Originally Posted by
JulesWinfield
The company was bleeding well before the new (still below industry standard) pay rates were implemented.
Did that help or hurt the bottom line?
Originally Posted by
aventhusiast
Of course it hurts the company bottom line, its an expense. But pilots are not free. Spirit pilots are already below market rates even before the new bankruptcy TA. The pilot wages are not the problem. Their problem is irresponsible debt accumulation and not having anything to offer passengers willing to pay a lot for a good premium experience.
I agree that NK pilots are paid below market rates. When NK was making money, what were those rates considered? They were good rates for the company because the company was profitable. When raises came, NK could not raise fares and ancillary fees enough to support the raises. The market did not support that. In 2015, NK profit was roughly $300M. Half of revenues came from ancillary. If NK could make $300M annual profit today, they would be able to survive with no problem. This is just an example, but compare 2015 wages to pre-BK wages.