How flexible are you? Atlas ACMI Schedule Oct 2024

Airline Pilot Questions & Answers
1

Hi All,

I’m an ATP grad and currently flying the 747 at Atlas Air. I finished OE in September and October was my first month on a “regular” schedule. I put it in quotes as my schedule was hand built for consolidation, but I wanted to share with you guys my original schedule and what I ended up doing, and you can see how much my schedule had changed.

Atlas does ACMI flying, Kyle gave a pretty good primer here:

https://airlinepilot.life/t/about-atlas-and-schedules/

In short, we are “outsourcing” for the freight world. It’s a little different from FedEx and UPS, they actually have somewhat regularly scheduled flights. While we go to many of the same destinations often, the planes work on a rolling schedule so it is a bit different. The 747 is the biggest fleet at Atlas and the most complex schedule, each time we land, there’s a good chance that the rest of our schedule has completely changed. For this month I estimate approximately a dozen changes between the “Before” and “After” version you are about to see.

So here is my schedule as originally assigned:

09/30 OAK-SEA-ANC (Positive Space to Base)
10/01 ANC-ORD
10/02 ORD-ANC
10/03 ANC-ICN
10/04 Layover ICN
10/05 Layover ICN
10/06 ICN-HKG
10/07 HKG-ANC
10/08 ANC-ORD
10/09 Layover ORD
10/10 ORD-NRT
10/11 Layover NRT
10/12 Layover NRT
10/13 NRT-ANC
10/14 Layover ANC
10/15 ANC-ORD
10/16 Layover ORD
10/17 ORD-ANC
10/18 ANC-SEA-OAK (Positive Space Home)

Here is my schedule that I actually flew:

09/30 OAK-SEA-ANC (Positive Space to Base)
10/01 ANC-ORD
10/02 ORD-HKG
10/03 HKG-SZX (2hr drive by car)
10/04 SZX-ANC
10/05 Layover ANC
10/06 Layover ANC
10/07 ANC-ORD
10/08 ORD-ICN
10/09 Layover ICN
10/10 ICN-DXB (DH on Emirates)
10/11 SHJ-ICN
10/12 Layover ICN
10/13 Layover ICN
10/14 ICN-XMN
10/15 XMN-ICN
10/16 ICN-EHU-ANC
10/17 ANC-SEA-OAK (Positive Space Home)

Block: 81:01 Credit: 88.79 CRT: 78.09

Here is a screenshot of our “schedule map” tool.

2024 October Schedule
2024 October Schedule1920×1035 76.1 KB

So other than the first flight I don’t think I did any of my original schedule. The upside is I got to fly on an Emirates A380 to Dubai, but the downside is I had min rest 14 hours and was stuck in an airport hotel in Sharjah far away from all the cool stuff.

Overall I think if you are flexible and can be away from home for an extended period it’s a great job, you get to see the world and fly an iconic jet. I’m now off 10/18-10/30 so I have time to properly rest and spend time with family and friends before I head out again.

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Alex

2 Likes
2

Alex,

I am currently a regional FO who wants to get into ACMI as a potential career destination. My reasoning is that I plan to live in Tokyo and ACMI schedules seem to have more consecutive days on/off than pax carriers. Allowing me to possibly be home more and commute less.

I’m aware Atlas has gateway travel, but I’m not too familiar with how it works for international legs. Will they only cover up to $1250, and the difference comes out of pocket?

Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’ve seen Atlas crews DH to NRT for the first leg of their rotation. Would there be any possibility in starting a trip out of NRT since I would already live close enough to there? No sense in making the company reimburse a ticket and then DH back to the same place I just came from.

Just trying to gauge how difficult a commute from there will be. Thanks!

John

3

Hi John,

I can give you the current snapshot, as you know airline policies change, contracts change. So no guarantees that things will be the same when you get here or will remain the same during your time here.

The short answer is yes, it is possible to live in Tokyo while working at Atlas. I have met several pilots who do this.

The longer answer is a bit more complicated.

First, your understanding is correct. If your positive space commute to base is more than $1250, you are responsible for the difference. What I’ve seen people do is get a gateway ticket to a location with Atlas flights then jumpseat on company metal to base.

Second, it is possible to get trips where the first leg is a DH, it is also possible that the first leg has you DH to NRT, but probable? This will depend on your base and seniority, as first leg DH trips are very popular among commuters. Also it seems that there isn’t as much flying to NRT on the 74 fleet compared to before, but customers and routes change frequently here, so you never know.

Overall I think commuting from NRT to ANC or LAX is very doable as international gateway but I wouldn’t count on starting your trip from NRT that often. That being said you may get lucky, and you might even pick up open time that has a DH to NRT and you’ll be able to start from home and still get credit for the DH.

Hopefully this helps,

Alex

4

Great info, thanks!

John

5

Alex,

Thanks for sharing this schedule and your experiences at Atlas! I just met another Atlas B777 FO the other evening when catching up with one of my former students (who is now at Skywest) for dinner. Learned a lot of Atlas and some of the unique flying that you all do.

Brady

6

Hey Brady,

The 777 has a lot more steady schedules compared to the 74. The upside is that your month is generally a lot more predicable, the downside is sometimes they don’t end up crediting enough to break mins. Currently there’s also not a lot of open time right now on the 777, but that can change if more customers move to the 777 vs the 74.

Alex