Snuffy

Hey guys, how bout news on Dulles becoming a base? Any more verification of it being an official rumor? Not having to commute would certainly make applying a no brainer...

Aero1900

I would call the Dulles base more speculation than rumour. Frontier hasn't even started service there yet. The plans are to serve 14 cities out of Dulles starting in August or September. During that time, frontier is also rapidly expanding in Cleveland.

The company has told us no new bases this year. Our contact makes opening small bases not very efficient for the company. I think that one East coast base is more likely than not. Unless there are changed to the contract. Trenton would also be a possible domicile. The pilot group wants a Florida base, but I think that's unlikely. Who knows???

Leslie Chow

Anyone in the 28th class, please PM me. Thanks!

sulkair

I've been developing some visual data, some of you may have already seen it. Majors at a glance

I knew Frontier was at the lower end of the pay scales, but I guess I didn't know that a JetBlue 190 driver makes MORE!

A Frontier new-hire coming on now and putting in 20 years, with a 6 year upgrade will earn about 10% less than the identical new-hire at Spirit or Virgin.

My question to the readers of this thread: Does our set of cadillac work rules make up for that missing 10%?


...

carolinaflyer

I would say it certainly does. Just my $.02 but as a mid-rank FO in the smaller base, my sched kicks ass. Quality of life and ability to manipulate ones own schedule is priceless. One of my closest friends is a fairly senior (13yr) capt and he argues that our contract is what dictates best pay, not just the hourly rate. A random hr to hr/airline to airline comparison is not really a true measure. If all contracts were equal and every airline abided by the exact same guidelines, then the strict hr to hr comparison would be a legitimate benchmark.

Make sense???

Aero1900

The current pay rates at Frontier are the industry worst, true. However, the current rates are bankruptcy concession pay rates. The pay rates snap back to higher rates next year, and then our contract is amendable the year after that.

The current pay rates at spirit are from a much newer contract than the one frontier is operating under. That's the whole point though. Contacts are always changing, so it's impossible to compare one airline to another in the long term. Today's best paying airline will not be tomorrow. With that said, airlines like frontier and spirit are not going to pay the same at UAL, DAL, and AA.

I was hired at frontier last year, into the old, low paying contract with bankruptcy concessions on top of that. In three years we could be at completely new pay rates, so in the long term, I'm not letting my low pay get under my skin.

Personally, I think we will get better than Spirit rates in our next contract, and I'll be happy with that.

sulkair

I did work in the "snap-back" rates into the FO analysis. I need to make sure the CA ones are entered as well.

Aero... As long as we don't give away work rules to get those Spirit rates!

Carolina... Are you saying I did all this work for nothing But what you say does make sense!

carolinaflyer

No Way Brotha..I think your work is stellar!!! So many pieces of this puzzle to analyze.

sulkair

I was just kidding - thank you though.

ManFlex

We, at Spirit, will start negotiating our next contract in about one year from now. With record profitability, expect the Spirit pilots to make gains. And why shouldn't an A320 pilot at F9 or NK make the same as one at the legacies? I assert that NK pilots should and will.