Originally Posted by flensr

There are regionals who will still meet or possibly even beat spirit's first-year pay even if this TA passes, due to various signing bonuses at the regionals. If you know for a fact you're going to get hired up after just a year, then by all means try a regional that has a great first year compensation offer. Living in base for that first year should probably be a huge consideration too, as that can save a LOT of days off and money otherwise wasted commuting.

That won't be gojet.

If you want to fly the bus and get paid 75%ish of what other major airlines get for flying the same plane on the same routes though, go to spirit. No hiring bonus but you'll be in the bus making reasonably decent money while you get enough hours to go somewhere else.

Spirit used to be attractive on the basis of quality of life, ie. scheduling flexibility and work rules. The new contract will likely walk back a bunch of those work rules, in exchange for increased pay and other highly valuable considerations like scope protection and long-term disability. That will put spirit's QOL and benefits more in line with other airlines, but the pay will still be around the 75% level so spirit will remain a stepping stone for a lot of pilots.

Again, if it's really just for a year, then do the research and math and figure out how to maximize your income and live in base. Plenty of options out there. If it's gonna be more than a year, Spirit is probably a better choice but you're still likely going to want to move on if you get an offer at a "real" major instead of a ULCC.