NewYorkophile
Fly Casual
H1. Haven't flown an E in Iraq since '08, thank god. Thing had a 13,000 service ceiling fully loaded in the summer.
ALL FRIEGHT PILOTS
- Thread starter pwa
- Start date
H1. Haven't flown an E in Iraq since '08, thank god. Thing had a 13,000 service ceiling fully loaded in the summer.
Alchemy
Well-Known Member
I guess I will go ahead and answer since I have a year under my belt now. I work for Atlas Air as a 747-400 F/O and really enjoy the job. Compared to what I was doing before (regional captain) I'm much happier and find the job significantly more satisfying and rewarding. I enjoy the fact that I can go to a new destination on almost every trip. I appreciate that the other pilots, loadmasters, and mechanics are an incredibly friendly bunch and the captains are eager to share what they know with you. No one expects you to know everything about international flying the first time you get on a whale. There is a lot of mentoring that goes on and I'm very receptive to that. Everyone also likes to show you their favorite hangouts in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Dubai, etc. It's great to see the world and once you figure out the places you enjoy it's easy enough to bid trips that go back through there. You get a company credit card, calling card, and smartphone which take care of any operational related expenses or communication needs that might arise overseas.
I also enjoy the way the schedules are constructed so that you can commute to work once a month (or even once every 2 months), stay on the road for awhile, then get several weeks of time off. It helps that we have a gateway basing system which provides you with positive space airline tickets and hotels even if you're going to your base. You accumulate frequent flier miles pretty quickly so you can get upgrades on domestic legs and the company has to buy you business class tickets for any international commercial travel. The money is another reason I like the job, the potential is there to make well over 200k if you make it to the left seat of a 747. Even if that takes a decade or two, it's nice to be at a place where that could happen someday (even though I know $213/hr still isn't "top tier" pay for a 747 captain).
I like flying freight, and this is the first job where I've done that. It's a little less stressful than passengers most of the time even though there is more work that someone has to do (main deck preflight walk through, hazmat checks, upper deck inspection where you must check the plane's emergency equipment, lavatory, crew rest areas, supernumerary seating areas, and galley to make sure catering is adequate). On the upside most flights have 2 or 3 F/O's to divide that extra work between. With that said, there are about a half dozen passenger planes at the company so if you really like to fly pax, you can still do it. Which brings me to another good point: the variety of flying between the freighters, passenger planes, and LCF's keeps every trip interesting.
I found the training to be first rate and the company has their own training center and sims in Miami. When going through initial training I got the impression that everyone wanted to see you succeed, as opposed to other experiences I've had that were more of a weed-out process. The new labor contract that the Teamsters negotiated for us is pretty good, the big item being the "trip rig" which guarantees us 1 hour of pay for every 4.95 hours of time away from home along with some respectable pay raises.
The only downsides I can think of are that the trips might be a little too long for some people with families. Right now I'm on a 30 day trip because of the way my training schedule worked out. I'm single so it works great for me, and even with a family the payoff of 2-3 weeks off at the end of a long trip would seem to offset the pain of being away for so long. Also the schedules change constantly due to customer needs, so that 5 day Sydney layover you had on your original pattern might change to 2 days in Nairobi and 2 days in Lagos in the blink of an eye. I don't mind the changes too much because it adds an element of excitement, but I know it really bothers some people. Another thing that can bother people are the long flights; the average segment is probably 8 hours with 16 hour flights being common. Finally, you don't really get to fly the plane too terribly much because the legs are long and there are usually 3 or 4 pilots on each flight. Sometimes it's a struggle just to stay current with your 3 takeoffs in landings every 90 days. I've only landed the 747 about two dozen times after 9 months of flying it full time.
Despite the above drawbacks, I feel like Atlas is a good company which tries to treat its pilots well for the most part. Sure, there are the usual disagreements with scheduling from time to time but I find that they have a pretty good system in place. The benefits outweigh the drawbacks in my mind and I'm thankful to have found a place where I enjoy working. Hopefully the company can stay profitable and continue to grow in a positive way. I hope this helps anyone interested in working at Atlas or at an ACMI freight carrier in general.
Boris Badenov
Fortis Leader
Great write up, thanks. Green with envy...do they ever hire guys without 121 time, in your experience?
Alchemy
Well-Known Member
Sure, they hire a bunch of guys right out of the military. One guy in my newhire class came from flying air ambulance lears but he was also prior eagle/comair. I can't think of anyone off the top of my head that was hired without either military or some 121 experience, but that doesn't mean it hasn't happened. My class was pretty much a 33/33/33 split between military/regional captain/other 121 (ATA, Aloha, etc).
Bandit_Driver
Gold Member
IMO the 121 requirement just proves to them that you can get through a 121 ground school and sim.
Cal Goat
Prestige Worldwide™
Let's be honest though, all that really matters these days is who you know. If there was an objective assessment of skill, then surviving X amount of time at a 135 operation would be meaningful. I don't know though, as I've never worked for a 121 operator. Thing is, a bunch of my buddies at 121 airlines all tell me that my skill cannot be in question after flying single pilot 135 cargo.
I'm not trying to blow it up into something it isn't, but the potential stigma of not having flown the 121 line might be outdated at this point. Just an opinion.
Douglas
Old School KSUX
Dood, this poop is not out dated. It's fresh and still stinks.
Most of those old dogs flew turboprop commuters or 135 cargo Lears before they got their big break.
Prerequisites of punching buttons and talking to a co-pilot is new.
Alchemy
Well-Known Member
Who you know isn't really everything in Atlas's case. It's my understanding that the human resources department has the biggest hand in the hiring process. Many pilots get interviews and are hired without a letter of recommendation. Other applicants with great letters of recommendation won't get hired. It's not like FedEx where you need 3 sponsors (then again, nothing about Atlas is much like FedEx).
This is the grid they tell you to fill out prior to the interview, so it's probably fair to say they're looking for people that can put big numbers in these columns (with the exception of helicopter, they probably subtract that from your total time):
Don't get me wrong though, a lot of airlines still do put the most weight on recommendations from current pilots. I actually wrote a letter for a guy who was in the hiring pool and he got a "thanks but no thanks" letter a few weeks later! I'm going to try not to read into that too much
This is the grid they tell you to fill out prior to the interview, so it's probably fair to say they're looking for people that can put big numbers in these columns (with the exception of helicopter, they probably subtract that from your total time):
Don't get me wrong though, a lot of airlines still do put the most weight on recommendations from current pilots. I actually wrote a letter for a guy who was in the hiring pool and he got a "thanks but no thanks" letter a few weeks later! I'm going to try not to read into that too much
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