Many Questions
 

Hello. At the risk of catching much flak... I have many questions about Allegiant. The better half got called for a video interview as a flight attendant. So now I’m considering Allegiant as a pilot. I apologize for so, so many questions. I know I can search for these, but I want to try and make a decision quickly so I can tell her if she should or should not do the interview.

Operations
1. I saw the latest base drop. Looks mostly east coast/NE (ish). Any guesses on ABE, SDF, or BNA?
2. How often do base bids happen?
3. Do junior FOs (or FAs) get bounced around the system a lot and used for TDY, etc? Once you get a base, is it yours until you bid out or it closes (Heaven forbid)? I heard someone say first year FOs get switched between the bases a lot.
4. Any idea at all where the new hire FAs are going?
5. Do you often fly with the same FAs? Could her and I buddy bid?
6. What are the schedules like? I know it’s all day trips. I’m talking like 4 on, 3 off, etc? Line bidding or PBS?
7. How long is reserve? How is it? 2 hour call out?
8. How’s the flying? Do you find yourselves going to the same cities over and over again because of the day trips? Are there a lot of DHs and redeyes?
9. Is there ability to pick up extra flying while on reserve? Can you pick up out of base?

Training
1. How is training? Traditional or AQP?
2. How long?
3. Where?
4. Hotels provided?
5. Training pay and/or per diem?

Benefits
1. How much pay can a 1st year FO expect to earn?
2. What are the flight benefits (if any?). Are there ZED and/or CASS agreements?
3. Is short term commuting possible/viable until you get the base you want?
4. How’s the health insurance?
5. Are there any plans to increase 401k/pay?

Like I said. I know I will catch flak for a lot of this. It was mostly thrown together in haste as I’m hustling between flights right now. Thank you kindly for every and any response. A virtual free night of drinking is on me for being such a needy AAY newb. Blue skies!!

Yes. That is a lot of questions. I’ll see what I can do.

Operations
1. ABE is junior and will be for a while. Should be able to hold it immediately. BNA is junior for now because it, like ABE is just opening. SDF is not a Base.
2. Monthly as needed. When classes are running or upgrades are happening they are monthly. Otherwise, we will have months without a vacancy bid.
3. Allegiant is a seasonal vacation airline. This creates a constant need for shuffling of flight crews. This is partially addressed by the Variable Base (VBD=permanent TDY), but is very much addressed by TDYs. Some bases are more prone to them than others. In 3 years I have been involuntarily TDYd once. Others are TDYd a few months out of every year. You can only be displaced out of your awarded bases during a displacement bid. This usually happens during a Base closure or when a fleet type goes away.
4. No idea.
5. That depends on base size. No official buddy bidding that I know of. Someone else could answer that better than me.
6. That varies greatly by base and seniority. We have a lot of single days off.
7. 12 hour shifts with a 90 minute callout. How long you are in reserve varies greatly by base. I’ll be able to hold captain in the east coast before I will be off reserve in my base.
8. Again varies by base (detecting a theme here?). Very few red eyes. Most bases have none.
9. Yes and yes

Got to go now will try to answer more later.


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1. I saw the latest base drop. Looks mostly east coast/NE (ish). Any guesses on ABE, SDF, or BNA?

SDF Isn’t a base, haven’t heard of it rumored even. Wouldn’t expect it to be soon. Junior guys seem to be able to be able to get BNA and ABE. Only been 1 bid with them included though. Hard to know if people want to stay there or not yet.

2. How often do base bids happen?

When needed based on staffing needs, ie new hires or upgrades, as frequently as monthly.... or not.

3. Do junior FOs (or FAs) get bounced around the system a lot and used for TDY, etc? Once you get a base, is it yours until you bid out or it closes (Heaven forbid)? I heard someone say first year FOs get switched between the bases a lot.

Depends on the base. IWA in the summer? Bottom guys are getting a vacation. Most bases don’t have more than 1 or 2 when TDYs happen, and a lot of guys volunteer.

4. Any idea at all where the new hire FAs are going?

All over.

5. Do you often fly with the same FAs? Could her and I buddy bid?

It happens, but never tried to do it so can’t say how easy buddy bidding is... 4 FAs get 1 trip, vs 1 FO getting the trip. Possible but difficult.

6. What are the schedules like? I know it’s all day trips. I’m talking like 4 on, 3 off, etc? Line bidding or PBS?

“PBS”. In court fighting for PBS. Schedules vary greatly by base and seniority. Tuesday’s and Saturday’s are generally slow.

7. How long is reserve? How is it? 2 hour call out?

Depends on base and seniority. 90 min call out (everywhere but PIE/SRQ), depends on base. Some guys go all month without getting called, while others *cough* Florida *cough* get called almost every day.

8. How’s the flying? Do you find yourselves going to the same cities over and over again because of the day trips? Are there a lot of DHs and redeyes?

Yes, a lot of repetition. Only a couple of red eyes system wide right now, but they do exist. Deadheads aren’t common unless your getting shipped around Florida on reserve.

9. Is there ability to pick up extra flying while on reserve? Can you pick up out of base?

Yes, pickups on days off are above guarantee. Yes on out of base pickups.

Training
1. How is training? Traditional or AQP?

Traditional.

2. How long?

3 weeks of ground school, 10 FTDs, Oral, 7 Sims, PC, LOFT.

3. Where?

Mainly LAS, some in SFB.

4. Hotels provided?

Yes.

5. Training pay and/or per diem?

Guarantee only. No per diem as your “based” in LAS for training.

Benefits
1. How much pay can a 1st year FO expect to earn?

60ish

2. What are the flight benefits (if any?). Are there ZED and/or CASS agreements?

Yes and Yes

3. Is short term commuting possible/viable until you get the base you want?

Possible, but hard. Depends where you’re commuting to/from.

4. How’s the health insurance?

Good.

5. Are there any plans to increase 401k/pay?

Next contract is the hope. Got until Aug 2021 with the current one.

Both of you are fan freaking tastic. Thank you so, so much for your help. Like I said. I knew it was a lot. The good news is I’ve got the next few days off, so I can actually do some of my own (deeper) research. I’m just surprised neither of y’all attacked me for asking these many basic questions. Thank you for that. Drinks on me, and have a great night!

Just to add to your commuting question, it would be difficult to do when you are junior. We have plenty of senior commuters that make it work, a lot are in the VBD base which goes senior. Their hotel is paid for along with 24/7/365 per diem. Although day trips and commuting should never mix IMO, you’d need at least 50% seniority to make it somewhat work, 25% would be optimal. I’m very junior and this month for example was 2 groups of 3 off, 2 groups of 2 off and 2 single days off. Reserve is 12 days off and possibly reduced to 10 during the 3 busiest months of the year. I live in base though so life is good. As far as making extra money, there is always enough to pick up in my base to 90+ hours on a reserve line if you wanted to, even in the slow months but this can vary drastically base to base. Each base is almost like a different airline in itself.
As far as the FA question. In the past, because commuting to day trips isn’t reasonable, FA’s apply/interview/accept a CJO that is only for a specific base. They can bid to swap around later if desired. I would assume this is still the case but somebody else would need to confirm. Right now they are hiring FA’s into ABE, BNA, CVG and PGD. Hope that helps.

Another awesome reply. Thank you so much!! I appreciate it. So we could, for example, both try to get ABE based and then bid to BNA later?

Also... my original post... I said SDF. I meant TYS. I’m 50% derp.

So I've realized reading through these forums that Allegiant closes bases pretty often. Did the union negotiate any compensation for this? As I figure it, selling a house and moving a family costs about 35k.

Also thanks for answering all these questions I've been asking. The info is much appreciated.

Moving expenses are proportional to the distance between the old and the new base, and they top at 10K.

I wouldn’t say that Allegiant closes bases pretty often. Yes, it is more often than perhaps any other major, but it’s not a regular occurrence either. In the last few years, HNL was closed as the 757 was retired, and OAK was closed.


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Any news on when they will be interviewing again?

In the last 10 years, 3 have closed. HNL after parking the 757 fleet, GRR (now reopened) and OAK. Back in the previous decade there were some small 1 plane charter bases that were closed UTA, IFP and also RNO.

I don't know if I would say pretty often but probably a higher odds than most airlines with 5-6 large bases vs 19 here. The airline is run very efficiently and if a route or base is losing money then it's cut but management has gotten pretty good with selecting successful routes/bases but you obviously can't predict everything. If you are really worried about it then pick one of the largest bases and not a small 2 plane base.

That's actually a pretty decent reimbursement, it would take a little of the sting off anyway.

That 10K is before tax. Just FYI

Hopefully Soon

I’ve heard thru the grapevine that inductions are being slowed to one per month, thereby slowing hiring as well. Take it FWIW.

Also, does AAY have KCM?

Yes. Does any airline with more than a handful of airplanes not use KCM?

Additional Questions
 

Thanks for all the info in response to the OP. This seems like as good a place as any to keep asking questions...

1. How is vacation awarded/handled (weeks, PTO days, etc)? Do you get any vacation time in your first calendar/employment year?

2. I've seen people mention being able to "drop" days, how does that work (I'm assuming it mainly applies to line holders)?

3. Which months are the busiest, in order from busiest to slowest? Are most lines in busy months built with min days off or are there just more lines built?

4. I'll reread the forum to see if it was asked, but if not, how good is LTD/STD with Allegiant/Teamsters? Is it own-occupation? Is there a company-paid portion? What is the max coverage?

Thanks again for the helpful responses, hoping to be headed y'all's way soon.

1. We just got awarded our 2020 vacation weeks and it goes by seniority. You bid your preferences based on the year's available weeks. If our forget to bid or don't care you can still request your vacation 2 months out based on what's leftover from the yarly vacation bid I just mentioned. First year you get 1 week, 2nd-4th year you get 2, 5th-8th 3 weeks, 9th and on 4 weeks.
2. Drop days are available whenever we have more reserves than needed, anyone can drop a trip or reserve. Depending on month and base you can go from being able to drop pretty much your entire schedule to zero drops available in the busiest months or short staffed bases.
3. Depends on the base, generally speaking we fly a lot in March, June, July, August and December. In busy months more lines are built and some get screwed with trips they didn't bid for resulting also in fatter lines.
4. Not sure about that

Thanks.

Assuming someone started class in Q1/Q2 2020, would they get a week of vacay in 2020, or not until 2021?

You can bid for a week in 2020, 2 months in advance and with limited options cause you have to choose between what's leftover from the Nov 2019 company bid. Or you can wait til Nov 2020 for a 2021 vacation.

One thing that I think is important to pass on about Allegiants vacation situation is that all the small bases have zero weeks of vacation to bid for in two months of the summer, the larger bases only have one in each week. So basically the top four people in the big bases get two weeks vacation in the summer and that's it for the whole company. It's an incredibly small percentage of the company.

Same way in March.

So, recently got a job offer! Thanks for all the info everyone shared. Follow up questions!

What type of headset plug does the Airbus have? My headset has the double prongs; I’ve heard they don’t have receptacles for that, right?

Do the airplanes have ship headsets in them?

And does anyone have any advance study material they can send me or recommend?

Please and thanks!!

Most of our airplanes have the Airbus plug, but not all of them. The adapter works well and can be bought on Amazon. We have shop headsets. Many people use them some don’t. Please if you use your own, plug the ship headsets back in when you are done.

No need for advanced study material.


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Congratulations! When is your class date?

Yes. Please. Yes. Do. That.

Not even any need to study memory items/limitations/profiles/flows/call outs? I’m 2/3s of an idiot and just want to make sure I am as prepared as I possibly can be.

(This is also me awkwardly asking for the above items haha)

Nope. No need for any of that. There is plenty of time for all of that.


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Training is fairly relaxed, it's not the fire-hose regional style.

Lots of good info in here. Thanks to everyone who shared. Most of the other threads on this board aren't much more than how awful everything is.

How would you guys compare this to regional life? I just want to live in base and do day trips. I don't need to make a million dollars a year doing it.

You're perfect for allegiant. Don't listen to the doom and gloom. It's way better than a regional. No sarcasm.

Yeah, you'll love it here. My worst day here is still better than my best day at a regional.

Don't misinterpret the doom and gloom posts. This is a great job but there's a lot of things around here that need to be fixed. Too many pilots at this company get lulled into a sense of IDGAF when they sleep in their own bed every night. Management feeds off this and uses it to their advantage. Anybody thinking about coming to work here needs to hear both sides of the story. Sure it's the easiest airline job in the world, but in exchange for that, we are the lowest paid Airbus operator in the USA and management treats us like spoiled stepchildren. The future of the company is also very uncertain with LCC consolidation and our progenitor getting up there in years.

Another reason you see the doom and gloom posts here on this site, is because this management has a track record of going after pilots who don't drink their kool-aid. Their "social media policy" is large and encompassing. There have been many documented cases of pilots getting called into the principle's office because of facebook posts on the union facebook page and even these forums that simply call them out on bad faith. When (not if) they figure out who you are, they will take action. Many of us have had chief pilots point blank ask if we know who who particular usernames are on this very site. But really it's the only place you can raise awareness about the problems without management or the other kool-aid drinkers piling on you. That right there says a lot about how management views us, and their lack of willingness to fix the problems here.

whats going on with this? It's the first I've heard of it. Thanks for a different view point. I think I'll be trying again here soon.

It's very hard to predict but ULCC/LCC consolidation that includes G4 seems unlikely since the business model is so different from the others. The airline is small enough for a takeover but with the highest profit margins in the industry it would cost a premium. The stock hit a 52 week high today with the market cap getting close to hitting 3 billion. If a purchase was in the works the Raiders stadium naming wouldn't have just been signed. NK/F9 seems much more likely or even WN/AS but who knows.

There needs to be clarification regarding pay at Allegiant. When our contract went into effect in August of 2016, we were the highest paid Airbus operators in the ULCC sector by far. Allegiant's pay rates were even higher than SWA for a very short period of time (approximately 5 months) until they got their new contract in the winter of 2016.

Fast forward to today. The only reason our pay rates are lower than other ULCC's is because the other airlines ratified new contracts two years after ours. You would expect this normal leapfrog progression in contracts and actually want this type of upward movement. Allegiant's current contract expires July 31st, 2021 and when the next one is ratified I assure you it will leapfrog all ULCC carriers again. The upward progression will continue as so will the leapfrog game when the next ULCC after that gets another CBA sometime after 2021.

On a side note, it is interesting to see some of the newer pilots at G4 not understand the dynamics of Unions and their CBA's. A lot of pilots think a pilot union is some type of monolithic institution and the national level is where all the decisions are made for individual local levels, for some odd reason. For all the new hires at G4, please read the CBA cover to cover. Store a digital copy on your phone.

I really doubt it: they say either work rules OR pay, can't get both in one shot right? I think there's a lot on the table regarding the first one.
On top of that, we won't be in desperate need of pilots as other ULCC are going to. For example F9 is planning to double in size over the next few years and they are gonna need a huuuge number to show and get people interested.

They say that, but please don’t. We can absolutely get both. We are miles behind in both categories. The fact that everyone is hiring like crazy is all the more reason that this is the time that there are huge improvements in work rules AND pay.


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At the risk of sounding naive (which I greatly am) I am wondering what chance if any would I have of being competitive at 3.5k TT with 1.5k TPIC with zero 121 time and I also do not have my ATP. Would having the ATP-CTP course complete be enough or would I need to complete the check ride on my own and then get some experience or a type post check ride to be remotely competitive. TIA

I’m not aware that Allegiant has hired any pilot without an ATP.