Originally Posted by Lakeaffect

Excargo, Your gripe about first year pay is noble, and it’s a valid point that’s felt by me and others. It’s not just 1st year pay, it’s every year along the longevity line that’s below the industry, 1st year being the worst. It would be better if we had 1st year AND every other year at the industry level, but we don’t, and that’s not because of the union. Yes the union decided how to divvy up the pay that was given by management, but it’s not as though the option was their to match Alaska or Delta or any other group that pay is in line with the industry. After years of negotiations we ended up with a financial package that was way below the bigger airlines. Decisions were made and it is what it is. Higher first year pay could have been negotiated, but it would have been at the expense of other years, which are already low. It’s always better to be at an airline that decides it’s in their best interest to pay appropriately (Delta, Southwest, United, JB, Alaska, American, FedEx and more). Unfortunately for us Spirit did not feel the need to pay us appropriately. The silver lining is that attracting new hires has, as of recently, become much more difficult and attrition has gone through the roof. Spirit management has painted themselves in a corner and would desperately love to raise only 1st year pay to alleviate it. So while it might seem noble to do it, it would be giving away our biggest piece of leverage. And it would be completely unfair to those that are just getting of 1st year pay that would not benefit at all. The whole pilot group deserves a raise, not just year 1.