The big picture is that Atlas is top heavy in capacity right now. What's helping to keep the company afloat in its present size are the AMC (Air Mobility Command) contracts and a surge of Christmas cargo.
The US and most of the rest of the World are in a recession that is deep and brutal with no imminent recovery. Too many 74s sitting idle on ramps more than 8 hours per day, and too many crews flying only 41 hours per month eat up lots of cash. Come January, more airplanes, other than just Polar's -100s, will have to be parked! Not a pretty picture.
