Honestly, I don't think a swap to ALPA is going to help you guys any. What Omni desperately needs is a unified pilot group that supports a strong EXCO. Right now, as far as I'm aware, Omni has neither. The EXCO can do what they can to rally you guys, but without you guys getting mad, flying the CBA, and electing an EXCO that's ready to get down to business, nothing will change. Leadership needs the support of the group; the group can't sit back and expect that paying dues is all that's required for a better CBA.

I absolutely wish you guys the best of luck, but you need to unify. The Teamsters aren't perfect, but it's what you have, and sitting back wishing you had ALPA won't do anything for anyone.

 

I agree with NightIP, thinking ALPA is going to get you farther along towards a good contract then Teamsters shows a lack of understanding of how the Union works. Your only as good as the people in the Union and your leaders.

ALPA and Teamsters merely supply tools and support, that's all.

 

Like Night IP, I left Omni for Atlas. These are the only two I can factually speak on. The others, I just have to read the message board like you and ask questions. It was indeed a move up from Omni to Atlas. I make more money as a 3rd year FO at Atlas than as a 6th year Captain at Omni. Atlas has its business more spread out over multiple customers and has really excelled the ACMI and CMI concept. Omni has more potential, in my opinion, to lead the way in the ACMI business than any of its competitors. Greed and lack of leadership is what stands in the way from my view. Omni is not the worst in my opinion, but they really go out of their way to not be the best. Just my opinion. I don't consider myself anti omni, just a factual informant. I hope this answers your question.

On your list, I know that World, North American and Ryan International are out of business.

 

Perhaps my post was misunderstood, didn't say switching would make things different overnight. A union is 9 ny as good as the structure and leadershipIin place. My viewpoint (not necessarily correct) is that teamsters lacks structure on the airline side of things. Our EXCO leaves a lot to be desired but of course so does our current contract.

Back to my original question, which ACMI is the best? My friends at Atlas don't blow the magical rainbow that is displayed here. Some are former polar some are new hires but none of them rave about Atlas. Omni may not be the best place in the world but on the list it is far from the worse.

 

All good points, ALPA does offer a few tools that teamsters does not. And your right on about Atlas too!

 

In my experience, the Teamsters won't help much at Omni or any other airline. And, I say that with all due respect to the guys/gals who went through the hassle and difficulty to bring a union to the property in the first place, my hats off to them. Like many supplemental's the guys at Omni with some seniority are making pretty good dough, so they're not motivated to shake things up too much with a lot of union rabblerousing. I guess I wouldn't expect much to change in the near future.

 

If you're looking for a magical rainbow, you won't find it at Atlas. But, comparing 3rd year Omni 767 FO to 3rd year Atlas 767 FO, I'll make $40,000 more over here for the year. That's not a brag; I'm still underpaid for my aircraft and seat. I'm just showing you guys what you need to start working toward.

What you will find over here is a diversified business mix, growth, and a pilot group that is doing its best to get unified ahead of negotiations. I think the only people stoking the Omni vs. Atlas fire are the ones over at Omni; those of us at Atlas want to help. If it comes off as us being "anti-Omni," realize we're just trying to break down the Stockholm Syndrome a lot of your guys have about the place. If you can't believe those of us who've worked at both carriers, who can you believe?

 

As they say, "A rising tide floats ALL boats." When a carrier like Atlas raises the bar, its good for all 121 cargo/charter airline pilots.

 

Absolutely. The Atlas Contract Comparison committee just published a study that shows just how far we're lagging compared to the Legacies/FDX/UPS. We're looking at their gains to help our gains next time around. When I was at Omni during the first CBA negotiations, the negotiating committee was all about rates; a number of us tried to get them to approach the company about rig (it was right as the current Atlas CBA was put out), but they had no interest. And lo and behold, we wound up with topped out DC-10/767 captains bragging about making $120,000/year. Horse, water, why won't he drink?

 

It's hard to find and Exco when no one will step up except for 1 or 2 people. People just don't care because management has beaten down the pilot group so much. They have flushed the morale down the crapper.