Atlas Air Hiring But......
 

been following for a long time but decided to start my own thread to get feed back on some things without getting tangled in the other atlas threads.

regional lifer here until my wife came down with a condition that requires us to move to mayo clinic in rochester where she has family so commuting and jumpseat is not an option and atlas and others came up.

but I heard that the union threatens new hires and bans guys from FB. I saw all the contract stuff too so I dont need the education just feedback on union. i am alpa now and it is bad fwiw but tolerable. I need a home base near minni. and thank you for your concern we are praying for my wife right now but could use the income and convenience of home basing.

The union won’t ban you or do anything else like that. There are folks who hold union titles that may say silly things to you, but they don’t represent the union, nor are they transmitting any kind of union message when they do this. So don’t let anything like this affect your decision making. The union is your friend. People claiming to speak for the union unofficially are just noise. Rely on communications directly with committee members, etc. Forget all the crew room, Internet and bar noise.

FWIW most of the regional pilots that come here do fine. Per flight hour we are not seeing an increase in trouble compared to what we saw when we were a smaller airline populated by ex 89th and other ACMI pilots, so you have nothing to fear. You’re not in any way under qualified or inferior, despite what some posts may say. Of course this point will be hotly debated by people who get on this thread later.

With that said, medical problems take money. Other place pay more. While we positive space you to and from work, you’ll be traveling on your days off, so the benefits to your home life may be less than you anticipate. It’s hard to make a decent decision when things are stressful at home. I hope you make the best one. I hope you get accurate information. Good luck.

Kalitta has the homebasing that you want and they pay more, but if Atlas has got to be it then you should know that none of that stuff you’ve heard is true. Hope it works out for you.


Edit: Yes they have banned anti-union guys on Facebook. A very small amount.. But in their defense there were/are a lot of leakers and company rats.

If you're thinking that because Atlas does gateway travel (not home basing...there's a difference) you'll have more time at home with your wife, you're making a bad assumption. You still might have to commute, you'll just be doing it on Atlas' terms.

As for the Union, I wouldn't worry about that too much. There's a lot of hard-line union propaganda out there and you have to balance that against a company that is hell bent on sticking it to the pilot group. Nobody from the Union is out there threatening new hires, but they are aggressively trying to dissuade anyone from working for Atlas.

If you want the job because you think you'll enjoy the work you'll do, that's one thing. If you want it because you think it will make your life easier with your wife's condition, I strongly urge you to look elsewhere.

I didn’t know this. Yes, there were a lot of inappropriate leaks.

How about NetJets? Home basing and apparently really good insurance paid by the company?

I was banned from FB and I am not in management, so I have nothing to leak! I am just a simple line guy and I had not even made ONE SINGLE POST. PM me for detail.

But, Atlas isn't all that bad. If you have combed through all of the threads, you've seen the good bad and ugly. Yes, we need a contract and fwiw, the company gateway travel is getting worse with the AA contract. It is getting harder and harder to get to base on your preferred carrier so if the commute is an issue, plan on AA. Otherwise, I have to admit, with your wifes condition, have you looked at NetJets or something? Does your carrier allow FMLA? Does anyone know if that is an option in this case? If you know about homebaseing and gateway travel, you know that Kalitta has a similar setup and so does Omni. But, at the end of the day regardless of hourly rate which I am assuming will improve here at Atlas, I think work rules at Atlas are better than the other two I mentioned even though for now they have a better hourly rate. I know with half of what I said I am going to get a heaping helping of poo so do your best to ignore the noise and take what is said here with a grain of salt. Good luck with hopefully a positive prognosis and god bless.

To be honest, I don’t really care.

MSP is a crew base for NetJets, about 1:20 drive from Rochester. After training the default schedule is 1 week on 1 week off. Excellent Insurance that is free. Hospital Admission or ER visit is a flat $150. Office Visit a flat $20. Diagnostic Imaging has no copay.

There are no deductibles to meet (except a small one for Pharmacy). And I don't believe there's a pre-existing conditions clause either.

And if your wife has a medical emergency while you're on the road NetJets will bend over backwards to get you home, even using one of their jets if they can't get a quick airline.

My wife broke her back in a car wreck the Sunday after Thanksgiving 2009. Busiest travel day of the year. By the time I was notified they knew her injuries weren't life threatening. I was in Lakeland, FL and she was in CLT. Had her injuries been life threatening they would have shaken loose a jet for me. As it was my F/O got a rental car and drove me to TPA. NetJets gave me my own personal travel agent to work on finding a flight. She talked directly to USAirways who held a flight for me. I was by her hospital bed about 5 hours after being notified of the accident.

Long wait for upgrades at NetJets right now and you'll work a lot so it's not for everyone. On the good side we have a very strong union that backs us up. You can not be involuntarily assigned to work on a day off (common at regionals I hear). They have to get you back to MSP by midnight of your last day or they pay you a big penalty. You can not be required to do any work past midnight unless you want to. Holidays pay big $$$ also so no problem staffing those.

R U kidding? Are you going to poison this thread too? This guy is asking for real help and you are making this about you AGAIN! You post provides zero help. And if you didn't care, why respond? news flash...it's because you DO care and apparently I get under your skin.

Hey Wannabe, this guy is a union plant...and this is the kind of garbage you'd be dealing with if you came to Atlas. Most aren't like him though. 8 and Globe have passion (just sift through the threads to see who I am talking about) and they are hard line union supporters but they DON'T try and get under your skin.

AirBear has a point. Family is everything and I'd forgo a heavy type any day of the week for my family! If you'd really like more info on Atlas, PM any one on the guys on these threads that seems to have a level head and they'll give you a middle of the road perspective. Stay away from the jack.

You seriously sound insane.

It got pretty ugly for a brief period. A lot of it had to do with certain anti-union campaigns.

yet the feds still give me a first class medical.....;)

You are only making the case that union hardliners are difficult and militant. If you are still pushing this attrition campaign, your online demeanor would make sense but that apparently isn't working because people still want to go to Atlas.

Okey-doke, crazy. Whatever you say.

Sounds just like a Trump tweet.

Yes, many have been banned from FB and not just over the Flight Pay Loss amendment that passed the whole of local 1224, about eleven airlines. The ExCo also shut down posting to the union web forums also, encouraged scab list creations for guys flying open time, working in the training center, guys that are on reserve that get assigned that open time not covered and etc. The convicted felon ExCo chairman also had all identified as FPL supporters investigated on various charges in which all were exonerated, then flushed out everyone in the committees that wouldn't pledge loyalty to him and his missdeeds. Guys that have done more for the union and members than he has since him getting out of jail.

Your not a rat for standing up for the union bylaws and CBA from a criminal leader, but you are naive for blindly following a dictator.

You being part of the disinformation campaign along with what Bob tells the P2P committee to spread reminds me of the Hitler Youth program.

Let's all take a breath.

Remember, every time a pilot takes a swing at another pilot, an executive gets a little warm inside his shriveled heart.

So let's knock it off, from every angle.

The fact is, we obviously employ some crew members who are not the most diplomatic in the world. That doesn't mean they're evil and wish you harm as a new hire.

Rather than open hostility, what some new hires have experienced is plain, old fashioned rudeness and inconsiderate comments.

Like:
How long have you been here?
Do you have a degree?
Jet PIC?
What are you doing here?
Why aren't you at FedEx or UPS?

It's not very welcoming, and some of the more sensitive new guys are feeling ATTACKED.

It's not an attack. It's old guys who don't care anymore; they're fatigued; THEY'RE feeling attacked by the company; all they want is a fair deal, do their job and go home.

As a new hire, you're one step ahead of the game if you have already done the research into our contract; if you understand WHY BOTH the union and the company have taken the positions they have taken; if you understand why you're paying dues plus an assessment every paycheck.

My standard greeting when I meet new hires is:

"Welcome to Atlas. I'm glad you're here. This is a great airplane and we fly to some amazing spots. As soon as the door closes we're gonna have a good day. I don't know what your career plans are, but things are pretty uncertain here at Atlas. If I were in my 30s, I'd keep some of my options open and continue applying to those companies that I KNOW have a long term business plan. This place doesn't have one. It's only as good as its next contract. So when the music stops (and it WILL STOP one day) you had better be pretty dang sure you are where you want to be for the next 30 years because you're gonna be STUCK THERE."

I probably just outed myself to a bunch of new hires. But at least they can vouch for my credibility.

Good luck.
Keep more than ONE iron in the fire.

Management has told us that ALL 2018 hiring stops in August so that we have all hands on deck for the 4rth quarter. Right now our crew ratios are slightly behind management's stated targets for the 767 and 747, so once you factor in 7 months of attrition and retirements expect to be Junior manned and extended if you're on the tail end of this year. Hiring would start back up just in time for.... Peak hiring season at other airlines.

holy cow. thanks for all the replies guys. especially airbear. zeros post seems leveling and puts some light on things too. jackstraws attitude is ugly and what I fear and now ignored. and he is an atlas pilot? why doesn't the union shut him down? don't answer. I won't read it until another week or two.

i may monitor but my life is way too busy right now and my wife is more important than anything. if when i get a spot, ill post. out.

The OP is clearly a troll or management stooge. Stop taking the bait.

I think we all know which psychopath it is. Its now gone way past the point of pathetic.

I'm a former Atlas pilot. I was pretty happy there. I liked the flying, I liked the people I worked with. I liked the training department! except that it was in Miami. I thought it would be my last job. Negotiations are going exactly as I expected, it's business. When this crap with the purchase of Southern on top of the Amazon deal came up. I bailed. I didn't want to, I felt I had to. I was fine with what it was, I was worried about what it will become. feel free to PM me.

This is EXACTLY what the OP is talking about.....I'm sure you both are cool to fly with and perhaps your method of conveying your position inter-personally speaking is quite different than your approach here, but this type of political approach to the negotiations where union members hijack threads on a 3rd party meaningless website to bolster a position is ineffective IMO. Turning on your own or attacking each other in these posts especially that have nothing to do with thread topics does not give the outward appearance of solidarity.

Agreed, but if you were an active Atlas pilot, would you still say, "it is just business?" Saying, "it's just business" around here gets you labeled a criminal or crazy or a psychopath!

I did say that when I was there. It was only a year ago. I didn't get emotional about it.

Delta, Skywest, Sun Country All have MSP bases and driving distance (1:15) to RST.
You would be a Capt at SKYW in a couple months based in MSP until something more to your liking comes up. I don't think the long two week+ trips flying cargo around the world would be helpful in your situation.

Agree you’re looking at more time away and less money then pretty much ANYWHERE else. No bueno for the family especially a family that will require more from you.

I agree. Somewhere else would be best. Maybe look again after the CBA gets done in 2-3 years as is currently set up now between the union and company via lawsuits and arbitrations. Also known among the membership as the "Kirchner's Retirement Pay Improvement Act" until he tries to run for the 1224 President's position after his recently approved E-Board extension to finish his current term despite not being in class and craft after hitting 65 per the bylaw.

If you needed to do open time to cover bills for the medical bills, the union berserkers would eat you alive. The lack of proper training pay and etc in your first year here would eat you also on the company side also.

__________________________________________________ _____________

and


These are fine examples of what our ExCo has left to work for them after the first and second purges of experienced volunteers.

They have obviously reverted to using simple parrots that will regurgitate rehearsed lines when fed a cracker by their masters.

I’m not a union rep, sir. I just think grown men who create multiple identities on a web board in order to trick people into sympathizing for their cause suffer from serious cognitive issues, and I call em like I see em.

where's your proof? otherwise, polly wanna cracker?

huh.......?

I believe he was referring to my post at the bottom of HERE. Just a few up from here at #27.

I would hope you don't read your CBA in the same manner. Judging from some of your other posts with 30 day plus trips you say you got stuck with, I can see you skipped a number of the sections of the CBA there also before bidding.

Anyone know when the health benefits kick in? First day of training, 30 days in?

Hot off the press. Southern parking 737s. Unable to staff them!
This is only the beginning. 777s predicted to be parked by end of summer. May want to consider somewhere else!
Don’t want to come here to be furloughed later.

I believe it's 30 days

Was in MIA for RGT/PC early May. There were a number of rumors floating around there as usual. One was Atlas spooling up the 777 program again and another type (A330/other). Maybe they are planning on doing some whipsawing again or just get rid of Southern due to the merger problems. Of course, this came from rumor central in MIA.

furlough talk already? that doesn't make any sense. I have no desire to apply to atlas to get anything other than the 767. If I can't get that, then I have no reason to be there.




yeah looked at them. couldn't go to OO. I have too good a schedule now even if I commute that would beat going to the bottom there. I have a few apps in so keeping fingers crossed.

Thanks Blue..

Apply. Heavy International experience is usually a plus. Depends on your ultimate goals.
Most crews are great to fly with.
Training department is good, although better and more enjoyable on the 767 side (ask anyone).
Still one of the better ACMI airlines to work for. And makes you more competitive to the Legacy carriers if that matters.

Hello, I received an email stating that I'd been placed on the preferential hiring list. Is anyone able to explain what exactly that means? I have availability in one month and haven't really heard anything since.

Is there an average time from the preferential email to notification of a class date?

TOTALLY debunked and yet you posted it on multiple threads here. It was even posted on FB and then retracted because it was just a rumor.