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Atlas or Polar Air Info

Old 07-05-2008, 04:29 PM
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Can anyone give me some information on Atlas or Polar Air Cargo?
Are they hiring?
How many flight hours in a typical month?
How many days off?
any QOL issues.

Thanks
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Old 07-06-2008, 04:23 AM
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I can give you a synopsis from my interview at Atlas:

New hires, all are going to the 747-400, are based in London Standstead, STN. Technically there is no flying out of there so its a "phantom" base. If your are based in STN then you have to bid a 17 day in a row work schedule.

Pilots fly commercial out of a gateway city to start their trips, the company pays for the ticket to and from work. So domiciles are irrelevant. You live where you want, preferably near an airport the company has designated as a gateway.

The standard is 13 days off with 14 during a 31 bid month. The guarantee for a new hire is 50 hours and after the first year it goes to 62. There are no trip and duty rigs. Pilots have to travel on their days off to and from work.

Polar and Atlas have started integrating the seniority list. In time the company will merge into one entity. The company has orders for 747-800, 12, and 14 options.

I interviewed in early June and was told that classes were filled for the rest of the year. I've been around long enough to know everything is subject to change.

Atlas is getting two 747-200s that were dry leased back from Tradewinds. There is an additional -200 that was loaned to Polar. Atlas has their own training facility in MIA with a -200 and -400 simulator. So maybe there will be more training classes before the new year.

I hope that helps you.
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Old 07-06-2008, 06:15 AM
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Here is a link to Atlas collective bargaining agreement.


Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings
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Old 07-06-2008, 06:17 AM
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Great info, Thanks.
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Old 07-06-2008, 09:53 AM
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Originally Posted by JasonGerald View Post
The standard is 13 days off with 14 during a 31 bid month. The guarantee for a new hire is 50 hours and after the first year it goes to 62. There are no trip and duty rigs. Pilots have to travel on their days off to and from work.
Just curious on the gateway thing.

When you say travel on days off, thats on the 13 or 14 days, correct? Meaning that the 17 on results in 19-20 away from home depending on how long it takes them to position you?
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Old 07-06-2008, 10:55 AM
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They can also extend you four days without asking. So thats 21 work days plus the 36 hours early or late to get you over there. In reality, it could be 24 days away each month. Two trips back to back....and you do the math. That's why I quit. Still, great airplane, good crews and great cities.
It also is what qualified me for my next job, but it was a tough couple of years.
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Old 07-06-2008, 11:03 AM
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Originally Posted by dojetdriver View Post
Just curious on the gateway thing.

When you say travel on days off, thats on the 13 or 14 days, correct? Meaning that the 17 on results in 19-20 away from home depending on how long it takes them to position you?

That is how I understand it. 13 days off with travel on two of them really means 11 days at home. I wonder if that will change with the new contract.

Also, the pilot group at Atlas has voted to decertify ALPA and go with the Teamsters. I believe the former MEC chairman at Atlas is now the head of the airline division at the Teamsters.

I hope the working environment in the cockpitwill be cordial. At the interview, the Chief Pilot said that both Atlas and Polar use the same procedures and manuals. So, from an operational perspective merging the pilot groups should go easily. As to any animosity between the two pilot groups, I'll stay out of that one.
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Old 07-06-2008, 11:37 AM
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Originally Posted by JasonGerald View Post
That is how I understand it. 13 days off with travel on two of them really means 11 days at home. I wonder if that will change with the new contract.
Well, I don't pretend to be an expert on the Atlas CBA. But this seems like kind of a weird deal. If a guy is based in the states, he's not forced into bidding a 17 day line.

If a guy is STN, he HAS to bid a 17 day to take advantage of the gateway. A guy form my company that went there is STN based, but has trips that originate in the Orient, Australia, etc. They are going to position him ANYWAY, but he has to bid a 17 day line. A U.S. based guy can bid less than 17, and probably get positioned to the SAME places but gets more time at home without giving up days off.

Is that correct? Or am I off somewhere?

Originally Posted by JasonGerald View Post
I hope the working environment in the cockpitwill be cordial. At the interview, the Chief Pilot said that both Atlas and Polar use the same procedures and manuals. So, from an operational perspective merging the pilot groups should go easily. As to any animosity between the two pilot groups, I'll stay out of that one.
Yeah, that thing has been beat to death at pprune, as well as other places. Kinda of a bummer to go there and be tossed right into the middle of that thing.
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Old 07-06-2008, 12:01 PM
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[quote=dojetdriver;419645]Well, I don't pretend to be an expert on the Atlas CBA. But this seems like kind of a weird deal. If a guy is based in the states, he's not forced into bidding a 17 day line.

If a guy is STN, he HAS to bid a 17 day to take advantage of the gateway. A guy form my company that went there is STN based, but has trips that originate in the Orient, Australia, etc. They are going to position him ANYWAY, but he has to bid a 17 day line. A U.S. based guy can bid less than 17, and probably get positioned to the SAME places but gets more time at home without giving up days off.

Is that correct? Or am I off somewhere?

Like anything to do with seniority the more you have the better your quality of life. Atlas has a growth plan and will be hiring for the next two years as quoted to me at the interview by the Chief Pilot. I can only assume that your quality of life will get better over time.

I spent 8 plus years at Comair averaging only 13 days off a month. One advantage I see with Atlas, for me, is to have those days off in a row. I would routinely have 6 days on then one day off and back on the road at Comair.

The other plus is you live at home and don't have to commute to a domicile to pick up a trip. I had a crash pad in NYC that took $3600 out of my pocket annually for my previous job. Everything is a trade off.
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Old 07-06-2008, 12:09 PM
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Originally Posted by JasonGerald View Post
Like anything to do with seniority the more you have the better your quality of life. Atlas has a growth plan and will be hiring for the next two years as quoted to me at the interview by the Chief Pilot. I can only assume that your quality of life will get better over time.

I spent 8 plus years at Comair averaging only 13 days off a month. One advantage I see with Atlas, for me, is to have those days off in a row. I would routinely have 6 days on then one day off and back on the road at Comair.

The other plus is you live at home and don't have to commute to a domicile to pick up a trip. I had a crash pad in NYC that took $3600 out of my pocket annually for my previous job. Everything is a trade off.
Yep, all those reasons are why I want that job also. I've got 8 years in regionals and was around when you guys stood up and showed some sack at COMAIR.

And yep, I did a 22 month stint in New York also. I was lucky that my crashpad wasn't that pricey. That DelCon ramp at JFK was a disaster when I flew in there as late as 2004, haven't been back since. I hear it's WORSE now.

Last edited by dojetdriver; 07-06-2008 at 12:15 PM.
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