Well that is easy then - by the time the CLX -400's come available, Atlas will have already taken delivery of their own -8Fs. It is of course, possible, that they would be interested in the CLX freighters, but it doesn't seem to fit with the business plan they have announced. By that time, Polar will already have been long absorbed into the fold (one way or another) and it would make more sense to exercise the remaining 14 options Atlas has for the -8F.
So to say that "Polar" is getting four -400s, even now, would be incorrect. Polar doesn't own the five that they are operating. They are all owned by, or the leases are held by, Atlas Air World Wide Holdings. It just seems kind of pointless for all of us to suffer the drama, as AAWWH will do what they wish with those airplanes, and with the Polar business unit, without any interference by the Polar or the Atlas pilots. Every MEC in history has thought they could manipulate the company through job actions or relationships with the Board of Directors. It NEVER happens. The best we could do was agree on our own seniority list. And no one is happy with that, so it must mean the arbitrator did his job properly. Now that it is done, it is time to move forward.
The DHL contract is soon to start(this summer). And I believe with alot of DHL control(routes, scheduling etc,,).Polar pilots will "dribble the clock out". See what happens. Today 03:25
Unfortunately the above statement is incorrect. The DHL deal does not start until 2008 - so Polar pilots will have to dribble for quite a long time. And the fact of the matter is that Polar Air Cargo is going away. The DHL deal is with "Polar Air World Wide," which is a different company that could conceivably be staffed with only Atlas pilots if the Polar pilots continue to dribble. The merger will go through with or without the Polar pilots. It is long past time they got on board.