WHALE-I always agree with you. Till now. From what I know from talking to the polar pilots, you would have to put a gun to their heads to get them to work four extra days a month. The polar pilots tell me the whole point of their first strike was to work less days per month. According to what they tell me a line holder only works a max of 16 days. A
reserve line holder 19 days, if extended. These guys laugh at how many days the Atlas pilots are out.
So, you believe that if Polar and the Polar MEC told the Polar pilots (all strong ALPA members, 100% behind their MEC) that it was alright to fly the six new planes, just transfered to their cert, and that Polar needed some short term extra help, they would not have taken it on, even with a very nice bump in income? They would have been told that it was not Atlas's cargo, but China Airlines, so it was not scabbing. I believe in hindsight, they can say they wouldn't have, but I bet the planes would have moved, one way of the other. We'll never know, and neither did our MEC, with less than an hour to decide. BTW, the Polar MEC kept all this to himself, not giving the Atlas MEC any heads up or warning. It was a bombshell. BTW, orchestrated by good ole Cato.
For the more than 10 years I've been at Atlas, I average just less than 14 days a month away from home.