Talon1011

Nah, I'll relent. Jet Jockey, there is a wealth of information here in the over four year history of this thread. You may wish to peruse the pages at your leisure and glean what you wish or use the 'search this thread' function at the top of the page. Just about any question you may have can be answered this way. It's not that the participants here aren't friendly (most of them anyway) but we have answered these questions so many times that it is easier to suggest that some homework here will bring you the information you are looking for as well as a ton of valuable information to questions you had not thought of asking yet. Welcome aboard.

Wano

What Talon says is true. I'm in the same boat as you in trying to get hired, but the folks in this thread are very helpful. If you do some searching, one ambitious member here has even indexed the entire 900+ page thread.

JerrySpringer

It is run very much like a regional. You will have no problem with the transition.

BayBum4Ever

Or just stay at the regional until a major airline calls you.

744driver

Okay, I'll take the bait...INCOMING!!!

http://www.airlinepilotforums.com/hi...ir-hiring.html

atpcliff

vs.

I am on my fourth career. I've had more than 40 jobs, and eight flying jobs. Atlas is BY FAR the best job i have ever had, in the best career field I have ever had.

Am I surprised by the differences above? No. The only thing that surprises me is the vehemence of the first guy.

There are a lot of pilots out there would never apply to Atlas because they know it is a bad job for them. The worst parts of Atlas, for some people: Being gone over 2 weeks. Sleep schedule messed up by schedule and time zones. Schedule constantly changing. Going to odd destinations. Not getting paid enough. Having to do so much travelling and other stuff with not very much structure....a lot of stuff on your own.

This thread is the best one there is to find out if Atlas is for you. But, I don't feel bad for guys that come here and leave (as long as they've done their homework). It is one thing to read about Atlas, or talk to guys about it....some guys think it will be pretty good, or at least better than their "crappy" job, and when they get here they find out that it is not as good as they thought.

The guy quoted above? I have a hard time believing he did his homework before he was hired on here, OR he was a Polar guy...the Polar lifestyle changed significantly after the merger. If I was a Polar guy who seriously didn't like the changes, I would have left already.

God bless and namaste

atpcliff

This can be done quickly.

Executive Summary:
Atlas is 100% charter, so they do their best to do whatever the customer asks them to do. Trips last between 1 day and about 19 days. You can do 30 plus days in a row if you like. Min 5 days off between trips if you ask for it. Fly anywhere except Antarctica. Fly anything: people to porcupines. Fly a lot, or sit in a hotel a lot, or sit at home a lot. Sometimes land once a month or less.

Train in Miami. Deadhead as an airline or Atlas passenger all over, sometimes with more deadhead legs than operating legs. Usually stay in nice hotels...more great than crappy. Have your schedule changed like it was litter paper for 1000 rabbits. Learn how to check your phone to find out where you are. Develop a map in your head for a bunch of major cities and their subway systems.

Xtra Details On Destinations:
Fly cold to places you, and sometimes Atlas, have never been before (Chelyabinsk, Tblisi, Malta, Colombo, Taranto, Avalon, Lilongwe, Recife, Cape Verde, Luanda, Venice, Constanta, Nuremberg, Bishkek, Baku, DWC, Dhaka, Karachi, Hanoi, Jakarta, Auckland, Cebu, Djerba, Zhengzhou)...those are SOME of the places I have been to for the first time since I started at Atlas. Sometimes no one in the whole crew, including the loadmaster and the engineer, have ever been to the location you are going. That happened to me on OE going into Kazakhstan, among other places. One time I flew into Philly with a senior captain and senior FO. Neither one of them had ever been into PHL!!! Sometimes its a crazy world!

DC8DRIVER

Things have changed a lot in the past 12 years since you flew here.

If you're still bitter about leaving Atlas, this isn't the place where you will find an audience. Better to redirect that anger toward an effort to land another job. The negative attitude will show up in an interview and could cause even more problems. Let it go.

8

atpcliff

Atlas HAS changed a lot, and for the better (except for some Polar pilots-some of the former Polar guys hate/don't like the changes, some are OK with it).

For example, when I started researching Atlas, prior to 2007, there was a base in Stanstead, England, and guys had to get there ON THEIR OWN DIME to start and end there trips. Just before I started applying, the company started airlining guys to Stanstead...then the base was shut down.

Atlas has gone through a bankruptcy. At the beginning, there was no union and no contract.

Read about Atlas and talk to people, and make your own judgments.

With the new contract coming up, Atlas will be better. How soon will the contract get done, and how much better it will be is HUGE deal....if it is a LOT better, a lot of guys here will stay. If it is MARGINALLY better a LOT of guys will leave, and I think we will have a big problem just staffing the current fleet, not to mention trying to expand.

The pilot shortage is just getting worse and worse, and will for a while...probably until this big bump of "Baby Boomers" all retire/stop flying. By then, maybe Asia will have figured out how to staff their cockpit without so much foreign help....if they have not, the pilot shortage will keep getting worse.

JonnyKnoxville

For those that are interested, here are the updated pay tables effective this month:

Captain 747-8/400
12) $209
11) $203
10) $197
9) $191
8) $186
7) $180
6) $175
5) $170
4) $165
3) $160
2) $156
1) $151

Captain 767
12) $176
11) $170
10) $165
9) $161
8) $156
7) $151
6) $147
5) $143
4) $139
3) $135
2) $131
1) $127

First Officer 747-8/400
12) $146
11) $142
10) $138
9) $134
8) $130
7) $126
6) $121
5) $115
4) $109
3) $103
2) $98
1) $78

First Officer 767
12) $123
11) $119
10) $116
9) $112
8) $109
7) $106
6) $101
5) $96
4) $91
3) $87
2) $82
1) $78