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Old 02-01-2023, 10:29 AM
  #3796  
I was inverted
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Joined APC: Oct 2015
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Originally Posted by Seneca Pilot View Post
I don't know if he is or isn't, but the market for pilots and airframes is drastically different from late 2001, so not a comparable situation.
The business model for Breeze pilots was always to have high turnover. They wanted to eventually get to a point where they can recruit from the same pool as regionals recruits from. Traditionally it’s taken 3-5 years at a regional to get enough time to then go to a major. If they paid just above Skywest, but below allegiant, they’d get newhires, keep them for just enough time for them to get competitive for a major, so then they leave, and Breeze replaces them with someone on year 1 pay. That opens up an upgrade and the cycle repeats. Ideally, breeze would have 3-5 year guys in the left seat and 1-2 year guys in the right seat in perpetuity. Nobody would be on year 6 pay. That’s been the plan since 2019, maybe earlier.

The problem is, that traditional timeline to a major isn’t holding right now, regional pay is at historic highs, etc., so they’ve had to increase comp higher than planned. That business model with pilots actually making money isn’t viable, hence the struggle for the company to make money. The business model requires very low paid pilots. Also, notice they never increased 401k with these wage increases. Why? They want you to get in, get out, and keep resetting the pay/vacation scale for their pilots.

Same was true with their flight attendant hiring at the beginning: make them part time college students and “part time” FAs, get them a 4 year degree so they go get a higher paying job after checking the FA box in their life and finishing the degree, and they can keep them also averaging low longevity.

It’s not designed to be a career airline. It’s designed to be an alternative to and “barely better than” a regional with a little bit larger and shinier planes so you go there instead of Skywest or whomever else, but not good enough to stay long term. Even a single digit seniority number didn’t make it worth it for me. The math just wouldn’t work out no matter how much I could make with only 4% 401k.

At least you got ALPA early on. But, mesa, frontier, and spirit all have ALPA too and they still suck. So, I’m not optimistic about the pilots’ future at breeze. As far as pilot jobs go, it’ll just be one industry undercutting dump for the foreseeable future. I guess those with one and two digit seniority numbers have a lot to give up as the hiring wave continues. But, there will likely continue to be a lot better opportunities for pilots than that clown show for the foreseeable future.
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