lionflyer

The Assistant CP disagrees. Just a half A$$ sickout at this point would do damage.

silver fleet

^^^^^^THIS^^^^^^ Perfectly summarized. LOVE the conclusion line too.

HercDriver130

Well then..its a good thing the mediator doesn't make the decision. ONCE all the boxes are checked to ask for release. If and when the union decides to go that route, they will petition the NMB directly. That very well may be just as big a hurdle, but the mediator will not make the final decision.

longhauler

the process for a release is as I understand it the Chairman of the NMB Nicholas Geale (he has worked for Republicans Michael B. Enzi and Lamar Alexander, but was appointed to the board by Obama) has to take the decision to the OMB for a financial impact statement. It would be at that time a decision could be made, or not.

Danodano

For someone looking to start out here, you guys paint a very interesting picture. I don't want to make a mistake by leaving my current job and then find myself in the middle of mess with no paycheck. That being said, I understand the contract , management , and union thing must take its path. For me, your 17 on and 13 off is very appealing. Could someone comment on a typical 17 day schedule for a junior FO. How many days actually flying, sitting in hotels, where, day or night flying, etc.. Do you get to keep your airline miles for travel,? I appreciate a response, you can PM me if you would rather discuss privately. I'm looking for the good and the bad to make an informed decision.

Almost There

Is 34 on 13 off also very appealing?

myoface

I probably averaged 8-9 days of flying a month. The rest you sit in a hotel (or more accurately go out drinking). When you do 15-30 hour duty days you fly both day and nite, in the same duty period. You keep your miles.

Dead Serious

Here's the overall situation:

You must take all previous concepts of airline flying, aviation management, common sense, logic , order, and/or the Laws of Physics and the Universe and throw them out the window.


- There are no schedules. You may bid for a Hard Line, but you will rarely fly any of it. There are no contractual protections for this.

- Everything is random and chaotic. Scheduling rarely knows where you are, let alone what you are supposed to be doing. Every time there is a shift change the schedules change.

- Junior pilots don't have to worry about getting the worst stuff. Everything is done with no regard to seniority so you will get the same amount/type of flying as the guy with 20 years seniority.

- Day one Connie buys a ticket to wherever they want you. Day 17 Connie buys you a ticket home. You will probably fly 4-6 days of the 15 in between.

- Where? Very little domestic. You might fly a few domestic legs a year. The rest...throw a dart at the map of The World and you'll probably find yourself somewhere close at some point soon. There is a lot of DHL flying : CVG-BRU, LEJ, HKG, BAH, are common destinations.

- Day or Night? Yes.

- Days off are yours and are inviolable. 13-14 depending on month. No trip extensions.

- Great guys to fly with.

- Very comfortable flying. Especially with 2 pilots and an IRO. Everyone gets a 2+ hour nap or movie break on a typical 8 hour flight across the pond. Upper Deck is the Club House with 6-8 first class seats and generally 4 bunks per a/c. On some just 2 bunks, but in private staterooms. More food than anyone could ever eat. Full galleys, ovens, microwaves, chillers, real coffee pots.

- Excellent hotels Internationally ( a few domestically that could be improved upon but you rarely see them ). All airline and hotel points are yours. I've put in 5 years and took a weeks vacation in New England this summer.... Hotels, Rental car, Airfare = $80.00 out of pocket after points and travel awards. I still have several hundred thousand hotel points left and many,many,airline miles.

- Health Insurance - BEST IN THE INDUSTRY. FREE AFTER 5 YEARS. About $80.00/mo for the first 5 years.

Basically if you can wrap your mind around tolerating the idiocy, accept randomness as the rule, use the madness to your advantage and want to have fun flying the Queen and seeing the World with some really fun people...go for it.

If you really need structure or logic...Stay far away.

And if you have a Wife, Girlfriend, Kids, a Dog, a Business or ANYTHING else that requires your attention while you are away.... this job will eat at you as you sit for the 3rd day in a beautiful hotel in a distant country doing nothing for no good reason when you could be home attending to the aforementioned.

I've had a lot of fun here so far.

YMMV

D.S

CallmeJB

That was a great post. It accurately describes the shocking differences I noticed when I moved from a regional to Atlas.

Atlas/Kalitta may be very different companies, but the day to day struggles are nearly identical.

WhaleWrangler

Dead Serious, great post and basically not much to add or delete from it.

Should answer most of the questions for those considering a move here.