I'm in the same boat, wondering how married people get by at Atlas. Looking forward to hopefully getting hired there, but also looking forward to staying married.

 

Gents, if I had a patented answer to this, I wouldn't need this fricking job. But let me throw one observation in (after 3 years). I doubt this is specific to Atlas, but our long-on, long-off schedule does exacerbate it.

- You need to work as hard at home, if not harder, than you do on the road. You've humped for 17 days straight and just want to sleep for 3 days straight. But so, I suspect, does your wife, who has been taking care of the kids and the house for 17 days straight.
- You want to go out on the boat? Go hunting? Take the plane up for a spin? Hit the links? Absolutely -- you've earned it. But you need to make sure everyone else in the family gets their "down time" as well.

- OK, one more quick tip: if you've just ordered 2-3 hookers up to your room in HKG, lock up your phone, iPad, etc...in the safe before they get there. Don't leave out anything with an ID that could be traced back to social media.

- OK, last one, I swear (stolen from comedian Dave Attell): Aspirin does a lot...but it won't bring a dead hooker back to life...so stop trying.

 

17 years at Atlas, still on wife 1.0. Kids have launched and are doing well. And now that you make me think about it, my Atlas friends of my age are all also on wife 1.0, which I had never thought about.

That said, as I look around my neighborhood I have to say that the odds of most of the other marriages making this kind of thing work are probably low. Which is no reflection on them, just a matter of how a marriage is structured.

How is it going to play out when the plumbing leaks, the car dies and one of the kid's breaks a leg while you are in Hong Kong? It takes a strong, independent spouse. It also requires the pilot half to have the good judgment to keep their mouth shut after the fact -- however it was handled was just fine. Perfect, in fact. Micromanaging from Hong Kong on Skype is not going to work for either of you. And I sense that the newhires who are on their cell phones during the drive to the airport [get T-Mobile, by the way] are going to be shopping for wife 2.0 fairly soon.

The upside is the large blocks of time home. And no one is jumpseating to a crash pad 3 times a month, so the stress level is lower. But as always, the closer to your base the better. And for what it is worth, my wife and I both find 11 day trips to be "the limit". Thus I bid 60 day lines.

When I took this job we went to a lawyer and I cut a durable power of attorney for my wife. This week she is buying a car in my name. Are you willing to do something like that? Most guys would not.

So how strong is your marriage? How self sufficient is your spouse? How do you now have the house duties divided up, and how will you have to rearrange them? For some of us this thing has all worked out fine. For others... not so well. But I think that if you are brutally honest you will know if this is for the two of you.

 

Well said.

Also, regarding the invitation of local talent to the hotel room... If that's high on someone's list of fun things to do... Then the company u fly for doesn't matter per se, as your marriage is doomed anyway. It will catch up to u sooner or later in some form of a slip up, be it social media baggage or other luggage you might acquire whilest in the throws of passion. JMHO.

 

Hey guys any updates on current upgrade time?

 

I agree 100%. If your marriage is shaky don't come here if you want to stay married.

Some things to consider:

Most flights on the 747 are between 7-12 hours long, there is no wifi on the plane. Can your spouse handle being out of contact for that long?

When you land it may be 3AM at home and your tired and want to sleep so it could be 18-24 hours before you talk to anybody.

If your spouse can't hold the fort down for two weeks this really isn't the job for you.

 

747 CA - 01/2011 hire
767 CA - 05/2011 hire

But, IMO, there's no less useful statistic unless you're a few numbers away from upgrade. The "quick" upgrade times are a function of explosive growth here lately, so for a new hire or an applicant, it almost certainly won't be the same for you. That said, a big new customer or new fleet could make even these upgrade times plummet.

 

The 74 CA hire date will stagnate next year as 30+ 76 CA's released from seat locks next year many more the following year.

 

Shack. Dudes slave away for years to finally make it in this industry to someplace like Atlas (I still am). Then blow it and their marriage by doing something stupid on the road. This job is hard enough on families already.

 

What have you guys who were hired in October or September studies for hr and tech interviews? Thanks