But if it's really a "Kalitta Plus $1 Contract" then why wouldn't you get the best part of that contract which is the "15 work days + 2 travel days"? I'm confused as to why you you think you'd work an extra day with the Kalitta+$1 when it's "15 work days + 2 travel days" compared to "18 work days + (potentially 2 travel days)" that you currently have?

Just about. Atlas is currently 18 paid work day schedule with commuting on your days off so essentially you're gone 20 days unless you live in base. And Kalitta is 17 paid work days but two of those are travel days. So with Kalitta you're gone 17 days but Atlas it's 20. I would think that this part of the Kalitta schedule looks pretty sweet in comparison.

I'm basically asking all of this to figure out if Atlas pilots are pushing for or expecting a schedule as good as the one Kalitta has.

This isn't really correct. It's a 17 day work schedule. IF you commute then you commute on "Day 0" and "Day 18". "Day 0" can even turn into "Day -1" if you're trying to get from say MIA to ANC with rest. Southern is 20 days with Home Basing, so you commute on Day 1 and Day 20. In both cases Atlas buys you a commercial ticket to your base known as "Gateway" for Atlas pilots. They also put you up in a hotel. You pay taxes on the airfare and hotel as taxable income known as "Imputed Income".

Atlas wishes to eliminate this benefit in the new contract.

You're proposing the same schedule as Kalitta, the same pay rates + $1, and we find our own way to work. This is supposed to be better?

Well first of all Atlas is 17 days. Everything else depends on your base and where home is. Your first year is going to be miserable on the 747. Getting to ANC is a pain. Most of the time at the end of your schedule you can just get back on your plane and at least be in the lower 48 tax free. When you bid out of ANC to another base it's easier, again depending on where you live. Most ORD flights leave in the evening so I'm normally on a sunrise flight to ORD. Most of return flights come in during the afternoon so I just go over to the terminal and am home 6-8 hours after the brake was set.

Everyone complains about Gateway but you don't have to use it. Having jumpseated for years, knowing I have a ride is great. And the tax on a company hotel is still less than the crew rate on a dive hotel.

Obviously everyone's situation is different.

No, I'm not proposing anything I'm just trying to understand the differences in schedules and from what I've learned it seemed like Kalitta had a pretty good one in comparison so I was wondering if Atlas was pushing for something similar.

Ok, thanks, I was under the impression it was 18. So if you're lucky you might be able to fly into base on the same night you're supposed to leave and fly out the same day you arrive back home after your 17 days which means you'll only be away from home for 17 days, maybe 18 a month.

I see, thanks. I can't believe they would even consider eliminating the gateway benefit and expect to keep people.

In my opinion if you took away Gateway and just gave us Kalitta rates it wouldn't be a pay increase at all. It'd be a wash for most of our pilot group. Plus Kalitta is home based so Kalitta would still have the better contract!

wouldn't a true Kalitta + $1 contract include home basing and a 16 day schedule? or is home basing not a contractual issue?