Cujo665

ATSG is shopping around A330's for concessions. We already said no.

Tripilot25

We? Since when employees decide what model of business to run?
Don’t forget you’re living in a different times. The worst thing it can happen is been stuck in the past. Fuel efficiency and cargo volume is what this business is all about.


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Cujo665

Omni, the union said no. They wanted concessions in exchange for rainbows and unicorns. Cargo isn’t our thing… currently anyway.

ATSG did - shortly after we refused concessions - replace our company lawyer who’s been doing negotiations forever with….drum roll….. the same law firm they use at ATI & ABX for labor contracts. They also took our owned outright planes and transferred them to CAM and now force us to lease what we formerly owned. A huge change to our business model, and a huge money shuffle to make us less profitable on paper.

Tripilot25

I’ll said that the A330 model is could be demoted from a senior group perspective in the pilot pile, it seems the legacy ones are afraid and receptive to modern changes, saying that; it seems the B777 will be availed if it goes to a vote.
Winds are spreading the word of a new agreement with Boeing for another 10 B767 cargo conversion.
Is seems at this point that cargo fleet is growing up, not sure for the OMNI side but ABX union keeps pushing for a better quality of life and job security.


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Jurassic Jet

Hot off the presses:
ATSG Selects Boeing for Next Converted Freighter Order

SEATTLE - November 3, 2021 - Air Transport Services Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATSG), the world’s largest lessor of 767-300 converted freighters, has contracted with Boeing [NYSE: BA] for the conversion of four aircraft to 767-300 Boeing Converted Freighters (BCF).

“Our continued confidence in the 767-300 platform, now coupled with the services and support of the OEM, reinforces our commitment to deliver best-in-class reliable services to our customers,” said Mike Berger, chief commercial officer of ATSG. “We’re proud to partner with Boeing as we expand our fleet to meet growing demand and look forward to future growth together.”

The 767-300BCF now has more than 100 orders and commitments from customers around the globe, providing widebody converted freighter capability to meet growing market demand, and building on a record year for customer orders of Boeing’s family of freighters.

“We are honored that ATSG has decided to make the 767-300BCF an integral part of their fleet expansion strategy, supporting customers looking to capitalize on strong e-commerce demand,” said Jens Steinhagen, director of Boeing Converted Freighters. “As the OEM, Boeing has the original design data, robust supply chains, and dependable delivery schedules that benefit BCF customers such as ATSG. With that OEM advantage, we stand ready to meet ATSG’s needs by bringing forward market-leading 767-300BCFs into its fleet.”

ATSG is a global leader in cargo leasing, operating a fleet of 106 Boeing aircraft, including more than ninety 767 converted freighters.

Boeing has more than 40 years of successful experience in passenger-to-freighter conversions, relying on original design data and a deep understanding of the needs of the air cargo industry to deliver a superior, integrated product, including fully integrated manuals and world-class technical support. Boeing Converted Freighters also come with the advantage of being associated with the industry’s largest portfolio of services, support and solutions. Learn more about the 767-300BCF and the entire Boeing freighter family here.

nitefr8dog

That's funny, I am pretty sure I told you that would happen when ATSG bought Omni. The only difference ABX coughed up 42 767s at the time and then leased them back. It's not about making you less profitable on paper, it's about making you more expensive on paper. Welcome to the party.

abxflyr

ATSG promised the 'family' not to make any change on OMNI for 4 year (I think it was either 4 or 5). After that, it's ATSG's ball to do as they see fit. You will now begin to see all the changes, most likely HQ will move to ILN, planes to CAM (as you have seen), labor to F&H, your mx and dispatch will be in ILN, training at ILN where feasible/available, among many, many other changes. They will take a little time, but a snapshot today will not look the same down the road. Sorry (been there, done that, no tshirt, no planes, no pension...welcome to the party).

On another note, ABX is hiring 16 for DEC class (I believe they have 8 selected at this date), and another 16 for early JAN 2022. I'm sure there will be more to come as FO's are leaving in droves....quicker than we can replace them. After ABX December flight sched is published, most likely it will prompt even more to find other pastures.

Gooch

The younger FO’s leaving in droves will be reapplying to ABX ATI Atlas etc after the next round of worldwide rona & furloughs from the pax carriers. They never learn it’s cyclical.

Accurate hiring numbers, classes in Feb and most likely March is the word on the street too.

shinydiscoballs

[QUOTE=Gooch;3318074]The younger FO’s leaving in droves will be reapplying to ABX ATI Atlas etc after the next round of worldwide rona & furloughs from the pax carriers. They never learn it’s cyclical.

Maybe they like the salsiccia fest crashpad lifestyle lol. Economy tanking sooner or later though is a certainty.

wjcandee

Well...I agree that one thing companies do when negotiating labor stuff is point to the company's profitability, and adding a capital expense for the airframe that previously didn't exist may be something that reduces "profitability" such that they say they can't afford pay rate X or Y. Absolutely-true.

However, do consider this (as I know you're good with financial stuff from your occasional comments on investing): ATSG owns Omni outright. ATSG owns CAM outright. So...ATSG owned the planes then and now. Planes owned outright still have significant ongoing expenses to keep them operating. Depending on the terms of the lease, some of those may now fall on CAM. And somewhere in the books they have to credit Omni for the value of the assets transferred to CAM. There may be savings and available cash flow to the overall organization from having these aircraft, in CAM's hands, used to secure certain financing, etc. Sometimes, it's better/cheaper to raise money off of existing hard assets than to try to use an unsecured credit line. And ATSG does a pretty-sophisticated job of handling this stuff. There are likely significant business reasons other than pilot contract negotiations behind the decision to do that.

And it wouldn't take 5 minutes for the Union's beancounters to add back the net price of the CAM leases to the Company's stated "profitability" of the airline when negotiating. I am sure the Union's folks will do exactly that.

It's not likely to be part of some evil plan. If it is, it's a pretty-ham-fisted one.

(And for what it's worth, I did notice a few of Omni's aircraft dropping into ILN for several days, whereas they hadn't used AMES previously for maintenance. However, I also notice that Omni continues to send aircraft to YHM for heavy work.)