Not unless you go through one of the flow-up programs from a flight college.

We have no shortage of qualified candidates with well over the preferred minimums... To some of my friends dismay who also want to get on.

Amazing isn’t it? Talking about a shortage yet how many apps are on file from guys with thousands of hours of turbine time?

Things may change in the next 6-12 months but as of right now the amount of candidates out-strip the openings by a wide margin.

Monthly credit
 

I have an offer from F9 and NK but trying to see the pay difference if any… management says frontier pilots are the 2nd highest paid Airbus pilots in the industry behind American because of their credit system. Any truth to this ? It seems like it’s easier to credit a lot of hours at frontier and not actually fly that much, why is this ? With a little hustle how much monthly credit can a you expect ?

I would not go as far to say we are the 2nd highest paid 320 drivers in the industry. You can look at a lot of metrics and see that is a false statement. I’d also like to point out that both NK and F9 have steeper pay scales than most of our competitors. Legacy pay goes up about $2/year of longevity whereas some of our jumps are $8/hr. This makes the top pay scale look competitive whereas the middle band of pay is at a discount compared to our peers.

We can credit exclusive of the override, about same amount as almost any company flying domestic NB. What our company does well (and SWA for that matter) is incentivize flying more than the minimum per month. With the 1.25x override on credit over 82 it makes it possible and rewarding to trade a few days off for more money. It is possible to do about 16 days off per month at about 95-100 hours of credit including the override.

While NK has similar pay scales than us, they get a 321 override which boosts the actual straight pay a little higher than ours. They do not have the 125% override though which means we are rewarded exponentially for working harder if you choose to do so.

As far as premium flying is concerned, NK pays at 200% and we pay at 150%. Our premium pay is subject to incentive credit which is an arbitrary amount of credit added to the pairing at crew scheduling’s discretion. The 150%+ incentive credit is then subject to the 125% override as well which can be rewarding.

That being said, don’t count on premium pay to be something you can achieve with any regular success unless you are willing to commute to other domiciles or have a flica bot.

I am not an expert on NK’s contract so if there’s anything I said incorrectly, please feel free to chime in.

Okay i see so basically they add a bunch of credit as an incentive to pick up a trip and then pay it all at 150%. Plus the 82 override. Seems like a pretty good deal!

What about the flexibility i know the 60/70 hours drop but how easy is it to actually drop trips if you want to move a few days around ? Are there usually enough reserves to cover it ?

EAFF pretty much hit it all. One thing to consider about the NK 321 override pay, however, is that it’s based on a percentage of 321 vs. 320/319 block hours. NK has more aircraft on order and deliveries currently coming, but they are exclusively 319 and 320s. So, as new aircraft come online, the 319/320 block hours will become further disproportionate to 321 block hours thus reducing the override pay. While the 321 override is nice and something I do wish we had, it’s a moving and variable metric. So, I wouldn’t weigh that too heavily in your position.

Congrats on having offers from both! I’m sure you’ll make the best decision for your situation. Always remember that living in or near base is key to money and happiness in this business. Commuting is expensive. Which airline has a (junior-ish) base closest to you?

Yes thank you I feel extremely lucky ! I’m a south Florida guy so FLL or MIA would be perfectly fine. How is the MIA base doing at Frontier I know it’s new and it looks to be growing

Also that 150% will also pay out at an additional 125% if you’re over 82. So let’s say a 7 hour turn is put in premium with 3 hours of incentive credit for a total trip credit of 10 hours. That 10 hours will pay out at 150% for a total of 15 hours. If you’re over 82 for the month then that 15 will pay out at 18.75. So you will get paid 18.75 hours for what was originally a 7 hour turn.

As for dropping trips… right now it’s pretty easy, but alway subject to change. Our drops are based on amount of open duty periods on the particular day(s) that you want to drop. We have a grid that shows the amount of open duty periods allowed. In a nutshell, if you want to drop something and the grid shows that there are max of 3 open duty periods allowed, you will be able to drop as long as there are 2 or less open duty periods already in open time. If there are already three open periods in open time then you would be denied. Seeing as open time is a moving target, I’ve never not been able to drop something as long as I’m persistent and consistently keep track of the open time grid. All it takes is someone to pick up something in open time to give you the availability you need to drop. You can also set up alerts to be notified if the open duty periods on a particular day drop below your specified value.

Within 3 days (? I think. I’d have to double check the contract to be completely sure) of the trip you want to drop, the ability to drop changes to available reserve coverage rather than open duty periods.

MIA is still going strong. It’s still growing and remaining pretty junior. I’d expect it to always be junior to mid-seniority level. Perfect for a new hire.