Atlas Air Hiring
03-29-2016, 02:44 PM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Apr 2015
Posts: 177
I was a --- 2015 hire on the 747. At the time, Atlas was a very interesting choice--I was fresh out of the Air Force (---- hours in Military Aircraft), Atlas picked me up with a pending contract negotiation that they were claiming would rival American's, upgrade in 5 years or less and the 747. What's not to love? I drank the Kool Aid and was all about Atlas--so much so that I delayed my availability at United and Delta by about 5 years. That is, I kept my UAL and DAL apps in the airlineapps system, but put 2019 or so in the "availability box." I wanted to give Atlas a fair shake, and see if the management was going to be true to their word about negotiations that December.
Fast forward to late October 2015. I had busted my 74 type ride in June, but other than that had an uneventful first 6 months at Atlas. Halfway through a trip in October, United sent me an email indicating that while they knew my availability was in 2019, they were interested in interviewing me at the earliest opportunity whenever I was within 6 months of availability. All I had to do was send the email. Keep in mind I had my apps in with United for well over a year at this point, and the ONLY change I made to them was adding my employment at Atlas and checking the part 121 box on the airline apps website. I even added the 747 bust, and that didn't deter them. Ironically, the day after I received the email from United, I received an email from the ExCo outlining the beginning of the terrible pace at which the company has been conduction negotiations since late last year, and continue to do so. That made a tough decision easy, and I interviewed at United in December of 2015 and accepted conditional employment a week later. I could have started in January of 2016, but delayed my class date till 5 April so I could get married and go through training with no interruptions.
I put my 2 weeks notice in with ANC ACP on - ----- 2016, and received no response. I then sent the same email to System CP on the 8th, with a final employment date of -- ----- 16. He called me within 5 minutes of me sending the email, and we had a conversation that lasted about 10 minutes. The synopsis follows, keep in mind it's been a couple weeks and I don't remember everything verbatim, but can recall the general tone:
Overall, Mr. System CP was friendly, but businesslike. He asked me why I was leaving. I responded that Atlas pay and benefits was substandard, my quality of life was suffering, and I wanted to actually have a retirement in 35 years when I retired. I said I was young and had a new family to watch out for, and Atlas simply wasn't a good fit anymore. I concluded with "Also, I have no faith that Atlas management will conduct contract negotiations in good faith, additionally I don't see a new contract happening under any circumstances any time soon." His response came in 2 parts, first he said he understood why I'm leaving, and that he did the same thing when he went to Northwest back in the 80's. He also mentioned the contract, and tried to twist the negotiation SNAFU into being the union's fault. He indicated that he hadn't seen a union this aggressive and "chest-thumping" since the 80's, and that the union will have to start playing more fairly if they wanted to get something meaningful done. I didn't see any point in arguing with him, so I just listened. I then told him that he might want to be careful about his pilot numbers, and relayed my UAL hiring story above, indicating that the major's are headhunting even guys like me with low hours and a busted type on their record. He didn't really have a substantial response to this. He then reminded me that UAL could easily furlough me if the economy has a downturn because their pilot numbers are so large, while Atlas most likely wouldn't. I responded that yes, this was a risk, and a reason why Atlas was so attractive to me was the business model was more recession-proof than a normal airline, however this was a risk I was willing to take based on the potential gain of long-term employment at United Airlines. He ended the conversation on some notes about my last few days at Atlas (I had called in sick and then taken vacation for my wedding), and we wrapped the call up.
Edited for names and dates
Fast forward to late October 2015. I had busted my 74 type ride in June, but other than that had an uneventful first 6 months at Atlas. Halfway through a trip in October, United sent me an email indicating that while they knew my availability was in 2019, they were interested in interviewing me at the earliest opportunity whenever I was within 6 months of availability. All I had to do was send the email. Keep in mind I had my apps in with United for well over a year at this point, and the ONLY change I made to them was adding my employment at Atlas and checking the part 121 box on the airline apps website. I even added the 747 bust, and that didn't deter them. Ironically, the day after I received the email from United, I received an email from the ExCo outlining the beginning of the terrible pace at which the company has been conduction negotiations since late last year, and continue to do so. That made a tough decision easy, and I interviewed at United in December of 2015 and accepted conditional employment a week later. I could have started in January of 2016, but delayed my class date till 5 April so I could get married and go through training with no interruptions.
I put my 2 weeks notice in with ANC ACP on - ----- 2016, and received no response. I then sent the same email to System CP on the 8th, with a final employment date of -- ----- 16. He called me within 5 minutes of me sending the email, and we had a conversation that lasted about 10 minutes. The synopsis follows, keep in mind it's been a couple weeks and I don't remember everything verbatim, but can recall the general tone:
Overall, Mr. System CP was friendly, but businesslike. He asked me why I was leaving. I responded that Atlas pay and benefits was substandard, my quality of life was suffering, and I wanted to actually have a retirement in 35 years when I retired. I said I was young and had a new family to watch out for, and Atlas simply wasn't a good fit anymore. I concluded with "Also, I have no faith that Atlas management will conduct contract negotiations in good faith, additionally I don't see a new contract happening under any circumstances any time soon." His response came in 2 parts, first he said he understood why I'm leaving, and that he did the same thing when he went to Northwest back in the 80's. He also mentioned the contract, and tried to twist the negotiation SNAFU into being the union's fault. He indicated that he hadn't seen a union this aggressive and "chest-thumping" since the 80's, and that the union will have to start playing more fairly if they wanted to get something meaningful done. I didn't see any point in arguing with him, so I just listened. I then told him that he might want to be careful about his pilot numbers, and relayed my UAL hiring story above, indicating that the major's are headhunting even guys like me with low hours and a busted type on their record. He didn't really have a substantial response to this. He then reminded me that UAL could easily furlough me if the economy has a downturn because their pilot numbers are so large, while Atlas most likely wouldn't. I responded that yes, this was a risk, and a reason why Atlas was so attractive to me was the business model was more recession-proof than a normal airline, however this was a risk I was willing to take based on the potential gain of long-term employment at United Airlines. He ended the conversation on some notes about my last few days at Atlas (I had called in sick and then taken vacation for my wedding), and we wrapped the call up.
Edited for names and dates
I can't believe RD is that dense that he even has to ask why you choose United over Atlas.
Gee, ray lemme count the ways. They respect their pilots. They pay they're pilots better. They have pay protection (they respect their pilots' time). They have a real retirement. They work far less for much more. They have real profit sharing. They allow their pilots to negotiate contracts rather than loopholing their way into arbitrated agreements.
But yeah the second dot com bubble is looming and I'm going to stay at Atlas just to be safe. Give me a break.
Last edited by Treehorn; 03-29-2016 at 03:10 PM.
03-29-2016, 04:04 PM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jun 2006
Position: C-172 FO
Posts: 468
We are in a whole new world with all the interviewing they did in January. Years past they wold interview for the next 2 or 3 classes but January they interviewed a lot more. You can try getting info from HR, but they are likely to say "I don't know". You will be given plenty of notice (at least a month out) and if it creates a hardship you can probably bypass once.
Congrats on getting hired, I hope it's everything you want it to be.
03-29-2016, 04:06 PM
Line Holder
Joined APC: Jan 2016
Position: LR45 Captain
Posts: 32
Average wait times are 2-3 months, but some posts on the forum elude to waits that have been much longer. Projected class dates by fleet type have been posted and discussed semi-recently.
Welcome to the pool!
L45D
03-29-2016, 05:29 PM
New Hire
Joined APC: Mar 2016
Posts: 4
Interviewed last week and got the congrats email Monday morning. I'm still not sure what I can expect to bring home for a paycheck. Talking with some ex-employees I hear anywhere from 2500-6500 first year bring home after training. Would anyone care to weigh in on what I can expect? Do I need to sell the house?
Thanks in advance!
6000 TT
4500 SIC
300 TPIC
Thanks in advance!
6000 TT
4500 SIC
300 TPIC
03-29-2016, 06:38 PM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2013
Posts: 393
Interviewed last week and got the congrats email Monday morning. I'm still not sure what I can expect to bring home for a paycheck. Talking with some ex-employees I hear anywhere from 2500-6500 first year bring home after training. Would anyone care to weigh in on what I can expect? Do I need to sell the house?
Thanks in advance!
6000 TT
4500 SIC
300 TPIC
Thanks in advance!
6000 TT
4500 SIC
300 TPIC
Until completing training(4 months or until OE is finished, whichever comes first) it's training pay. After that, min guarantee is about 4,000 a month gross. Don't count on anything more. It will most likely be 50% more than that, but you can't count on anything but min guarantee.
03-30-2016, 05:00 AM
New Hire
Joined APC: Mar 2016
Posts: 3
I interviewed last week also; my resume and times are almost identical to yours, and I also got the "No thanks, but good luck in your aviation career"...I thought the interview went great, even though I spent half the HR portion trying to explain why I wouldn't want to go to XYZ legacy if they called me tomorrow. I have a four-year degree from a very competitive school and they even specifically pointed out that is very valuable elsewhere. I knew I would get those questions, and I had legitimate, honest answers that I thought were convincing... but I guess not.
It's very frustrating...too good for Atlas, not good enough for the legacies, so what next? I'm just going to keep working hard for my current employer and wait for the next opportunity! The interview experience was, at least, very valuable.
I want to be optimistic that contracts and working conditions can only get better at any airline that still wants to be in business five years from now, but none of the line pilots I've talked to at Atlas share that optimism...so this may definitely be a blessing in disguise.
I really did want to work at Atlas and was prepared to do my due diligence to see if they really meant what they said when they talked about wanting Atlas to become a "last stop" where people would want to make a career. I guess that mentality is still being hatched and isn't shared by everyone there yet...If you want to be a first-tier airline, then why turn down young, motivated, first-tier candidates who want to help make that happen?
Oh well...back to work!
03-30-2016, 05:08 AM
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2008
Posts: 1,383
Code Red,
I interviewed last week also; my resume and times are almost identical to yours, and I also got the "No thanks, but good luck in your aviation career"...I thought the interview went great, even though I spent half the HR portion trying to explain why I wouldn't want to go to XYZ legacy if they called me tomorrow. I have a four-year degree from a very competitive school and they even specifically pointed out that is very valuable elsewhere. I knew I would get those questions, and I had legitimate, honest answers that I thought were convincing... but I guess not.
It's very frustrating...too good for Atlas, not good enough for the legacies, so what next? I'm just going to keep working hard for my current employer and wait for the next opportunity! The interview experience was, at least, very valuable.
I want to be optimistic that contracts and working conditions can only get better at any airline that still wants to be in business five years from now, but none of the line pilots I've talked to at Atlas share that optimism...so this may definitely be a blessing in disguise.
I really did want to work at Atlas and was prepared to do my due diligence to see if they really meant what they said when they talked about wanting Atlas to become a "last stop" where people would want to make a career. I guess that mentality is still being hatched and isn't shared by everyone there yet...If you want to be a first-tier airline, then why turn down young, motivated, first-tier candidates who want to help make that happen?
Oh well...back to work!
I interviewed last week also; my resume and times are almost identical to yours, and I also got the "No thanks, but good luck in your aviation career"...I thought the interview went great, even though I spent half the HR portion trying to explain why I wouldn't want to go to XYZ legacy if they called me tomorrow. I have a four-year degree from a very competitive school and they even specifically pointed out that is very valuable elsewhere. I knew I would get those questions, and I had legitimate, honest answers that I thought were convincing... but I guess not.
It's very frustrating...too good for Atlas, not good enough for the legacies, so what next? I'm just going to keep working hard for my current employer and wait for the next opportunity! The interview experience was, at least, very valuable.
I want to be optimistic that contracts and working conditions can only get better at any airline that still wants to be in business five years from now, but none of the line pilots I've talked to at Atlas share that optimism...so this may definitely be a blessing in disguise.
I really did want to work at Atlas and was prepared to do my due diligence to see if they really meant what they said when they talked about wanting Atlas to become a "last stop" where people would want to make a career. I guess that mentality is still being hatched and isn't shared by everyone there yet...If you want to be a first-tier airline, then why turn down young, motivated, first-tier candidates who want to help make that happen?
Oh well...back to work!
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