Macau

Thank you all for the insights. I am really considering Avelo right now; I think they have a bright future, and there are good chances to move to the left seat soon and become an instructor. From what I've heard, the environment is amazing to work in, and the lifestyle is very relaxed. Another point is the salary, which is not that bad. But maybe I can't see what's behind the contracts, and I should consider the big three. As you can see, I am completely lost.
thank you once again and safe flights

Sliceback

5th year CA pay at a Legacy airline is about $130/hr more than Avelo's with retirement pay included.

Check out the longevity of new airlines with "bright futures". They almost never have industry matching pay. Picking an airline that a long term history is a much better bet.

Go to a Big 3 or Big 4 airline. You can't go wrong.

AllYourBaseAreB

every legacy and major is “very relaxed” compared to what youre used to…

the uncertainty surrounding a startup is less relaxing.

upgrade times at all legacies are low. United gives them to newhires…

rickair7777

Your priority should be big three, then any legacy/second tier. Avelo is pretty far down on the list, but if they have a base where you wanty to live it might be an OK place to break into the US industry, if nobody else calls.

Avelo, as a startup, is simply not going to offer the same compensation and amenities as a more established airline.

Castle Bravo

Welcome! You stated your priorities are QoL, upgrade, and $$$$. And you hope to live in MCO. I suggest adding Frontier to your considerations. MCO is the largest Frontier base, and (as of Feb) 80% of flights are 1 day turns or 1 duty-period turns that fly past midnight (red-eyes, but still 1 duty period over two days). Jr CA in MCO is 2 yrs 9 mos; you can hold MCO out of training as an FO. So QofL and upgrade work to your benefit. And since you listed money as your third priority...well, Frontier will never pay as good as the Big 4 on paper, but you can pick up a few trips here and there and your pay will still be less than a Legacy, but not as much as you might think. If you really hustle, you can out-earn a lazy Legacy FO. (OK, after we get a new contract, say in 2025.)

And you already speak Airbus, and Frontier is all Airbus, 80% of which are new 320/321 NEOs.

In summary, Frontier can offer what you're looking for: MCO out of trng, upgrade in less than 3 years, probably 90% of work days you'll be home that night or the next morning, new NEOs, and well, the money isn't great, but hopefully will improve soon.

Look at www.FFTpilots.com

Good Luck!

hawaiicostco

Hi i'm new to part 121. Just curious why you'd classify ACMI as tier 3? Based on your tier listing, why would people generally prefer say, Allegiant A320 over Atlas B747? Or how is Atlas B747 equivalent to small niche airlines like maybe Silver Airways?

CX500T

Money, long term career prospects, (Atlas is probably the best of Tier 3, borderline Tier 2) but you can't go buy a ticket on Atlas so it's not a "major or LCC".

rickair7777

Yes, and ACMI schedules are tougher on a stereotytpical pilot with a spouse and kids.

If the schedules are not a problem for you, then ACMI starts to look better.

Just flying a big jet doesn't matter, for most experienced pilots. Plenty of foriegners flying A380's for half of what we make, with garbage schedules.

Vsop

I would add work rules and pay. Yes it’s a 747 but it’s paid similar an LLC narrow body. Atlas FO tops out $213/hr and Frontier/Sun country FOs are topped out $180-185. Captains similarly aren’t much better paid at Atlas 313 vs 280.

rates per Airline pilot careers

Lastly, the biggest drawback I’ve heard about Atlas is
they has/had crazy long trips. Please someone update me if this is no longer true. When I looked into Atlas ~2013, they had 20+ day trips that could be extended over 30 days. That’s too long out to have a life at home, and to me made Atlas impossible to work for.

VacancyBid

Because they both compete in a commodity market and that makes life difficult.

Competing to move pallets from Bangalore to Inchon is a very different prospect than businesspeople from Boston to Nashville.

You want to work for someplace where the name on your paycheck is the same as the name painted on your plane and has an ongoing relationship with millions of consumers.