Bugaboo

I would say they make up for the difference at Virgin America....but not Spirit. Spirit has some "BMW" work rules:0)

monkeybrains

Just out of curiosity, which work rules are you referring to? Cadillac of work rules, that's precious. The only deal we have going is our sick policy, the rest is nothing to write home about.

MtnPeakCruiser

^^^^^ troll

monkeybrains

Not a troll, just wish people would educate themselves before making statements like "the Cadillac of work rules"
You should try looking through some of our "peer groups" contracts, I think you might be surprised how far behind we really are.

Jeckyl

Can't we all just get along?

Word on the street is that after next week's new hire class of 18, we'll have one more in November, then one per month Jan-April next year.

zoooropa

One more in November is accurate, but next year is a crap shoot.

Our hourly rates suck. Our work rules don't. They are not the greatest work rules in the industry but we have a bunch of people making A LOT more than folks on other properties (obviously not legacy properties) with higher rates. If you understand the rules, you can maximize your compensation. It is nice to at least have the option.

I will not defend the compensation section of our CBA, we are underpaid by every metric.

zoooropa

We do and we know. You are correct and you should keep discussing the issue with fellow pilots. Everyone should mentally and financially prepare for a battle, it is inevitable with Indigo. So be it.

sulkair

Well I didn't exactly phrase it like you quote me, but I accept your criticism. I am often accused of using overly colorful prose.

I should better educate myself, and by asking the question in the first place was an attempt to do so, albeit a lazy one.

Let me ask you Monkey, isn't it true that relative to our peers F9 has an exceptionally high degree of scheduling flexibility? Or was that just kool-aide I bought into?

I suppose I don't really know what good work rules look like. But I promise I know what bad ones look like. Incidentally, recently I was reading in the Delta hiring thread about mid seniority guys there regularly getting stuck on 11 or 12 day blocks because of PBS.

monkeybrains

Have you tried to drop a weekend trip in denver in the past 3 months? Our scheduling flexibility has always been based on the fact that folks live in denver, and everyone picks up open time. That is no longer the case. Chicago still has a great deal of flexibility because most of the pilots commute and rsv pilots try to aggressive bid as much as possible so there is no open time. The point I was trying to make was that this has nothing to do with work rules. There I really no language in the contract that gives us great flexibility, only the fact that our pilots historically picked up lots of flying which kept the pot empty so u could drop trips. In addition the DDL has not changed with the increase of block hours which further exacerbates the problem.
Zoo makes some good points but I would argue that having the ability to credit 1500+ hours and making less than a spirit pilot crediting 1100+ is nothing to be proud of. Just because you can get vja'd everytime you turn around; you're still spending the better part of your month at the airport.

sulkair

I'm new, and naive. What you write is enlightening and useful. Thanks for elaborating. I rescind my use of the term Cadillac. Let's call it a Ford Taurus. Why shouldn't we have what Spirit has? How do we get it?

I guess I was hoping for some mitigating fact, otherwise those little charts I've made are just downright depressing. I've been sucking hind teat for 11 years in this industry (mostly my own fault ) and I need to start earning what a real airline pilot should earn. We all do!