I wish you the best of luck getting the job back that you hated so much! Make sure to mention all of the above points during your interview.

 

I have had four careers, and over 20 jobs...5 flying jobs. The most days of I have had was at atlas. It is not perfect, but I like it.

A solution to some of these problems is "Worldwide Gateway Basing". No more Pilot Bases. Your Gateway is now your base. If you lived by your base, then your old Base is now your Gateway Base.

 

Some of these ideas came from other Atlas pilots, some came from me (Atlas Line Pilot), while others were thought of by Atlas pilots working together.

I am not going to talk about increased hourly pay rates as everyone wants more money per hour, no matter how much we are paid.

Note: These are my opinions only.

Required in the New Contract, in no particular order:

1. International Gateway Basing with PBS.
- No more bases (JFK, MIA, ANC)
- Your Gateway is your Base. If you live near MIA, MIA is your base. If you live near MCI, MCI is your base. If you live near Dubai, Dubai is your base.

2. Line Guarantee

3. Atlas 401K Direct Contribution...no matching at all...suggest 15%

4. X Days are days off, with no compensation. ANYTHING other than an X day gets you Daily Trip Rig. In other words, R1 days, Training days, Vacation, and normal working days are paid at the same Daily Trip Rig rate.

5. Max Duty Day is 20 hours.
- Duty Days cannot be extended by the company. Duty days may be extended due to unforeseen circumstances, like an in-flight delay, an ATC delay, etc. If there is a major problem, like the only runway in Bagram closes for 2 hours, then the Crew and the Company may jointly decided the extended Duty Day is the best choice in the situation.
- If, by unforeseen circumstances, a Duty Day is extended past 20 hours, for any reason, then Duty hours 20-22 are paid at Double the Hourly Flight Pay Rate Above Guarantee. Duty hours 23-25 are paid at Triple the Hourly Flight Pay Rate, Above Guarantee. Duty hours over 25 hours are paid at FIVE TIMES the Hourly Flight Pay Rate, Above Guarantee.
-This should cut down on the company's making the flight crews do 20+ duty days and giving them $50 credit to eat a meal. This is crap.

6. Profit Sharing. No restrictions/exemptions/exclusions

7. Preferential Bidding System with 30/60 day lines

8. Fixed Perdiem of at least $90/hour.

9. Two Payscales, one for Captains, and one for F0s (no different payscales for different planes).

10. No Training Pay. All pilots Day One on first year pay.
-For those who may not have thought of this...for Atlas to function well in the future, we need new hire pilots, and the current Training Pay system is terrible.

11. Variable Days Off Bid:
- There would be a 6 or 12 month bid period where you bid for how many days of work you want. You would be for less, equal, or more days of work than we have now.
- With the current system of 17 days of work required, an example of the Variable Days Off System would be 1/3 of the pilots works 15 days, 1/3 works 17 days, and 1/3 works 19 days. X Days pay would be the same for everyone as far as 1st X day, 2nd X day, etc.

12. Monthly Guarantee increased to at least 72 hours/month.

13. All days off guaranteed if requested.
- In other words, vacation and training days would not reduce the number of days off you received in that month
- Easy to do with a checkbox on the bid schedule:
- One would be for Vacation Days. If you check the box you require ALL your Vacation Days be duty free, AND ALL your normal Days Off be duty free.
- One would be for Training Days. If you check the box, you require ALL your Training Days to be assigned during your Normal Work Days.

14. Deadhead pay changes.
- If you Deadhead on a Commercial Airline in Business Class or better, you are paid 0.5 hours of pay for each hour of Deadhead Duty Hours.
- If you Deadhead on an Atlas Air controlled aircraft (non-Airline ticket), or you Deadhead on a Commercial Airline in Coach Class, then you are paid 1:1 for each hour of Deadhead Duty Hours.

Desired in the New Contract, in no particular order:

1. Pilots get paid the higher of these four guarantees
Note: This system is typical for most airlines.

First: Monthly Guarantee Credit
- No changes (except for a higher monthly guarantee)

Second: Bid Line Award Credit earned for the month
- You would receive a credit of the higher of the Actual Bid Line Credit, or the Planned Bid Line Credit. You would not lose pay if your Actual Line Credit was reduced below Planned.

Third: Daily Trip Rig Total Credit earned for the month
- No changes

Fourth: Pattern Rig Total Credit earned for the month.
- Each Pattern (trip) has a certain amount of credit that is planned. You would receive a credit of the higher of the Actual Pattern Credit, or the Planned Pattern Credit. You would not lose pay if your Actual Pattern Credit was reduced below Planned.
- If you only had ONE Pattern scheduled for the month, then your Line Award Credit would be the same as your Pattern Credit for that month. However, if you had, for example, TWO patterns scheduled for the month, then your Line Credit could be less than your Pattern Credit for that month.

At the end of the month, you would receive the higher of: Your Monthly Guarantee, your Line Bid Credit, your Daily Trip Rig Monthly Credit, or your Pattern Rig Monthly Credit.

2. Vacation Increase:
-Years 2-4: Two Weeks
-Years 5-9: Three Weeks
-Years 10-15: Four Weeks
-Years 11-14: Five weeks
-Years 15+: Six weeks


I would like to start a dialog, so that the crew force can start communicating what we want in the New Contract, and get these ideas of what is most important to us visible to the Union, so that the Union knows what the Crew Force considers a “Major Improvement” in the New Contract.

I welcome all comments, feedback, suggestions, improvements, etc.

God Bless and namaste

 

I take it you mean 90/day per diem... But yes! Worldwide basing sounds awesome!

 

No one is talking to you!!! Mind your damn business.....

 

......in response to a post on a public forum....yep, makes sense.

 

Classic. Have fun flying your RJ, if you can make it through training!

 

Oh snap!!!

 

Come on, folks. We're better than this. If the level of discussion on this thread is going to devolve down to fifth grade level then we ought to just move it over to Flightinfo.com and be done with it. That sort of sniping is expected there. Until about two months ago one could come here and rely on a rational discussion about the pros and cons of a career with Atlas. Lately, not so much.

 

For those of you looking to get on here I'll share my experience so far. This is only my second month on the line.

First off... important info to have. Training pay as you've probably read is $1600 per month or $800 every two weeks. With insurance for wife and I the small paycheck came to around $575 and the one with a full month of per diem came to roughly $2300. It will vary based on your deductions and whatever insurance you pick. I was on training pay for three and a half months. Two full months training, almost a month waiting for OE, and then a couple weeks of OE. I could have started OE earlier, but was happy for the time off after being in Miami for 65 nights straight.

I'm ANC based and commute from ORD, so I lose a day off on the front side. It is what it is. The two trips that I've had end in ANC finished late Z time, but early local ANC. Therefore, I can get home early enough that I don't lose a day off on the back end.

I was able to bid this month for the first time and got a 60 day line. I got exactly the days off I needed in October. I have a 14 day trip, a four day trip, and a 16 day trip. I have stretches of 11 days off and 13 days off. I should credit 70 hours my first month if all goes as scheduled.

So far I've had layovers in nrt, icn, pvg, hkg, bah, rms, and cvg. IMO most of the hotels have been nice with icn, pvg, and hkg being super nice.

I enjoy the flying and don't mind the long trips, because I like having the long stretches of days off. I came from the regionals so I've done the 4 on 3 off while commuting every week, flying 4-6 legs a day and don't miss it one bit. This job isn't perfect and as you've read we could use some contract improvements. This job and lifestyle isn't for everyone. I know single guys that love it and guys that hate it. I have friends who are married with small kids that love it and make it work and those that hate it. At the end of the day it's up to the individual to decide if they will enjoy it or not. I don't have a crystal ball for the airline industry, so coming here will end up being either the worst career decision or the best one I've ever made. I'll know in about 25 years. The one thing I know for certain though is if you want to see the world and go to places you won't see with a passenger airline (some bad too / hostile areas are voluntary) you will have that opportunity here.