Originally Posted by
Cfii123
Hey guys, any input is greatly appreciated. I’m Florida based so Frontier and Spirit are my top choices. Tampa would be great cause of family but I don't mind Orlando either. Everywhere I look, Spirit pilots just love their lives which is why I am here. The schedule flexibility is huge for me and so is turns/being home most nights.
1. How has your QOL been at spirit, do you enjoy working there?
2. Do you have any insight on the pros/cons of working for spirit over frontier?
3. How do you believe the merger will impact you?
4. If given the option now which ULCC would you choose?
5. Is Spirit a place you would feel comfortable retiring at or legacy is still the way to go?
6. I’m aiming for MCO, is that something I could get out of training?
7. Starting at a regional here soon. How many hours is competitive these days for spirit? I did the traditional 1500 CFI gig so have 0 turbine time atm. I plan on attending as many MTC events as possible after my checkride.
8. And what’s the % of day trips atm? That’s big for me as far as QOL goes.
9. Is frontier better for day trips out of TPA or spirit out of MCO?
1. Holding a line at Spirit offers a great lifestyle. Most people you fly with are cool. How long to hold a line is the million dollar question. FOs are jumping ship very quickly at the moment, so the movement up the list can kind of stagnate.
3. No one will have a proper answer to this.
5. I'm holding a line (FO) at Spirit and going to a legacy. Hopefully it will be a good decision. I'm definitely not super stoked about leaving such a cushy job but I'm hoping future me will be better off. I never had any intention of leaving Spirit nor had any apps out until they announced they were shrinking ORD and I wouldn't hold CA there for a long time. Also the apathy around the pay situation is pretty disheartening.
6. Yes or you'd commute for a month or 2 I'd imagine.
7. Get your ATP and type rating from the regional and you'll be immediately competitive for Spirit.
8. Don't worry about percentage of day trips, you likely won't be consistently flying them until you're well off reserve and into a line, at which point any data presented here will be different.
The schedule dropping / swapping flexibility is unparalleled industry wide. There are still small annoyances with it like if your trip duties off at 0001 on a red day then you can't drop it.