b707guy

Hotels run from pretty nice to at least decent. No real dumps. Some places are basically "take it or leave it", such as Wake, Kwaj, or Ascension. We do have some basic CBA language regarding requirements, which pretty much keeps us out of the real dumps. We have no "downtown" clauses. It's basically whatever the Company can find that meets minimums for the best price. Oddly enough, available transportation is a problem, as few hotels are even able to find the cargo area, let alone provide service at the needed hours. DHL system layovers are too short to enjoy an adult beverage, and you're too beat to be able to do much but sleep anyway, but most of the other system hotels have local amenities. International hotels are generally great. We get the points and stay credit at about half of our hotels (rough guess), and we have a very strong and active Hotel Committee as well as a Hotel Coordinator who actually cares to help keep things in line. Some cities make it difficult to find places that aren't overrun by homeless and the like, but you make the best of it.

Unlike much of what Omni, K4, or Atlas does, int'l DH at ATI only really applies to a handful of our Combi runs, plus a currently-operated long haul AMC run every other week. All of it generally goes senior, so your likelihood of getting it is low, except for the occasional sick call or for vacated flying. But the language applies to all ops if/when we get more int'l work, or the occasional repo to or from HNL.

BushPiloto

Is there movement to legacies from ATI?

nightsky2

Nearly none. I have heard (unverified) that some pilots offered jobs at the big 3 and purple and brown, have decided to decline. ATI growth at this point is staggering. Consider this, a regional airline captain could come here and be a 767/757 captain in just under 2 years. ATI needs upgradable pilots because we have to staff the incoming planes. Rumor is, 8 more 767-300’s by the end of this year! No one knows what the ultimate end of all this is. Amazon and ATSG keep their cards hidden. None of us know anything until they announce it.

Jurassic Jet

Folks please don’t feed the trolls.

brownie

I was offered a job at Goldman sachs as a senior trader and I decided to stay at my current credit union as a drive thru teller so I can see how that could make sense😝😝

BushPiloto

I wasn’t trolling. To make it a more direct question, I was wondering if FO at ATI would be a quicker path to the majors than PIC regional time. That’s why I was asking about attrition.

Puck Hawg

Hey, the best airline is the one that works for you. I’d never go to a big 3 because a) I’m not moving and b) I commuted for 15 years and I’m done with it, and c) boxes aren’t full of drama. Sure, if brown or purple called at some point, they’d definitely get a look because they’re somewhat drivable, but the notion that the big 5 are the holy grail is dumb. To some, no commuting, no crash pads, racking up a ton of hotel/airline points, and making 6 figures without dealing with a gate agent, flight attendant, or passenger or breaking a sweat is the good life.

b707guy

First of all, what Puck said.

Second, paths are only as good as the current conditions. We don't have any flow with anyone. PIC at a regional with flow to a big 3 is probably worth a lot more, if that's your goal. PIC at a regional without flow is probably just as good as PIC at an ACMI or LCC. In other words, if you don't have available flow, or if your goal is UPS or FedEx, get your PIC where ever you can.

I won't say it hasn't happened, but I don't know of anyone here who's declined a class date at a legacy, nor could I imagine anyone here doing so without a very personal reason behind it. The numbers just don't support staying with ATI, if the numbers are your primary interest. For now...

Thing is, folk here who are as much in the know as could be exude unprecedented levels of optimism. Says a lot. Our schedules aren't for everyone. Our pay is on par with the top of our segment, using K4 and Omni as the benchmarks (767 only, do not try to compare with 777/747...). Our pilot group is generally happy. Our hat hooks seem to be getting longer rather than shorter, when compared with others at our level. Just be aware that all of it could change at someone else's whim and a stroke of their pen. That's the nature of ACMI.

To answer your first question, no, we haven't seen much attrition. Most of what little we have seen has been to the legacy "top 5". But are we a pathway? Who knows? Compared with a regional, ATI certainly offers more in the way of operational variety, compared with a regional. And, as I said, the hat hook is currently pretty long.

goinaround

Just out of curiosity...do you guys sit CVG R1? Or is it always in a hotel?

b707guy

To be honest, I'm familiar with the R1-R4 (I think?) terms, but we've never used them, so I don't really know how they work or what they mean exactly to the rest of the normal world.

We have a few different kinds of reserve.

Hot Standby is where we have a crew and a preflighted aircraft, on an 8 hour shift, CBA duty limits if launched. Hot is credited, and would be served at the airport if facilities meet the CBA, or at a hotel if not. Generally, "immediate" callout, but could be up to 30 minutes, depending on what Scheduling needs. Hot is served at customer request, and currently only for PHX and ILN. But we've had SMF, CVG, and short stints in DFW before. All for Amazon, as we only have 757Fs for DHL, which obviously can't cover their needs.

We have what we affectionately call "spare parts" reserve. 12 hour shift determined by Scheduling, with 2 hour callout. 12 hours off in between shifts. Generally served in CVG, but it can be anywhere. On per diem, and in a hotel. Count on this if you have pure reserve on your schedule.

Home reserve is where we're on call between 7am-7pm ILN time, at home. Happens every now and then, but not often. Many times, it depends on whether you live close to a major hub.

It's better than it was before, not as good as it should be.