Go to ATI or stay at the regionals?

[N813CA]

Got to ATI or stay at a regional after 9 years as an FO an no upgrade anytime soon?

 

[hawkerjet]

I think you know the answer to that question. Granted, you'll be flying steam gages again however you'll probably see more light at the end of the tunnel at ATI. Plus it's a change of venue, something new to wrap your head around.
Good Luck in whichever you chose.

 

[pilotgolfer]

Got to ATI or stay at a regional after 9 years as an FO an no upgrade anytime soon?

Were you offered the 11/30 class? I really hope you gave it a lot of thought already whether leaving Comair would be best for you. So you've been there 7 years and I see you flew the Dash for 2 years before that. (I'm guessing Piedmont??) So out of your 8000 hours, you are probably at 2000 PIC tops?

You may want to factor in some what-ifs into your thought process. If you go to ATI, more than likely you won't be a Captain for a long, long time. Lets say something happens with ATI and you are out of a job. You may find yourself at a huge disadvantage because you haven't been PIC on anything in 10-15 years. I've seen it before (hell its happened to me)

On the upside, if all goes well at ATI...you will be very happy.


Best of luck..I've heard nothing but good things about the people at ATI. But then again, ATA had a bunch of wonderful people, too!

 

[nitefr8dog]

Got to ATI or stay at a regional after 9 years as an FO an no upgrade anytime soon?

iF you have already been offered a job go to ATI, if not you will now be behind the furloughed ABX pilots per the new contract and SL.

 

[Midnight Flyer]

Go to ATI dude. You'll get to fly a real airplane, keep your stick and rudder skills sharp and earn more money than you'll ever make at the commuters. Most of all, you'll have FUN.
More than likely the 767 will replace the 8's when they finally park them (nobody knows when). They do fly a little passenger work, but mostly cargo.
You're stress level will be cut in half when you stop flying passengers. Remember that!! Good luck in whatever you choose to do.

 

[bigboeings]

From a guy who is basically doing the same sort of flying as ATI, but in the PAX business. I highly recommend going there. I don't know much about the company, but the stuff you will learn flying worldwide will put your resume at the top when hiring starts back up.

 

[GittinFatter]

Go to ATI and don't look back! You might be on the DC-8 for a bit, but they are going away soon, and its glass after that. You'll see the world, get some realy good experience, have a lot of fun; Or, you can stay at wherever and go back and forth to cleveland, then to harrisburg, then back to cleveland, ad nausuem

 

[ERfly]

iF you have already been offered a job go to ATI, if not you will now be behind the furloughed ABX pilots per the new contract and SL.

Can you explain this one?

 

[spitfire1500]

Can you explain this one?

Go to ATI... the Regionals suck!!! I did 8 years at one and was a Capt and leaving was a no brainer!!

 

[ERfly]

Go to ATI... the Regionals suck!!! I did 8 years at one and was a Capt and leaving was a no brainer!!

No, I got that part! I totally understand that and would love to go to ATI. I just didn't understand the ABX comment. I'm patiently waiting for the window to reopen.

 

[B-J-J Fighter]

I think you need to go take a drug test.

 

[pilotgolfer]

No, I got that part! I totally understand that and would love to go to ATI. I just didn't understand the ABX comment. I'm patiently waiting for the window to reopen.

ABX signed a LOA with mgt that said something to the effect of: if another ATSG subsidiary starts hiring...the furloughed ABX pilots would be offered jobs ahead of any new hire.

I don't know how you enforce the LOA, though. ATI is a separate entity from ABX. Kind of like when Matlin-Patterson bought ATA, World, North American. ATA couldn't tell World or NA they had to hire the ATA pilots. Its a very similar situation.

 

[Superpilot92]

Got to ATI or stay at a regional after 9 years as an FO an no upgrade anytime soon?

Bail for ATI, who knows what the plans are for Comair. Dont look back either cause DAL already announced more RJ's will be cut and most agree where alot of the cuts will come from.

 

[l8fr82hub]

iF you have already been offered a job go to ATI, if not you will now be behind the furloughed ABX pilots per the new contract and SL.

I hear the SL/CBA doesn't go into effect until DHL and ABX reach an ACMI agreement. Is that true?

 

[PHXFLYR]

Having been both a 10 year regional pilot (Piedmont ) and a former ATI pilot at one time ,2 things you have to ask yourself when formulating your decision as to whether ATI or any of the ACMI carriers for that matter are a good fit for you.

First and the most important is are you married with kids at home and if so what type of schedule works better for you and your family ? The reason why is ATI and other ACMI carriers usually send you out on the road for quite an extended period of time. My first trip, I was told to pack for 10 days, hub turns out of TOL, all back of the clock flying. 16 very long days or should I say nights ,later; I come walking back through my kitchen door at home. This was quite the eye-opener for all of us when you consider the longest trip I've ever done up to this point in my career were 4 day trips and was what we were all used to at home. Bottom line, this kind of schedule can be pretty tough on the homelife especially when you have a wife and 2 young children as was my case at the time.


The second thing to consider is how close you will be to upgrading staying at Comair vs. going to ATI . If your a very senior F/O at Comair and the reason your stuck in the right seat at Comair is because of the age 65 change,will you upgrade quicker by staying put and waiting for the retirements to start again or will you upgrade quicker by starting over at ATI ? I was told at an interview many years ago , "'you can't put a price on that PIC time " If your young junior and single,then I guess the decision to go is that much easier. For us old goats further up the totem pole with a fairly decent QOL, not so much. Anyway ,these are some thoughts on the subject and some things to consider from someone who has done both. Hope this helps. Good luck in your decision.

PHXFLYR