APU1

1) Is the food poisoning /catering stories still true?
2) I want to calculate expected first and second year pay, as well as 5 & 10 year. I know it's "monthly hours times pay rate for aircraft type times 12 months" but my question is should new hires expect to the guaranteed 62 hours per month or a lot more? (I just noticed the main atlas page says to expect 78 hours a month, that's a big difference in yearly pay.)
3) Are there 12 or 13 bid periods a year? (28 day bid periods or monthly bid periods?)

I've never worked 121, so a lot of this is new to me.

Globemaster2827

The food poisoning stories are 100% true. The food poisoning out of Asia has been so bad that I tell new guys to show up fed. Out of Chicago we've found pubic hair in our food multiple times this year. Atlas simply buys the cheapest garbage they can find everywhere.

On first year pay you'll receive $1600 a month plus $1500 a month per diem for the first two months while you're in training. Then you'll get $1600 a month sitting at home waiting on OE which will be very backed up next year. So months 3 and 4 you'll get $1600 a month. Then you'll get 50 hours a month times $79 an hour until you finish OE. Once off OE you'll probably be able to average 72 hours a month of pay credits plus per diem. That's first year.

Going forward I'd count on rates that are published online times 72 hours a month. That's what I average. Sometimes it's more or less but that's the average. Looking at Atlas going forward, I think if you're hired in the first 6 months of 2017 you'll be a 767 Captain in 5 years (maybe less if it's at the very beginning) and a 747 Captain in 10 (maybe longer...). If you're hired in the 2nd half of 2017 I think you can count on more like 8 years on the 767 and 15 years on the 747. Atlas is likely going to need an additional 500 pilots on our list next year to accommodate Amazon. That may mean 700 total spots for any new flying, Amazon, retirements, and attrition (which is supposed to hit a new record next year). Getting hired in the 2nd half of the year will mean that you missed the boat in my humble opinion.

Atlas has 12 bid periods. Our contract is that bad - there's nothing you don't know about that makes it good.

Treehorn

Those upgrade times seem a little.....long.

How did you derive at 15 years for an upgrade? Unless you're just feeding him bs to keep him from applying, in which case, carry on. Probably more like 30.

Globemaster2827

Not 15 years for an upgrade... A 747 upgrade. Yeah that's long but if you're hired in December of next year following Atlas hiring 700 pilots to expand it's 767 program then you merge in Southern where there isn't as much expansion and no 747s... You're going to wait for a very long time to see the left seat of a 747. Keep in mind that 6th year Captain pay on the 747 is about $170K a year so most of those guys will retire at Atlas. Movement on the 767 will be much faster as people leave for greener pastures. Right now I'm in the 600s out of 1450 pilots and can't hold the left seat of the 747. Atlas has been open about saying that it wants to be at 2000 pilots next year... Factor in Southern and consider yourself 2250 out of 2250 pilots. There are 436 747 Captain spots at Atlas and consider that the 777 is probably the wave of the future... You may never see it if you're at the end of the Amazon wave.... Yeah... If Atlas is your thing I'd REALLY want to be starting soon.

sandstorm

I would simply plan on calculating your pay based on the 62 hour guarantee and consider anything above that a bonus. If you plan on anything else, you are just setting yourself up for disappointment. There is no pay protection or line guarantee here. If you call in sick during a month, there goes your 70+ hour awarded line. If a customer cancels a flight to start your trip and you get put on R1 (home reserve) and don't get called out right away there's a good chance you're looking at guarantee. Going for training twice a year and not doing it on your days off.... you're probably looking at 62 hours. Getting sent home a couple days early for no reason to sit R1.... there goes a couple days of CRT (trip rig) and your looking at not much more above guarantee. My point is the only thing that you are guaranteed as far as pay is guarantee.

Treehorn

Fair enough.


Slight change of subject. Why are they only hiring 350 in 2017? Are they mental or is that full capacity?

Globemaster2827

I got put on R1 at the end of this month and will likely only get Per Diem for 13.5 days for next month. I'm not sure what the rig will work out to but those 3 days they converted to R1 were all gonna be over guarantee. It happens here a ton.

Globemaster2827

It's tough to say what they'll hire. They need 500 more pilots just for the Amazon contract. Allegedly UPS has called our management and told them that they'll be taking 120-150 of our pilots next year as a courtesy. If that's true we'll easily lose 200 to attrition next year plus 50 or so retirements. We may need 750 pilots next year. I don't know what management's plans to train all that are... I do know that 350 sounds like a recipe to have a massive shortage next fall.

Treehorn

I heard 350 too and that's just not going to cut it. But at least we've moved on past that ludicrous "Amazon is buying us" rumor.

dutch747

One thing ALL of you guys on the outside looking in need to remember....

You are getting OPINIONS from my fellow pilots here. NOBODY writing on this board knows when we will get a new contract (To say 3-5 years sounds a little crazy to me) and upgrade times are purely speculative.