Watch Now


Atlas Air pilots authorized to form own local

Atlas pilots form own local (Photo: Atlas Air)

Unionized pilots at cargo and charter airline Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:AAWW) have been authorized to form their own union local, Local 2750, under the auspices of the Teamsters union, the union said.

Atlas’ pilots had been part of Teamsters Local 1224. The growth of Atlas’ pilot workforce necessitated a shift to its own local, Atlas’ pilots said. Bob Kirchner, chairman of the pilots’ seven-member executive council, called the move “part of our national journey through unionism” as the membership size expands. About 2,000 pilots will be represented by the local, which will be based in Ohio, the Teamsters said

Atlas pilots have been embroiled in a long-running contractual dispute with the company, with the union fighting for what it claims is a contract on par with other cargo airlines, and management charging the company with violating terms of their existing contract through sick-outs and work slowdowns. 

One of Atlas’ largest customers, e-tailer Amazon.com, Inc., (NASDAQ:AMZN) in September assigned two of the 19 aircraft that it leases from Atlas to a unit of Atlas’ rival Air Transport Services Group (NASDAQ:ATSG). ATSG provides the crew, maintenance and insurance to support the operation of the two planes. Amazon, which relies heavily on Atlas and ATSG to keep its one- to two-day delivery commitments under its “Prime” service, has been very critical of the pilots and the company for failing to make progress in reaching a collective-bargaining agreement.


Besides Amazon, Atlas’ big customers include DHL and the U.S. military. Atlas generates much of its revenue by providing customers with the aircraft, crew, maintenance and applicable insurance, better known in the industry by its acronym “ACMI.”

Mark Solomon

Formerly the Executive Editor at DC Velocity, Mark Solomon joined FreightWaves as Managing Editor of Freight Markets. Solomon began his journalistic career in 1982 at Traffic World magazine, ran his own public relations firm (Media Based Solutions) from 1994 to 2008, and has been at DC Velocity since then. Over the course of his career, Solomon has covered nearly the whole gamut of the transportation and logistics industry, including trucking, railroads, maritime, 3PLs, and regulatory issues. Solomon witnessed and narrated the rise of Amazon and XPO Logistics and the shift of the U.S. Postal Service from a mail-focused service to parcel, as well as the exponential, e-commerce-driven growth of warehouse square footage and omnichannel fulfillment.