Here he is yet again.....Knotsee is the same fool that keeps reappearing in various guises trying to troll this place into the same end that Flightinfo took. His patterns and responses are exactly the same every time. Mods....please take care of this ass clown yet again.

Actually, what I expect is for the new Atlas pilots, at least for the few months that they here at Atlas, to see the big picture and understand what is going on. And all of them do understand. But, apparently you don’t. I’ll use simple words because you seem to have trouble grasping the subtle messages from the union, you know, the ATAM’s, the chairman’s messages, the P2P messages, the emails, etc., etc.

BOOT means Block Out On Time. This takes away any advantage the company may get by aircraft departing early.
SHOP means Stop Helping Out Purchase (Purchase, New York is where Atlas HQ is).
Then there is a grassroots movement to educate pilots about what a poor decision outbasing is because you are flying 31 days in a row with only the minimum legal breaks for straight pay. No premium pay there. You are,literally doing the work of two pilots in one month.
There is also the grassroots movement to educate pilots about picking up open time trips which also serves to help management by reducing their staffing problems.
An extension of these last two pilot initiated movements is the education of potential Atlas new hires. Some of our pilots have actually gone to airline job fairs and distributed information sheets to job seekers that explain the low first year pay, the law suits that the company has filed against the pilot group, the persistent contractual violations, and many other facts that they need to know in order to make an informed decision about whether or not to apply at Atlas.

All of these union and pilot group initiatives are designed to bring pressure on the company to actively perform at the negotiating table. So when people get on the message boards and crow about what a cool place Atlas is, it doesn’t help out that strategy which affects the entire pilot group - not just “the old guard”. It would help you out, too, by the way if you thought it out.

Or perhaps your intention is not to stay and you don’t give a squat about our pilot group. It seems that you even have quite a bit of distain for “the old guard”, you know, the ones that paved the way for you. You may want to rethink this last position when you land your dream job at American. All of the majors have pretty strong unions and you will be expected to understand and contribute positively to their efforts. You may be able to slide along whistling your own tune for the little time you’re here at Atlas, but after a while, whether it is here or at a major, you’ll need to man up and be a team player or you will continue to have “painful trips across the Pacific”.

And when you say “As hard as this is for you to stomach, it is infinitely better than a regional” that is your opinion, not a fact. I spent six years at a regional and in many ways, that regional’s work rules were better than they are here at Atlas.

What it really comes down to is knowing what your true professional worth is. Would you accept a job flying a heavy jet if a company paid captains $200 an hour? How about $150? How about $140?

Atlas pays $137 an hour for a 767 captain. That’s barely $16 an hour more than a regional airline captains pay. That’s “infinitely better”? Atlas first year pay is less than most regional pilots first year pay. That’s “infinitely better”? Atlas doesn’t pay sick days until you drop down to min guarantee. That’s “infinitely better”? Regional min guarantee is 75 hours. At Atlas it’s 62. That’s “infinitely better”? At Atlas, we lose money in every month that we have training, vacation, or are sick. That’s “infinitely better”? We pilots are the defendants in TWO lawsuits that our company has filed against us. That’s “infinitely better”?

These things are all true. They are not lies and if you think that the vast majority of the pilot group and the union are spreading lies, you will indeed have many more “painful trips across the Pacific”.

The only positive career move a regional pilot would get here is a type rating. Everybody understands that. And every other regional pilot that is here for the type also contributes to the cause as long as they are here.

Maybe you should think about doing the same.

Hope this clears things up for you.

8

How does Atlas retain pilots with these levels of pay and the working conditions. I'm looking at my options for moving back to the USA after 21 years overseas and would rather fly cargo or corporate after 19 years of pax flying but this thread has put me off Atlas

Alright 8, I'm bored so I'll bite.

Little background just because you decided to go into such detail. I am all about the boot/shop movement, I can't really control the boot from my side of the pedestal, but as for shoping, I have never picked up a trip, never done anything extra to help this place, enjoy every second of my time off and will continue to do so and encourage everyone to do the same, so same same on all that.

What I will not do, is lie about my experience going from making $1,800 a month at a regional, 8 days off a month, to my relatively good schedule, fun layovers, and better pay here to someone who asks. Can it get better? Hell yes. And I'll be doing my best to boot/shop until then.

Also, unless you're talking about literal asphalt, you didn't pave anything for me. But I am sure whatever you paved was uphill both ways.

In defense of the RJ guys, YES, Atlas is infinitely better than any RJ job. Don't skew the facts 8:

$121 hourly as you claim, at an RJ job is far far and away at the top of the pay scale which would require you to be there 12 years or more vs year 3 at Atlas to make $137 as CA on the 767.

Saying that first year pay at an RJ job is "better" than $78 hourly at Atlas first year is predicated on a signing bonus usually not paid out until the end of the first or second year or at least until the end of training and is perhaps attached to a signing contract as well. And if somehow none of that applied, year two at an RJ job hourly rate drops back down to the $30 hourly range. I'll take the Atlas hourly rate.

We get rig at Atlas so 10 months out of the year we are way above 62 monthly guarantee to the tune of about 78 - 82 hours monthly just being on the road. I USE my sick (when I am sick.......strategically!!)....and I bid DH's on the front and back end to maximize days off. I could NEVER have done that at a regional. I spent 9 years at a regional and as I Captain, I left at $76 hourly rate, I always commuted and never had more than 10 days off a month at home in two day blocks spread across the month. At Atlas, I have can have my time off every month in one fell swoop....., so YES, FOR ME, Atlas has been infinitely better.

Yes we are being sued and contractually we have a long way to go.....I also do my part with BOOTing and SHOPing, but my life got better coming here. No one is slamming your position, just keeping it real.

Regional pilots do indeed fly the same city pairs as legacy pilots, but NOT the same equipment! Atlas pilots fly the same routes in the same equipment. THAT is what supports a peer to peer comparison.

As to your second point, that has no logic at all! I know several of them and, Yes, they do consider the other carriers as peers. But until Atlas has a CBA in line with industry peers, pilots will follow the money.

Unclear on the concept.

Encouraging pilots to work for Atlas IS helping Atlas out and you've never done anything but encourage pilots to come to work here.

It's not that hard to understand, is it?

"Better than the regionals", "Fun to work here", "Good schedules".

It's pretty clear which side you and Davetastic are on.

Maybe someday you'll decide that working on the side of our union and the pilot group is a better thing than working for the company.

They don't retain pilots... Atlas is a pilot training mill for greener pastures. This year Atlas will see about 20% turnover.

Your comments make you stick out quite a bit. But, you seem to want to learn more than your regional experience has provided up to this part of your "long" aviation career. Do you know the metric used when placing a particular airframe into a certain pay group or band? No this is not a trick question.

So let me get this straight.....because you omitted pertinent facts relevant to your position, I am the enabler? Whatever 8, it is clear that no matter what anybody says, if it appears that they are not part of your "grassroots effort" then they must be company men right?