Originally Posted by
Noisecanceller
When I used the term pathway I didn’t necessarily mean structured program. Coming to spirit and then going to AA is a very viable pathway that hundreds have done the last couple years. If you’re approaching 40 with no seniority on the line yet I would be thinking legacy only as my end goal. Your overall progression will be faster and better as long as living in base is a constant.
I don’t want to come across as disrespectful bc LE is so very underpaid for the risks. My best friend is a deputy. I try to get him to become a pilot all the time. The risks will be much less and the pay much much higher.
That said you cannot compare wages at spirit to your wages at your LE job. We need to compare our wages to other major airline pilots I.e. Delta.
While the change in career will probably make real quantifiable changes to your life, it doesn’t change that we are still under compensated. Not caring about being the highest paid is what Spirit loves in pilots and it kills us in ever contract. Caring about it matters. I’m not happy just making more than LEOs. It’s a completely different career.
I understand, I know unions all too well and what you mean.
the pay-scale and dynamic, I will have to understand for myself when I get to the airlines I suppose. I can complain about my wages and how I make less than some other departments here, but only us in the field will understand. Not sure where spirit is in the pay-scale. Friend from frontier said they are the lowest paid and he's going delta after 1.5 yeras with them.
I would love to work for AA and fly to my home country in europe one day, but It's so hard to predict the future.
say I go to spirit, and 3-4 yers later I get on with AA. will they put me in an airbus, or they don't care i'm type rated and they'll put me in whatever they need? not sure how all that works.
I def don't like changing companies/depts. I stuck with mine for a while because I didn't want to start from another, go through field training again on nights and have to prove my worth to others.