Stay at Atlas or leave for AA ?
- Thread starter 747driver
- Start date
Autothrust Blue
Welcome aboard the Washington State Ferries
As stated elsewhere, thank you for continuing to hold; the leopard will eat your face, shortly.
scooter2525
Very well Member
Oh, if that gets exec-ordered, it’s going to be ‘fly till you die’, wreck attrition until the oldsters realize “Yeah, this is too hard, I’m going on medical leave”
phill1174
Well-Known Member
I can only imagine how many are salivating at the thought of this. No need to sell the boat or be fiscally responsible.
If I had kids I’d steer them as far away from flying as I could.
DE727UPS
Well-Known Member
At least where you work there is the carrot of the pension to get people out the door. If you don't retire after 30 years that's well over six figures that goes away every year you stay. That's, ultimately, what pushed me out the door at 60. I wanted that free money and wasn't gonna give it back to them. I recognize I'm simplistic in my thinking of what a 400K salary can do properly invested over time. But free money and I don't have to work anymore and I can go warm places in the winter (as I sit in my RV surrounded by snow/ice on an island in Alabama).
I see people all the time that are doing fine as they approach the retirement age. But then I see those that aren’t doing as well and it’s kind of sad because they’re really trying.
I had a buddy I’d fly with on the ER back in the day that was a fantastic guy, a little “Mr. Magoo” but fun guy to fly with. You’d have to give him the occasional “progressive” taxiing around, he’d usually give away both legs to the FO’s, but somehow kept current so he was flying sometimes I guess. As long as he was surrounded by engaged copilots, everything went fine as far as I could see, but if there was another person just like him on the flight deck, probably not so much.
I hear he had a bad CQ event, went “special tracking” and the board suggested a medical evaluation, then *poof*, gone. I don’t know if he knew, apparently his wife did, but all the quirky things when you’d fly with him started to make sense.
Super guy, rotten ending. But I think ‘fly till you die’ is going to greatly expand stories like this because we’re all timebombs, set differently, as we age.
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
As an FO I hated flying with the overconfident guys who were close to retirement. The combination of senility and arrogance was tough. Throw in some of our longer days and it was like giving OE from the right seat, but without the ability to say “look, we doing it thus way.”
Roger Roger
Bottom of the list
I flew with a guy last summer who I never would have guessed was months away from retirement.
That he stood out says something.
I’m going to shoot you a text on the subject that, checks date, I don’t want online.
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
I’m a bit jealous of those guys. Did my last PC with another captain. Fantastic dude, obviously takes care of himself, wouldn’t be surprised if he had a little work done. Honestly, he looks younger than me. So I was surprised when he said he only has four years left.
Skåning
Well-Known Member
Whoever a dude dies on a layover, it’s always a 45 year old outdoorsy type that does marathons.
Kingairer
'Tiger Team' Member
You cant find dead bodies in the city park if you dont go running in the city park.
moxiepilot
Well-Known Member
Thanks for the @ - as I'm only checking in about once a month here.
50 y.o. 6 year 777FO. I could upgrade but I like my QOL and will wait until there are junior numbers below me before considering it. Took me 9 months of deliberating to come to a conclusion to remain at Atlas. I like chunks of work and time off. I like the airframe. Pay could be better, retirement could be better, but I also think if you can't live on 6 figures a year, you've made some missteps along the way that no amount of money will probably fix. The union is marginal, but supportive. There is a lot of grey area in the CBA that needs to be fixed in the upcoming negotiations.
Overall I'd say if you're younger, Majors are the way to go - if you're older then 50/50
Autothrust Blue
Welcome aboard the Washington State Ferries
One of the people instrumental in getting me to where I was at SkyWest died on his bicycle of a coronary while riding up the Palms to Pines Highway. Also mid forties.
Sculprit
Well-Known Member
Him and ML Sr. Some of the OG OO folks that were instrumental in getting the CRJ on property, as well as helping a lot of folks in their career paths. RIP
Autothrust Blue
Welcome aboard the Washington State Ferries
Spent lots of time trying to ensure my ship isn't weak.
Maurus
The Great Gazoo
I am a bit late to the party here but I am going to bring up something that is a part of my thought process.
Atlas doesn't really own their flying. It is primarily contract work. Military, Amazon, DHL, foreign contracts, etc That means there is potentially a ton of volatility built into their business model. If a big contract goes away what happens?
FedEx pilots are having a bit of a rough time right now but the packages they are flying all say FedEx on them. It is a direct product.
Atlas doesn't really own their flying. It is primarily contract work. Military, Amazon, DHL, foreign contracts, etc That means there is potentially a ton of volatility built into their business model. If a big contract goes away what happens?
FedEx pilots are having a bit of a rough time right now but the packages they are flying all say FedEx on them. It is a direct product.
Screaming_Emu
Well-Known Member
I think that’s what’s a little different atlas compared to most ACMI carriers. We are so diversified in our customer base that we just broke up with Amazon and reduced our flying with DHL and it’s pretty much no big deal. This includes parking most of our 767s and all of our 737s.
Maurus
The Great Gazoo
If you are parking planes what is happening with the pilots?
I will say Atlas currently is very diversified like you said. It isn't a bad position but time can change things.