For those who are interested in working here at Atlas or want some input concerning what it would be like the first year as an FO this has been my experience by the numbers. I'm not here to sugar coat anything or make it seem like the best or worse place to work.

I have a military background and still fly in the reserves/guard. As a military pilot Atlas has been a military friendly environment to work in. So these numbers are a little distorted because of military leave requirements. Take it for what it’s worth.


1 Year Synopsis

Training days in Miami- 62 days
Total Flight time 747- 438 hours
Legs flown- 61
Destinations-29
Countries- 11
Longest leg- 14:51
Shortest leg-1:15
Favorite Location- Coogee Beach Sydney Australia
Days off- 130
Work Days- 115 (Not including training)
Days away from home -177 (Includes training)
Military days off- 35 (Includes a 6 week mandatory course)
Most consecutive days off - 32 days (I was able to bid this schedule 2 times)
Most credited hours in one month- 89 hours

First year pay- $44,000.22*
I did not volunteer any days off or try to work extra. I would have made more money if I did not have to use Mil leave.


Destinations:
Miami, Chicago, Sydney, Honolulu, Shanghai, Anchorage, JFK, Vancouver, Guam, Narita, Nagoya, Hong Kong, Incheon, Kabul, Hahn, Misawa, Houston, Tianjin, Los Angeles, Osan, Okinawa, Cincinnati, Kuwait, Aktau, Singapore, Leipzig, Almaty

Countries:
Australia, China, Canada, Japan, Korea, Afghanistan, Kazakhstan, Germany, Kuwait, Singapore

I have enjoyed my time working for Atlas this first year. There are a lot of areas that can be improved upon with a better contract. Coming from a military background its a very easy job and a similar lifestyle to flying in the AMC world. Everyone has varying experiences. I did not experience any major issues with scheduling or dealing with the company. Your expected to be away at least 17 days a month. Be aware of what your getting into before you commit to this type of job. If your use to being home in between short trips this may be an issue for you and your family. I personally enjoy the long periods of days off and working all my days on up front. When it comes to the airframe in my opinion it doesn’t get better than the 747. At the end of the day its just another airplane and a comfortable way to make a living.

 

Fantastic post. Thanks for all the info, it really helps us new guys. Now if we can get a 76 guy to do the same thing! Volunteers?

 

I also have a military background, but I am now retired from USAF. I have been with Atlas for exactly 1 year. I have enjoyed flying here and the folks I've flown with have been great.


My 1 Year Synopsis

Training days in Miami- 63 days
Total Flight time 747- 604 hours
Legs flown- 35
Destinations-50+
Countries- 30+
Longest leg- 15:48 (CVG to PVG)
Shortest leg-1:00 (NRT to NGO)
Favorite Location- don't really have one... I like LUX and Pisa was cool
Least Favorite Location - Niamey, Niger (not a normal overnight, but we got stuck there for a night... Not a place I want to stay again)
Days off- idk, don't track it
Work Days- idk don't track it, but I wasn't sent home early so it was 17min per month since I hit the line in May, after OE in April.
Days away from home - don't know, haven't tracked it, but it's probably close to 200 with training. I have volunteered to work a little overtime, but not much. Have had to commute a day early a few times due to early departure on the Zulu day and my PT conflicted with days off as well.
Most consecutive days off - 14
Most credited hours in one month- 120hours (some OT and haz flying)
Most Block Hours 1 month - 92

First year pay- $70,000 (that's what my w-2 had)
I did volunteer some days off and also flew a few flights into hazardous areas.


Destinations:
Miami, Niamey (Niger), Sydney, Honolulu, Shanghai, Anchorage, JFK, Luxembourg, Liege, Narita, Nagoya, Hong Kong, Incheon, Malabo, Hahn, Delhi, Houston, Nairobi, Los Angeles, Camp Bastion, Lagos, Liberville, Cincinnati, Kuwait, Amsterdam, Bangkok, Leipzig, Al Udeid (Doha), Munich, Brize Norton, Baku, Dover, Seattle, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Kuwait City, Travis AFB, Baltimore, Veri Copas, Buenos Aires, Santiago, Lima, Quito, Ramstein, Stansted, Minga Guazu (Paraguay), Seattle, Graz, and I may be missing a couple more...

Countries:
Australia, China, Japan, Korea, Afghanistan, Azerbaijan, Germany, Kuwait, Thailand, Niger, Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, United Kingdom, Luxembourg, Belgium, Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Kenya, Qatar, UAE, India, Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Paraguay, Argentina, Chile and I know I'm missing another 1-2.

I'm Huntsville based and was able to bid out of ANC after about 6 months. Anchorage wasn't bad, it was just the commute that was painful for me, ymmv. I would venture to say that my first year experience was maybe a little different than most, as I had such a wide variety of schedules. During my last 2 months based in anchorage, none of my patterns started there (due to a bunch of changes, I didn't even come close to flying the schedule I was awarded) and I somehow wound up on a couple of Miami type schedules which explains all the South America stuff. As I mentioned, I did volunteer to work some overtime, but I'm not sure I'll be doing much of that this year.

I also have enjoyed my time working for Atlas this first year. I agree that there's a lot of areas that can be improved upon with a better contract. I didn't have any major issues with scheduling or dealing with the company. I also enjoy the long periods of days off and working all my days on up front or in one chunk.

 

Great summaries in the last few posts...but stop naming all the cities. List the three-letter codes instead -- it's more fun that way for those that have to look up the codes!! And "the Google" makes is easy!!

Anyway, thanks for paying it forward.

 

I'd be a bit careful about naming some of those cities, mainly due to operational security. Just a thought.

And hell, I wish I made $70,000 my first year here. I made $45,000 my first 11 months at Atlas (late January 2013 hire). There were 2-3 months there where I made only the 50 hour min, but I'm on the 767. It seems the 747 folks not only get paid more hourly, they credit more, too.

Second year pay was a lot better, FYI.

 

Good point, NightIP...we all need to be careful not to name operations in/out of sensitive airports. Thanks for the reminder.

 

Thanks for the first year info/post Great info!! Applied today I am used to extended rotations and Atlas seem like a great fit. I am low time compared to most 4400 tt 1050 multi, 650 turbine PIC but hey positive thoughts are better!

 

Visiting the world at Atlas seems like an awesome job. If you get ANC, does that mean you give up 2 of your off days to commute back and forth from the states?

I am also more than a little concerned about the starting pay.....40K to fly a 747? Why in the heck did any of us become pilots in the first place? Not judging because I made 10 bucks an hour to fly freight years ago BUT that was in a small piston airplane NOT a 747. I see the numbers on APC and second year doesnt seem like much of a bump, am I missing something?

 

First year pay this year will go to $79 and second year pay is $100.

 

As a reminder, although first year is same for all aircraft, 767 is 83.94% of 747 pay scale after year 1.