TiredSoul

For your sake I hope you do weddings and funerals too.
I’m not too difficult to find.
I’m the one of the guys who’s actually happy to be here....with the yellow lanyard.

boeingdvr

Checked out of hotel In Southeast Asia hotel last month.

I spoke with the receptionist on check out- I asked her what's the longest anyone has been checked in for.

She laughed, and shook her head. "Atlas" "65 days" "He looked bad" "why you company work you so much"

65 day trip- if anyone feels like doing this- come to Atless

zerozero

Sounds like a back-to-back outbaser.

Hope he learned his lesson.

Lugar

I’m calling BS on this story.

boeingdvr

You don't believe it's possible ?

Atrasaty

My guess is BKK and one of our serial out basers. He looked Bad when he checked in if it was him.

742Dash

It is very possible. But it is also likely that this is one of the guys who lives overseas and tries to build long trips so as to get long blocks off and/or tries to camp out in the Far East.

One man's wine is another man's poison.

DC8DRIVER

No I don't preach at weddings or funerals. Only here and in the holy pulpit of the flight deck.

I'm happy to be here, too. Seriously. I like this type of flying and I like the people I fly with.

That said, I'd be a lot happier to be at an airline that treated us like the professional pilots that we are and for the job that we do.

- Atlas does not honor our current contract.
- We do not get paid anything close to an industry standard.
- Our work rules and benefits are vastly sub-standard.
- They do not appear to want to complete negotiations, ever.
- Many pilots are leaving because of these things.

This is the message that I promote to prospective pilots. It's not the pretty picture that some want to see, but it's true. Aspiring Atlas pilots deserve to hear this message prior to taking a job here not just the "cool shiny big jet" stuff. As a P2P guy do you really disagree with these things or do you just tell guys how "happy" things are here?

And I don't promote beating up new hires or other pilots who pick up open time or outbases. I'll tell them that I don't and I'll tell them why and let them decide what path to take. Then, at least they're informed. I also tell the new guys what the union message is. That is what a P2P guy is supposed to do. I imagine that this conflicts with some of the "just-happy-to-be-here" guys, but certainly no P2P guys are conflicted like that. Are they? If they are, they are probably the guys who want to help either themselves or the company out at the expense of the rest of the pilots while listening into the P2P calls.

And FWIW, in addition to the perspective that some senior Atlas pilots are trying to derail the new hires by dissuading them from coming to Atlas, there is the perspective that some new hires come to Atlas, get their type, rack up hours of open time and outbases and then check out to their dream jobs with no regard for what the union is trying to do for career Atlas pilots. I don't obsess over either of these points because there are very few of both types, but both perspectives are true.

As I said, I like doing what I do at Atlas with the crews that I fly with. But saying that it is a good career choice for a new hire or for an established Atlas pilot is a lie. Accepting this job under the current circumstances, helps no one.

RyeMex

Highlighted for effect. This is one of the most important things that anyone considering Atlas needs to understand: our work rules are not just substandard compared to the majors, they are substandard compared to most regionals.

I work closely with many of the new hires that come to Atlas through volunteering with the Union. The most frequent comment that I hear over and over again from guys coming here from the regionals is, "I had no idea how much of a step back I was taking in contract protection and work rules when I came here." Just heard it, again, yesterday.

Davetastic

Agreed. Well said. I believe that conveying this message in this manner to new hires and senior guys alike, is more likely to be received with an open mind.

The only caveat that I'd include would be to say that, "saying that it is a good career choice for a new hire... is a lie", or that "accepting this job helps no one", is really only a matter of perspective. Coming to Atlas gave me and a multitude of other RJ guys for example, QOL improvements compared to the bottom feeder outfits from which we came. Being told of the plethora of complaints from active Atlas pilots when I was applying only turned me off from the sender of the message NOT because of what they were saying but HOW they delivered the message. As a result of being turned off, people stop listening. Nobody likes to be told what to do and it is human nature to have to discover ones own mistakes regardless of the warnings even if that mistake means pursuing Atlas as a career choice. The problem with the bullying of new hire tactics is that by the time we have a contract either the bully or the new hire will be gone making the argument moot and the tactic pointless in retrospect. I don't believe that people want to help the company either. I do believe that people want to help themselves but not specifically to undermine our ability to get a contract though. But, as was previously stated the numbers of those guys is low enough that it shouldn't affect our solidarity. Now that I am here and I am firmly entrenched in seniority and fully committed to my self imposed timeline, I am ready to live with my decision to get to the point of diminishing returns at which time I will pack and leave. Only time will tell for me.

I have heard the complaints, and the whining. I have felt the pain of the company whims and lack of organization as well. I have had a few wins and a few losses here in the QOL department too. But one thing I can't stand is to hear the incessant blow hard, regardless of their position, going on and on, hour upon hour of how this or that happened and doing nothing to bring themselves back to the moment to realize that perhaps they don't have a captive audience. Those are LONG flights.