No, I'm not trying to plan my life based on message board rumor. ...Who am I kidding, that's exactly what I'm doing! A captain fresh from recurrent told me he heard talk of Denver displacements coming, and the number he heard was BIG! Anyone else hearing this? I'm hoping he's either grossly misinformed, or just enjoys making wide eyed FO's squirm. Truth is I have earnest money on a new house - ok let the beratement commence - I'm ready.

 

Have an interview lined up in March? With all the movement and rumors going around I'm wondering if this is a good move or not. Representive told me I should count on ORD

 

I do not believe this. We just opened 15 capt spots and 15 FO spots for ord. In terms of fos, we have been hiring plenty of guys that want ord. It took guys from July 14 until now to finally be awarded ord. I do know we will be positive airframes at end of year. Capts on the other hand have to leave den if they want to upgrade.... That is definitely a hard decision for each person....

Few returns, but more deliveries. I do not believe in displacements right now. I don't want to go through my reasonings. You will be able to find people who can swing you both ways. This is my honest opinion. Now, I do think den will stop being a good schedule and almost impossible to get into.... For the near future.... Now.... I am not saying Colorado may not have another home for frontier pilots....... Now I am just speculating and having fun..... Me, I am in Denver, want to be in Denver and I love it here! That is my opinion and I am sticking to it...... I am not by any means saying this is a for sure.....

 

I agree. BIG displacements seems unlikely to me. Perhaps a small displacement of Captains when the East Coast base finally opens, which probably won't be for quite some time (a year - maybe?)

The company is growing, hiring and upgrading. You generally don't see BIG displacements during a phase of growth. 2015 is supposed to be at least 200 new hires and 75 upgrades. That's all the movement they need to not have BIG displacements. I do however believe that there will be very few DEN Captain vacancies in the near future. All the growth will be in Chicago and the eventual, yet to be named, East Coast base.

If you want to be based in Chicago, Frontier is a great choice. If you want to be based in Denver, its a good choice. Frontier has always been a Denver airline. The company is obviously shifting away from being Denver focused. This will cause some pain for those who are so tied to Denver (me).

I do not plan on being a Denver based captain for a long, long time. But I also don't think I'm going to be displaced out of Denver either. If I want to upgrade in less than a decade, I'll be a Chicago or an East Coast captain.

 

Aero and Speed. You guys are nice to respond so quickly. I like what you have to say too! Just to define BIG for you, he said 50%!

Agreed, left seat will not be in Denver for us. I was hoping to settle in buy a house and get the kids into a good school. Accept FO-dom for 5 years or so and then consider a move to chase an upgrade down the road. I'm ok with that too. I just don't want to get the boot as an FO.

However Aero, you're quite a bit senior to me I think. I'm bidding mid to high 200's But if they upgrade guys out ahead of me maybe I can hang on.

Time to close on the home I guess. No guts no glory.

 

I'm thinking of actually moving to Chicago with the family after being based in Denver for 7.5 years. Problem being, is Chicago gonna be a sure thing? Once ORD doubles in size from its current state, I'll give more serious thought on movin so I can have a better QOL and make more money in the left seat.

Unfortunately, F9 has made me paranoid and I don't trust any of their methods.

 

Might not be a bad idea Cross. But you're right, who knows if they suddenly decide to close it one day. I'm paranoid because I had 3 bases shut down on me at my regional. I'm thinking all the uncertainty now at F9 is just growing pains, and will settle down as we "find ourselves." I mean guys at Spirt don't worry about bases closing do they? - well maybe they do!

Ready for more rumors!? These suckers are juicy... Another CA (super nice guy) tells me today that he talked to high up union boss fresh from a meeting with the Co. and got all this.... Ready?... here we go... 89 additional aircraft (Fleet size ~140 by 2020). They don't want to give a single airplane back, just get as many as they can. Hiring to continue at breakneck (30/month) indefinitely. IPO to happen in November/December. $300,000 to $400,000 to every CA's as a result of IPO. Frontier is estimated to be worth 2.8 Billion. Frontier wants to give the Hanger back to the city of Denver. They want to cut 50% of the flights from Denver. PHL is the best bet for the east coast base.

Yes, he said this all, with a strait face

 

Proof positive that random drug testing is highly ineffective in identifying people who go to work while stoned off their @ss.

 

So much for non disclosure agreements :-)

 

You've been talking with Sundquist haven't you?! LOL