Want2BAtlasAv8r

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.

Elevation

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.

JackStraw

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.

tahoejace

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.

Elevation

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

dera

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

Davetastic

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.

JackStraw

To be honest, I don’t really care.

AirBear

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.

Davetastic

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.