic, etc is insane.

…plus car break ins and theft are pretty common in the “secure” parking lots at the hotels we use for training. More than one person lost all their wheels/tires. Another guy lost 2 tailgates off his truck….one the first week he was there, got his insurance to replace it within a few weeks, then it was stolen again…

Welcome to Myjami!

Wow, where does atlas put new hires for training??


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It’s Miami. The hotel is actually a pretty decent set up, but again, it’s Miami.


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The hotel is nice. The city, Miami isn’t so nice…….

As others have said, the hotel(s) used are nice. Gated, nice facilities(gym, pool, restaurants, etc), close to training facilities….but…it’s Miami.

Crime is rampant there in the tourist and hotel areas especially. The vast majority of the crime is theft..not violent..but violent crime does exist and is higher than most other places in the US.

The same can be said of most major cities, though.

A guy got shot in an apartment building that I could see from my hotel room. It was like watching a live episode of Cops.

The "funny" coincidence was, there was a shooting at the parking lot of the hotel Envoy used to put their new hires during my indoc. So I guess the lesson here is, if I'm going through indoc, avoid the area.

Very nice hotel, good location and facilities. But it is Miami. And Miami is a dump.

Like most bigger cities, if you stay by the airport usually not the nicest areas. This is not unique to Miami. We stay on the beach, everyone loves it. Walk around day and night.

Y’all make Miami sound like Chicago. Relax. The areas where training is held isn’t that nice, but plenty of nice spots in Miami.

Yep, either north or south. But it’s not that great where you spend most of your time.


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