Actually what the Polar crew members would prefer is Polar airplanes with Polar crews.
While I don’t speak for the Atlas crews, I am certain that they would also prefer to have watched Polar crews flying Polar airplanes -- from a distance. However reality is that Atlas bought Polar 8 years ago and the merger egg has been scrambled. And as far as flying “their” airplanes, over those 8 years it has been Atlas airplanes moved to Polar, not vice versa.
It is difficult to replay history with the pieces moved, but it is hard to imagine Polar surviving to this day as an independent operator. And the other paths speculated about in the crew rooms (purchase by UAL, UPS, etc.) would almost certainly have resulted in the Polar crews being on the street.
This all about internal union power struggles, enabled by some egotistical/inept past management personnel. Nothing more and nothing less.