JonnyKnoxville

Two suggestions:

Have you gotten face time with Atlas HR people at a job fair yet.

Figure out who you know at Atlas to get an internal rec.

Screwed

Thanks. I am going to find a way to get facetime with Atlas HR

HeavyHauler

The Women in Aviation conference is the only convention this year that Atlas will be attending, from what I've heard around the schoolhouse here.

worldfr8dog

Atlas is VERY good at diversifying. Our class is made up of regional, military, charter, ACMI-heavy, turboprop-mini, PIC, SIC only... you name it we have it.

Face time is HUGE, "I can't afford to go to he women in aviation conference" is no excuse! How bad do you want it? If you've read any pages of this forum you'll know it's worth it's weight in gold to go there.

Have patience, update once a month-ish, get face time. If you want it bad enough you'll figure out a way and as long as you meet the mins you stand a chance at getting a call!

Just make absolutely sure you know what you are getting into. The HR department here are professional weakness-sniffers! If you even have the slightest of doubts Atlas is not for you, they WILL find it and you will not be hired. They ask 101 different ways if you know what your getting into, they will know if you don't. Get the info, most of us Atlas-geeks are happy to answer question, ask ask ask!

The lifestyle is NOT for everyone, be absolutely sure you know what you are about to get into.

Good luck to all that really want it and congrats to those that have made it!

PotatoChip

I have a good handle on the lifestyle, and have worked at an ACMI carrier (a competitor) in the past, so I understand the need the know what you are getting into. But my question for all of you who apparently love Atlas is simply, why?
Not the company, the lifestyle. Why does the lifestyle work for you? Why do you love it? Why do you think it is better (for you) than a typical 121 schedule? What is it about 121-supplemental, and Atlas specifically that you like?

Looking forward to your opinions.

HeavyHauler

My $.02.

I love the lifestyle because I get my time all at once. I like doing all my flying at once in the month. One trip to work, one home, and I actually get a weekend or two off every month. I am one of the ACMI heavy guys that worldfr8dog mentioned, and I too worked at a competitor of Atlas for 6 years before coming here. Prior to that, I did a total of 9 years in the regionals (the so-called "real" airline world) where I almost never got a full weekend off, and I had to sweat jumpseats as well as using a day off each week to simply decompress. In other words, I have more time to actually enjoy my time at home when I get most all of my days off in one big block. My wife also likes being able to go on vacation without having to use vacation time.

Then there's seeing the world. Whereas once I flew to Peoria, Albany and Detroit, now I fly to Paris, Almaty, and Dubai. I've chalked up 58 countries on 5 continents, and I can't wait to see more. Not everybody is into that. I am. Also, ACMI schedules are Forrest's proverbial box o' chocolates. You may think you know what you're going to do for the month, but just accept that that is a nice thought, and may not bear much resemblance to reality. If you aren't supremely flexible and get thrown out of your happy place easily, don't do this job. Again, I love it.

Now specifically, why did I risk the wrath of my better half and hold my figurative breath after getting laid off until I had a chance with Atlas? The simple fact of the matter is that right now, Atlas simply does it better than anybody else out there. The company seeks business aggressively and maintains the customers they have. You might think I'm being rah-rah and a koolaid drinker, but let me assure you, I've been in doing this stuff for some time now, and my critical eye is quite happy with my decision to hang it all out for a chance to come here. Sure, I'm just in training, but this is certainly not my first rodeo, and if the rest of the operation is on par with what I've seen so far, Atlas really has their act together. Yes, we pilots can always gripe about things, that's our nature, but compared to my friends elsewhere, this is a sweet gig. Not for everybody, but for those who like it, I wouldn't recommend any other.

Talon1011

This is what I loved most about the C-141 in the USAF and most of the flying I did with ATA. I get a kick out of leaving home not really knowing where I'll wind up. By the end of the first year you will have your favorite restaurants and watering holes in Shanghai, Sydney, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Anchorage, Dubai, and dozens of others. While I know that every company has their 10% I can honestly say in three years I've not flown with anyone I'd not be happy to fly with again. Sure, some are eccentric but that's different than being a jerk. And.... I really enjoy doing this with a company that seems to have a business plan and more importantly, follows it.

Whaledriver

BTW, Atlas/Polar are 121 Flag carriers.

captainv

Well, for me anyway:
- i was trapped at a dying regional and managed to escape a year before the ship went down.
- first year at Atlas, including 4 months of meager training pay, paid more than I ever made at the regionals, except the one year I was a captain for 8 months, and that wasn't far off
- i have more time at home at Atlas than I ever did at the regionals. it's almost silly.
- even when i'm working, I fly on average @ 40 hours a month and have lots more time to enjoy my layovers, and of course one leg is a huge QOL improvement over 4-5 legs a day
- when i flew corporate, i loved wondering where i might be headed next whenever the phone rang, but hated not ever having hard days off. at the regionals, i liked having a schedule, but after a while it was the same old, same old. this is the best of both worlds.
- being gone 17 days (rare for me, so far) can wear on the wife and kids, but when i'm home, i'm a lot more plugged in than when i did the 4 on/3 off 121 schedule.
- the no-stress commute is HUGE to me, easily my biggest source of stress in the 121 world. buddy of mine has been at DAL for 13 years, also on the 767 in JFK. he's still sweating the commute every week. can't hold Europe anymore. Does mostly transcons or Africa. Caribbean when he's lucky.


don't get me wrong, i know the majors would pay me a lot more, (hopefully). I know their bennies/retirement are way better than ours. but the idea of commuting on reserve doesn't exactly have me salivating. Nor does being junior forever living in base. my buddies keep telling me they'll retire 60 percent of their pilot group in 10 years. I hope they're right, but that's a best-case scenario and i see their management taking steps to, if not prevent it, at least degrade the job further. i like that that we can compete in a global sandbox, instead of just the US passenger market.

So far, it's a win/win for me. Lots of guys gave up $100k+ jobs as senior RJ captains to come here, too. I'd be curious to hear them chime in as well.

Skudrunning

great response Captainv. That has me thinking real hard about Atlas.