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I’m sure there are some captains at spirit who are averaging 125 hours a month over the year and making close to $400k without including 401k or per diem, but it’s certainly not the norm. It is however very easy to credit 100 hours here with 12 or 13 days off just by picking up straight opentime. To go much higher you need some premium trips or to be ok with really not being home at all.
The kicker above 81 hours you all have is nice. Wish we had that here.
Our contract has next to no opportunity for soft time pay, and the problem is exacerbated by the fact that DH only pays 50%. Its the opposite of soft time. Hard time is too soft a word. Call it "impenetrable time." This really affects a lot of the reserve pilots in FL since they're sometimes on 3-4 hour surface DH's around the state. It also affects some of the pilots who end up having to work the heavy crewed flights like redeyes or GRR LAX. Fortunately we have a 2:1 duty rig. Union recently won a grievance that will slightly help soft pay on some charter trips, but this DH pay gap is still an issue. I don't even know if any regional airlines are still paying 50% DH pay. Originally Posted by TrojanCMH
How easy is it for you all to credit 100 hours a month with all turns? At every airline I’ve worked for you always hear about the guy or gal who is making this much or crediting that much but it’s usually embellished and it’s usually next to impossible to keep it going every month.I’m sure there are some captains at spirit who are averaging 125 hours a month over the year and making close to $400k without including 401k or per diem, but it’s certainly not the norm. It is however very easy to credit 100 hours here with 12 or 13 days off just by picking up straight opentime. To go much higher you need some premium trips or to be ok with really not being home at all.
The kicker above 81 hours you all have is nice. Wish we had that here.
On the plus side our time at work is generally very low given all day trips. Best bet as a junior line holder is to try and swap whatever cruddy trips you have for better open time trips. There is plenty of open time that pops up during the busy times of the year.
One thing we have that I like is the ability to drop a trip (granted there is not the drop potential Spirit has) and cover it with sick time. This still qualifies for the 30% premium for time over 81 hours so is a good way to cash out sick time for a premium if you're over 81 hours. I'm sure other airlines probably have better rules for this (I know Spirit is better about having drops), but its probably the best source of soft time I have found for myself since picking up reserve days and hoping you don't get called isn't soft time.