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

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.

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

Nice summary in your last few posts, atpcliff...impartial, and fair.

I do have one comment (and yes, I am an Atlas guy, not a former Polar pilot...disclaimer)...Some of the Polar guys are not happy to be Atlas crewmembers and I'll leave that debate for a different forum (maybe around a breakfast table somewhere!!). But it is hard to argue how their career prospects have changed, going from a fleet of 5-6 airplanes to a company with about 55 total aircraft (about 40 747s and as of next January, 15 767s).

For those that have been at Polar (and went through the long merger), and have now seen the Atlas side of the equation, it may be a tough pill to swallow, but our collective futures are undeniable.

So, what did the Atlas side get out of the merger...likely the most significant single item is Polar's relationship with DHL Worldwide, albeit that customer came along AFTER Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings bought Polar. But still a significant amount of good flying.

See, and you thought this was going to be a hate-Polar-at-all-costs posting, didn't ya?!! I honestly did try to be fair about it!!

Good luck to those still trying to get here...it really is a good job, with lots of improvements needed.

744driver

In case some of you are wondering, above rates are the DOS+3 (Date of Signing)...meaning we are starting our 4th year in a 5 year CBA. This time next year, of course, it will be DOS+4 and final year before the CBA is amendable in September, 2016.

Thank you for the quick info. As first year FO, guarantee is only 50 hours, how easy is it to break the min. Is there a reserve system, if so how is it?

There's a trip rig so if the company has you on the road for more than 10 days you'll break guarantee first year and 13 days after that.

There are reserve lines but no real reserve system.

+1

As a new hire, I very seriously doubt you should be concerned about only working 10 days. You would probably be on the other end of the spectrum in that you would be out 17+ days. I'm a 7yr. + line holder and routinely have to hold them to the contract to get home at the end of my pattern. We're slammed right now and they need warm butts in cold seats. We have guys getting 200+ pay credit hours (with x day pay) a month right now and we haven't even got into the 4th quarter yet.

The open time emails have slowed a little bit over the past two months to around 3 a day, but my guess is that it'll pick back up again over Christmas.

My first year I failed to break the 50 hour min guarantee only once. I'd say my average credit hours for the first year were in the high 60's to low 70's each month. Since then, the average has crept up closer to the mid 70's. The only month since getting off probation that I was below 70 hours (and it was a min guarantee month of 62 hours) was when I had training in Miami that conflicted with my schedule.

I'm a CVG based 767 FO, to give you some perspective. I know others have had very different first year experiences, but I think most of that was driven by a logjam in the OE portion of training. Several guys sat at home waiting for OE, collecting min guarantee of 50 hours (and no per diem) for several months. A couple guys I know of had to go back to Miami for a sim session to retain currency while waiting for an OE schedule. I believe that is all past us now, though. I'm sure the training department is going to be running at full tilt with the new aircraft coming online, but I don't see guys having to sit that long again for OE.

I can't speak for the 747 side of the house, but based on the number of open time e-mails I've been getting, I don't think 747 new hires (which should become very rare moving forward) will have any problem breaking the 50 hour min guarantee.

Atlas does use reserve pilots, but the contract is practically silent on how those reserves are called out on flight assignments. My last company (which was a regional) had very specific rules for the order in which legal and available reserves were to be used. That's not the case here at Atlas. That said, there has only been one instance in the past 18 months that I have not been notified of a flight assignment at least one day prior to the report. And that's sitting "short call" reserve (2 hours, also referred to as "hotel reserve" at Atlas). Of course, once I get to work, the schedule changes all the time, but when I'm sitting reserve my experience has been that they assign you something well in advance. Some months they use me every single reserve day I am available, and other months they don't use me at all. It all seems to be one big crapshoot.

Hope that gives you a little insight as to how things happen here for newer guys. Good luck if you decide to apply to Atlas. While I have a laundry list of things that need to be improved in the next contract, I can say that this job is much better than my previous one.