I fly with a lot of folks these days who have heard of 100-hour months. That level of compensation was never guaranteed and was a result of an unforeseen and unprecedented air cargo boom. The boom is over. This is the hangover, the slowdown that follows an extended period of unsustainable activity. I fly with a lot of new people right now who spent the last few months of the boom waiting for an overtaxed training department to find them an IOE slot, only to find that their expectations of line pay are now unrealistic. These people are not happy. While I sympathize with them, it is obvious that many of them only heard what they wanted to hear before they came here, so here are some broad strokes:
Our contractual minimum pay is 64 hours. We are seeing that number much more often now than in the past five years I have worked here. We have no trip rigs, duty rigs, or daily minimum guarantee. We have a 7% direct contribution to a retirement account that is not fully vested for five years. We have zero protections for awarded lines other than days off and minimum pay. Your default minimum rest period is 11 hours for anything international, with slightly more following very long (but very common) duty assignments. We have chronic schedule slippage and rest period disruptions for which your only protection is a fatigue call. We have "home basing" within the Lower 48, Anchorage and Honolulu - anywhere else, and you're on the hook for your commute. A solid 16-day block is no longer the norm for our schedules, and was never contractually guaranteed in the first place, so multiple commutes in your work month (possibly on off days) are normal. So many new joiners are surprised to discover this that I can't help but wonder where the misinformation is coming from.
We have a very weak contract. Some pilots spent the last two years with unrealistic expectations that it would be improved after it was signed. After an extended period of bait-dangling, those expectations have now been officially dashed. It is not unreasonable to assume that the contract's existence is evidence of a weak union. The fact that it passed when it came to vote is also evidence of a weak pilot group. The fact that management has quadrupled down on not improving it in the current hiring and attrition environment is also evidence of an acrimonious labor relationship. None of those problems are easy or quick to fix, and they are not trending better. Pilots here are examining their options - often with more research than they put into their last job hunt. Many are leaving for not just "destination carriers" as was normal in the past, but for ULCCs, other ACMIs, Part 135 corporate, and yes, some even to regionals. I have no reason to believe their decisions were made with anything but a clear understanding of what kind of place Kalitta is becoming, and what it is on track to be in the future.
EDIT: As to your other targets, I would recommend Atlas over Kalitta for a new joiner, full stop. National recently received a snap-up in their payrates to match ours, added a fleet while we were dropping one, and anecdotally seem to be addressing some long-standing problems. I'd stop short of recommending them over Kalitta, but the comparison is a lot closer than it used to be. If you decide that Kalitta is currently your best option, you'll meet a lot of people who will try to help you make the most of a very demanding job. You really would be amazed at how quickly the draw of the 747 fades into the background when compared to everything else you'll be dealing with, here or at any other operator. Good luck to you, whatever you decide. I log in here pretty irregularly, but DM me as well if you have any specific questions.