ShyGuy

When I try and do this, I get the "payrates aren't everything! I still have you beat!"

hemaybedid

How many 12 year FO's do you think they have? They're most junior Captain was hired less than five and a half years ago, two months before I was hired at my regional. And guess what? I'm looking at realistically upgrading in another five years. What does that mean to me?....*

727C47

my friends at the big A that live in base in the left seat make nice six figure incomes and are home every night, and laugh quietly at all the commuting and other angst associated with the big carriers while they thrive within their niche. More power to them.

johnso29

Who? Allegiant? IDK, but just because they're most junior CA upgraded under 6 years doesn't mean they don't/couldn't/won't have 12 year FOs. United just had a 6 yr guy upgrade to 737 CA. Does that mean that United doesn't have 12 year FOs?

Another poster said look 10, 20, 30 years down the road. So I looked at 12 year longevity rates. What I see is that an FO at Delta can make more then a CA at Allegiant. That being said, if someone wants to work for Allegiant then go for it. It works for some and not for others. Just like Delta, American, Spirit, JetBlue, etc. People need to go where they think they'll be happy.

johnso29

Yup. Absolutely. More power to them. Glad it works for them. But the fact is one can have the EXACT same thing at a big carrier.

labbats

Like all airlines those at the top are happy and those at the bottom are not.

-Not everyone is home every night. If you are on the bottom 1/3 of some bases you could be sent TDY for your monthly bid.

-TDY may have you on reserve where you will have only 10 days off to commute home.

-Some reserve lines start the first day at 4am and shift to pm trips that end the last day at 10pm... effectively taking another day off away.

-Entire bases open and close with little notice. While we understand that an unprofitable base is just that, it still stops those who live there from being home nightly.

-Aside from monthly TDY, you may get a phone call to be at another base for a few days to cover trips on reserve. You will not be given a rental car and you will get $1/hr per diem. This phone call can and does happen often on reserve.

If you asked a senior 777 captain what life is like at American you'll likely get a different response than a reserve LGA MD80 FO. Yet you don't ask a senior 777 captain what life is like at American, you ask the FO if you are planning to apply. I suggest you do the same in regards to Allegiant. I am senior here and life is good, but have seen friends upgrade and then downgrade because being junior here is so bad.

tailendcharlie

Just an FYI about upgrades - although Allegiant is still small and the outlook can change quickly for better or worse the trend is definitely towrd longer upgrades. This is no longer the place to come and get some quick PIC time. Best guess now is around 7 years and maybe 10 or more out west. If you want to live somewhere other than Florida you'll probably upgrade faster at a legacy.

AZbound

TDY'ing crews is a way of life here at Allegiant - a way of staffing the airline. Why hire more people when you can send them to the other side of the country for a couple months to fill the vacancies?

Keep that in mind when applying...if you have any desire to be based anywhere other than FL it will more than likely be years before you see the sun setting on the West Coast (and then you will be TDY'd to FL once you get there).

tailendcharlie

All good points. A 3-year pilot who is junior at his small base in the west was
recently TDY'd to FL for a month. Allegiant is 2 airlines, E and W. Like everywhere else more folks want to live out west. And the west is not growing, not the way pilots measure growth. There are no retirements to speak of. Attrition, so far, has been steady but relatively minor.

ShyGuy

Although to be fair. That's Continental, not United. It's still two separate lists, and plenty of movement on the CAL side and virtually none on the United side.