KC135

4 bases opened within the last year or will be open soon (IND/VPS/GRR/SAV). The base/traffic didn’t support growth for OAK to add another plane and 1 plane bases are ineffecient. 10% extra pilots were hired in 2017 to cover a massive fleet transission/training bubble. The airline is still growing into those extra pilots but my guess is hiring will start up again by the end of the year.

akulahunter

Don't forget TYS. I'm still expecting another one to be announced in the first half of the year too.

+5, -1. I'll take that. (Still feel for the guys that live in OAK though.)

dutch rudder

Suggesting we are “transitioning” would mean one business would make money while the other would not. I share your dislike of our side ventures, but that comment is a bit misleading. The goal is to make money with all of them (whether or not we actually do is a different discussion).

I don’t live in a large base anymore and my life is better. Telling potential applicants that this is not a good place to come unless they live in a Big 5 base is misleading. Perhaps they live near KIND or KSAV and are tired of commuting for another airline. This place would be great for them. Perhaps they are flexible and willing to go to any northern base.

You said, “back when we were a growing company…” we are still a growing company as indicated by financial statements, new base openings, new routes, more frequency, 10 new aircraft per year, making profit, etc. It is the seniority list that isn’t growing… we all know the reason for it and it's temporary.

Our schedules are commutable… eventually. When a schedule becomes commutable is the big question. It depends on many variables. For the people interested, I will ballpark it and say halfway up the seniority list in a particular base and seat is when it gets easier. At least that was my experience (we were booming at the time). The speed at which you make it halfway up depends primarily on hiring and which base you choose.

Not trying to start an argument, ECAM. I’m just trying to balance things out a bit.

ecam

We can agree to disagree. I see them spooling up the entertainment and hotel ventures and winding down the airline over the next 5 years.

My comment was because they are more likely to close the small bases. As I said if they already live there its a no brainer. Would suck to have to 2 leg commute out of one of them to another remote base.

We aren't growing we are adding new routes to the same cities and shifting flying around. Until we go international we have reached route saturation.

I'm a top 25% CA in my base and I wouldn't dream of commuting here. It's all day trips. You're still going to need an apartment.

My comments aren't meant to destroy the company. Anyone who has been a trade unionist most of their life knows that companies don't do anything for the employees when theres a line of people knocking down the door to work there. That makes us expendable. Maybe if people realize the promises management makes to applicants are lies they will look elsewhere. Then management will have no choice but to follow our contract and give people already here a reason to stay. Hell the bottom 200 on our list were lied to. Told they would have a great career. Maybe turned down other offers to come here and be home every night. Moved their family to a remote base. Then they find out a year in that they were hired as temporary help and not needed. Involuntary TDY all over the place months on end. No chance of upgrade on the horizon. Don't tell me you haven't flown with these guys. They were swindled plain and simple and thats too bad. I hate to see others fall into this when we hire again.

What you call expansion is a trickle of airplanes and routes. We who have been hare a long time have seen these cycles. We are not in an expansion cycle. We can't staff even GRR and SAV FO seats for the summer without TDY. We are starting to bleed FOs from the bottom of the list. Maybe its time management wakes up and gives people a reason to come here. Or stay here.

LoFly

Yep I'm one of them, the same week I got the interview invitation for Allegiant I also got emails from Spirit and Atlas. I chose Allegiant because I wanted to be at home with my kids and my wife every night. While I'm writing this I'm sitting 2000+ miles from them, in a non commutable base with a non commutable schedule because of involuntary TDY. A guy below me just quit two weeks ago.
I know this should be temporary but I also know we have 9 frames on order (airfleets.net). People say 17 this year plus 12 next year... Sure, until I see it written black on white I stopped believing ANYTHING here people say. With the planned staffing projection this means zero movement for a while.
Had I known all of this (ah... also the go-karts thing, pew pew) I'm not sure I would have made the same decision. I mean it, I honestly don't know. Maybe, maybe not.

wilco811

We’ve already received 8 of the 17 for the year. That’s why that website says 9 orders. No clue about next year but the 17 for this years looks like it’s a sure thing. After the transition was done we were down to 75 planes or so. At least things are looking better with new (used) planes coming and some new bases opening.

LoFly

My apologies I phrased it incorrectly, you're right: 9 of the 17 ordered to be delivered in 2019. Still, that's nothing given the current fleet size, pilot group and headcount projection.
Opening new bases doesn't mean anything, it's just shuffling things around. Opening new routes it's growth, increasing utilization is growth, and we usually are the last ones finding out about either one of those so... as far as I can see, not much happening in the near future. No drama, just looking at what's on paper.

akulahunter

OK, I get Ecam's post. He's grumpy and negative about everything, but how were you lied to? Did they promise you in the interview that you would be in a specific base? Do you live in one of our bases and they promised that one? I have a hard time believing that.

In my interview they asked "why Allegiant?" One of the reasons I gave them was the opportunity to be based in one of my dream locations. The VERY NEXT question was what if you get based in OAK (all the way across the country) and we close XYZ?

Being home every night is as easy as moving your family. I did. Of course, we are used to moving and don't have any artificial ties to a certain area.

Anyone who takes an airline job expecting a one or two year upgrade or a guarantee of a certain base (unless in writing) is being naive. It could happen, but it ain't common...

I'm not trying to be a richard here, but there is a difference in being lied to and having unrealistic expectations.

LoFly

I was referring to being in the bottom 200, not the lies. No promises were made during the interview, obviously. And they asked me those very questions too.
The user who started this thread is looking for opinions on how's working for G4, here is mine regarding being at home every night and based on what's on paper: with our current staffing levels and pilot-per-frame goal, pilot group age, attrition and retirements, aircraft orders, used ones availability and our budget, business ventures, our typical schedule, seasonal up and downs etc etc... A new hire at G4 should expect to be stuck at the bottom for a while and seniority to move up very slowly (do we agree on this?). With that comes the risk of being TDY'd left and right for months. Being at home every night and TDY don't go together, regardless your ability to move your entire family to the other side of the country.
That being said, I'm here to stay. I really hope this stagnation is going to last as little as possible.

Alexander12

I too am one of the few late hires. What you said can exactly hold true for all of us at the bottom 100-200 on the list. I’m impressed on how well the retirement of the md80s went and I understand our position of over staffing because of it. However being TDY’d away from your home all month and getting the least commutable schedule (usually not an issue) can be tiresome. I will say this out front and center, if your home is Arizona and you want IWA, plan on commuting at least 2 years