Originally Posted by
Excargodog
Not talking straight payscales, talking what they are actually paying. Take Spirit. They’ve basically only been a player since 2007 and really didn’t start expanding until 2014. Very few of their pilots have anything like 12 years seniority. Yeah, their 12 year pay might not differ that much from that of Delta or United, but damn few of their captains and even fewer FOs are at those lofty seniority levels. JetBlue too. Their major expansion started about 2010.
Lots of pilots with very little time at the company mean reduced crew costs. A Delta 20 year captain and 12 year FO cost ( counting 401k) well over $500 an hour to fly a 320. Spirit with a five year captain and a 3 year FO costs about $350 an hour to fly the same equipment.
A newly hired crew is a cheap crew.
I referenced Southwest and JetBlue because you said LCC 12 year captains cost 50% less than 12 year Legacy captains. Spirit is considered a ULCC like you mentioned in your first post so I know you know the difference.
I’m talking about your statement of LCC Captains costing 50% less. SWA is 40 years old and JetBlue is 20 years old plenty of the captains are on year 12 pay. 401k contribution is the same at JetBlue and Southwest too. So same ~$500/hr to operate the 320 or 737.
Also, almost 1/3 (4,000/14,000) of Delta’s pilots have only been on the seniority list for 5 years or less. Newly hired crew as you call it.
As a former CPZ brother (correct me if I’m wrong) I’m not trying to bust your chops on this or be THAT guy. I just wanted to point out LCC’s like SWA and JB don’t have captains out here flying around at a 50% discount compared to our legacy counterparts. That’s all.