atpcliff

I was talking to a Polar cargo employee. He said Atlas is best off with a mix of 777 and -8s for freighters. He said some trips are best served by the -8 (like flowers out of South America) and some are best served by the -777, like general cargo out of HKG.

Hopefully we have enough pilots to get more -8s and also -777s.

CandlerKid

The -8's might be -400 replacements as we move forward. 777's would probably be growth if we ever get them. Doesn't sound like any big rumors currently for this year with either. Hiring strictly for attrition and inefficient scheduling as far as I can tell. Fingers crossed that we can see growth again soon.

captainv

Training/interviewing is ramping up to full capacity, if not already. Company asked the union for twice the number of hiring reps than normal for April interviews. Lots of new DEs on the 747 side. If that's all for attrition, we can't handle any growth.

Someone mentioned Flynn said the -8 options would used to replace older -400s.

Whale Driver

Losing 4-5 a month according to CP, hiring is much more than that.

Galaxydriver

4-5 a month may not seem like much, but it's 5-6% of the seniority list over a year.


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ContactApproach

Well, I guess miracles can happen. I just received an invite to take the online technical test. I'm extremely excited. Now, time to study!

KYTBRD

He didn't say that: "Yes we plan to place more orders," William Flynn told Reuters on the sidelines of an aviation conference.

That's not a statement for growth or replacement. It's just an open ended comment that will produce speculation. Nothing more. Previous folks said they saw a few -8s at PAE. Maybe they've been moved back inside if they are there. None are outside with atlas paint unless we're going into the Lufthansa passenger business.

KYTBRD

Yes it is but it's mostly junior folks - <3 yrs - departing. Any significant movement for quality of life is mostly on upgrades. The latest list has. 1044 pilots. That's not many based on hiring over the last 2 years. But hey, Atlas isn't going away. It's not a place I worry about the "F" word about, based on current trends.

Based on the recent Outbasing award they'll need to hire more folks to cover less volunteers for that. Of the 16 available 747FO positions for April only 7 were filled. Reduction in outbasing will require more pilots - I'm not smart enough to figure out how many, but more will be required. That should equate to more OT trips. Imagine if no one volunteered hiw much OT would be out there in April. As folks take vacation this summer the trend should continue.

rmr1992

No disrespect, but based on the rate at which they are hiring, 4-5 ain't much IMO. 5 per month is 60... For the whole year. If we believe one of the previous posters, the next 2 classes will total 42. We've already been hiring at a pretty good clip (hence the seniority list that has grown to 1044 from just over 1000) and all indications seem to be that it will continue. With the 4 added 767s for DHL, we already have growth, so one has to wonder what's driving the additional hiring? if they want to expand the airline, they need to have the bodies on property, a lesson they may have learned last summer when it was said by a management pilot that the company had to turn away business due to insufficient staffing. IMO, they don't want to repeat that situation, so I think they are plussing up in anticipation of adding business. What that business will be, who knows?

Galaxydriver

Hey, I'm not saying Atlas is going away or denying the growth that's going on. I'm just pointing out that retention is a problem, even if mgt won't admit it. We may be at 1044 on the current list, but as of Jan 1st it would have been 1004. The Jun 2013 list had 1028 and we've been hiring for the intervening 18 months.

Growth will be a challenge if we've just been treading water so far. Mgt admitted part of the staffing problem on the 767 was a lack of LCAs to conduct OE, so OE was getting backed up. Their solution - larger classes. Huh? Hopefully training can keep up with the increased demand across both fleets. Seems like the business/sales side of the business is operating better than the ops/training.