CantStayAway

Contracts and Teamsters. It would take years to see how that would impact us though. Most likely the entire airline would be ALPA after the merger was completed.

dracir1

Of course. But dissimilar unions have merged before.

Keep in mind we’re talking about two of the three smallest major airlines merging - hardly a blip on anyone’s radar except ours.

AlternateLaw

Their 737 order is mainly for replacements, I believe. Not growth. Depending how that SLI went you’d have to consider we’d be getting shafted on upgrades and prob take a hit to our QOL.

I too would be out if they announced an allegiant merger.

Aero1900

Stranger things have happened so I don't want to say we will never merge with Allegiant, but its unlikely.

Allegiant is more than just an airline. They are a whole travel company. They own a resort and a golf course management software company. To merge our two companies would be a really odd mix of businesses. I just don't see it happening

dracir1

very true and agreed - a merger is unlikely.

But I think BB/Franke realize something has to be done as we aren’t really growing comparatively. At our current rate of about +25 pilots a month, we’ll be short of a 15/1 ratio for our aircraft in a couple of years.

PositiveRate20

Wasn't part of LFDR 2.0 planned expansion into hotels, vacations, cruises, etc etc....just like Allegiant?

I actually think an Allegiant merger is the most likely scenario for F9. The 73 fleet is the main thing that gives me pause.

dracir1

Aircraft aren't any reason to hesitate w/ a merger. They are easily disposed of/sold. SWA and Airtran are a good example.

Shady702

Is this statement based from the bid packet or is it based off of what you are able to hold based on your seniority?

Our 2 and 3 day pairings have been rising in percent pairing counts.

For numbers, our base wide pairing numbers for April, based on the April bid packet, are

1 day - 39%
2 day - 44%
3 day - 16 %
4 day - 1%

MIA and TPA are the only domiciles that have a higher 1 day or daily pairing percentage than 2/3 day pairings (But then MIA has 22.5% 3 day pairings, and TPA is at 12.9% 3 day pairings)

Also, the rising percent 2 days are not all red eyes. LAS has a high rede eye pairing makeup, typically. But in April, 81 out of 624 2 day pairings, based on navblue numbers/filters, are red eyes or only 12%. I agree that any red eye is not awesome, but it doesn’t seem to high. All airlines departing LAS have these.

At my seniority, I hold all day turns with an average daily credit/block just above 6.5 hrs/day (or work approx 13 days to have a 85 hour month). If I was a commuter, commuting to my domicile, I would also be able to hold 3 day pairings with pretty much the same daily average credit, also in many other of our domiciles. I would say that is vastly different from Allegiant. I have friends there, and we are pretty far apart.

turbojet28

You make some fair points. In my domicile it seems like any “3-day” pairing is actually a two duty-period trip that spans three calendar days, either finishing after midnight of what would be called “day 2”, or with a red eye duty period arriving early in the morning on day 3, all for a whopping 10-12 hours of credit. I guess it’s no different in practicality for a commuter than a genuine 2-day that is worth 10-12 hours but is not commutable. The point I was trying to make (with some hyperbole) is that from the lens of a couple-year timespan, there is no question that we look substantially more like Allegiant than almost any other “major” airline. And, as someone else mentioned, one of the LFDR 2.0 pillars sets a goal of becoming more of a one-stop travel shop.

HacksawDuggan

This is something I’ve noticed myself, the stats in the bid packet on pairing length are not useful. A single duty period trip that ends after midnight is a “2 day pairing”. A two duty period trip that operates on three calendar days is a “3 day pairing”.

These schedules are not for commuters no matter what the pairing stats say about their length. You can’t even stack most of these multi day trips up next to one another because they start at 5am and finish at midnight.