I believe that Atlas manning goals are 22 pilots per 767, and 25 per 747.

SouthernAir FO ; any firsthand experience
 

Hello,

Does anyone on the forum have experience as a Southern Air FO?
Specifically the 777.

- What is a typical 20 hour rotation like? ( hours per day, flight hours per day, work hours, example; 1 a.m. to 2 pm ,etc.

- destinations. ( cities " overniting in"), and any free time while there, or are you just too tired ?

- How many days to recover after 20 days on, when you start your 10 days off?

- Any estimates on upgrade time, health of company, career potential?

Thank you for any input !

You’re actually asking about what working 20 days in a row is like? Have some self-worth. Can you not get hired ANYwhere else?

And if you're really lucky you may get stuck with a line with an end of the month pattern rolling into a line with a beginning of the month pattern for a nice easy 40 days away from home.

Hello,

Does anyone on the forum have experience as a Southern Air FO?
Specifically the 777.

- What is a typical 20 hour rotation like? ( hours per day, flight hours per day, work hours, example; 1 a.m. to 2 pm ,etc.

# You're on the road for the full 20 but that will change 17 in Jan as LOA gets implemented. Flying is the back side of the clock (take off at midnight and land at 2200 (10 to 13 hours away).

- destinations. ( cities " overniting in"), and any free time while there, or are you just too tired ?

# LA, Cincinnati , Leipzig Germany, Bahrain, Hong Kong, Dubai, Inchon, Miami, we are adding JFK. Most stops are 24-36 hrs, some longer and some min rest - it just depends. First half of the trip some folks are into going out, some are loners and just wing it solo. Second half most are tired.

- How many days to recover after 20 days on, when you start your 10 days off?

# For me 2-3 days as I TRY to stay on my home timezone. Your milage may vary.

- Any estimates on upgrade time, health of company, career potential?

# The company is Atlas and you can read lots on here about us. I wound speculate on upgrades as I think its a bit of a moving target depending on choices you make (777/737). If you're asking for my opinion I think it is a transitional airline, cut your teeth and get the experience you need for better pastures. I like the people I fly with and the Southern front office are good to work with. Scheduling can suck at times. I like it here because of the people but this isn't my final airline.

Thank you for any input !

#Hope this helps

Your not doing yourself any favors coming to SAI. You are not going to get a lot of experience as you will not actually be doing a lot of flying. 737 lines average about 35 hours a month. 777 lines are a lot higher but due to the nature of the flying your not actually accumulating any meaningful flight experience, what your learning is how to get rest on a 15+ hour leg. As an FO you will constantly be fighting to maintain currency.

If you are a low time pilot and think this is your golden opportunity to get a leg up on your career you will be sadly mistaken. Pay your dues, and get some real experience.

Things are still changing here, certainly not for the better. The LOA is a bandaid on a battle wound. The benefits of it have yet to be realized, and are not as great as what many would think. There are some things that are even worse than what we had before. If there is one thing that Atlas excels at it's screwing pilots, and they did that with this LOA. Don't think that they were being generous.

The biggest thing at SAI is an atmosphere of extreme uncertainty, more so now than at any other time that I have experienced. There are bad things on the horizon.

Thank you, great info !

Thank you, very helpful feedback !

I’d like to think positive about SAI and Atlas’ future. And I’m sure I’m just being naive and ignorant. But, doesn’t most history show a leapfrog effect on CBA’s? Couldn’t the SAI and Atlas Mec’s, along with the full support of each pilot group go to the negotiating table with a contract similar to purple or brown? Do the pilots not have the upper hand in today’s industry? Isn’t there something that can be done to get the company to see that the pilot groups only want a fair, industry leading contract? It’s business right? So when it becomes non-profitable to be a pilot for them you leave to where there is a profit to be made. They would.
If the company is truly dragging their knuckles on negotiations then the pilot groups must take action to force their hand to sign an acceptable contract or pull the plug. $#)+ or get off the pot.

^^ Not a whole lot the pilot group (Atlas) can really do. They won’t be released to strike anytime soon. Negotiations can take years to finish. Add to that, the company is waiting for results on wheather to Arbitrate or not. If the company wins the lawsuit on Arbitration, the contract the pilots will get come from the Arbitrator. No vote from pilot group.
We should know more how things may turn out early next year.
As for a contract, maybe 2020/2021.
Anything close to UPS or Purple? No.