To those curious about Allegiant and looking to possibly apply, let me at least tell you my current schedule and QOL... take it for what it's worth...
I was an Aug 24, '15 hire, based in Pitt on the bus. Number 16 out of 26 in my class (I think there were 14 bus slots and 12 md-80 slots, bus went junior because of the available bases).
I hit the line in Pitt on Jan 1st. My January schedule was built by crew scheduling as I wasn't out of training in time to bid for a line, nor was Pitt officially opened until Dec. 24 I believe. In January, I only had 9 days off, 6 reserve days, and about 16 days of flying (all day trips). I got a lot of 7-8 hour day trips that month (the international turns PIT-CUN, PIT-Punta Cana) so my total credit for the month ended up being around 115 (everything over 81 hours is paid at 130%)... I had to send crew pay 2 emails I believe to fix some errors but it was resolved in 3 days or less after I sent the email, no different than most regionals I'd say.
February I was bidding 6 of 6 so my entire month was/is reserve. I've been used 5 times, and was able to pick up some extra days flying and reserve days from other guys in base; so I'll credit about 85 hours. I was home (albeit I couldn't really go anywhere or drink adult beverages!) way more than a welfare bum... My wife was ready to kick me out of the house. Since I'm on a pure reserve schedule, I'm told I will not get the 130% for my hours above 81... Something we need fixed in the contract.
For march I was bidding 5 of 6 and I managed a mixed line; some days of reserve and some days of flying. It's about 10 flying days and 10 reserve days with about 11 days off, it's worth 85 hours, but I've traded with some guys to get it up to about 95. Since it's a mixed line and not pure reserve, I will get the bonus pay of 130% for all hours above 81.
I don't typically get called on reserve (I've heard that's more or less the norm at most bases) because reserves are used here (seemingly so) much like they are at the majors, only in the case of emergencies and pilot sick calls, not as gap fillers like the regionals.
My experience so far has been good to great. That's mostly because of the inherent perks of these schedules and also because the airbus is overall a good plane. Maintenance is a little lazy and under-motivated, but if you write something up, it will get looked at. Gate agents and rampers are all contracted out, probably to the lowest bidder, so you get that sort of service. I haven't been on time for more than a handful of my flights, but when we're late, it's not usually more than 45-60 minutes (if that) in total. And I almost never see a passenger that really cares... In fact, our passengers, from what I have seen, have been great, very nice and appreciative.
One other quick note... Our captains have to be constantly on the alert... They always seem to find errors in the logbook and on the paperwork, much more frequently that I saw at ExpressJet. Someone posted earlier that being a captain here comes with a much increased amount of responsibility and stress, more so than the norm; and that's exactly what I've seen... These guys are error-checking machines... Lots of mistakes seem to be made outside the flight deck. So, the quick upgrade may be a mixed blessing.
PIT is a small base, no big growth plans that I have heard of, only 1 airplane for now and the foreseeable future. The schedules are pretty bad unless you're in the top 3 slots and you can hold some of the international turns; otherwise the Florida turns are all around 4 hours of credit. International is in the morning, 6am show, and the domestic is in the afternoon, 3 or 4pm show. There's a total of 6 FO's and 6 CA's here... goes very very junior. The last bid awarded the last 5 CA spots all to PIT, the most junior guy to get it was a 7/7/15 hire, just a handful of weeks before me. So with any luck, I'll hold PIT CA on the next bid to come out (April/may) and hit the line as a CA maybe JAN of '17 (wishful ish thinking). It will get more senior with time, but for now, I'm the only pilot (Both on FO and CA side) that actually lives here, so it's real easy for me to pick up some extra flying from guys that want an extra day off here and there... trading has never been an issue with crew scheduling.
I have no doubt that the 3 majors and probably Southwest are probably better places to be for the long run (for now), but this is just as good a place as any (better than any regional) to bide your time and see whats next in store for you.
Questions/comments feel free to ask...
-Alex-
cel: 484-661-7716