Thanks for all your inputs.

I’ve found even the 50 hourish lines are pushing above guarantee when R2s are thrown in. Mileage may vary.

Thanks again. One more question:

What do you current Kalitta guys realistically expect to happen in a new contract? Dec 2020 correct?

I see the retirement as a major hole right now.

Who knows. Might be right away, or a couple years. It's not guaranteed that when a contract becomes amenable that it will pass.

Why do you see retirement as a major hole? If we did not get retirement, would you then leave and start over at the bottom of the pay scale at a new carrier. I realize you don’t work here yet, but if you got hired next week and the contract was renewed 4 years from today that is a question you would have to answer.

My opinion? Anyone who gets hired here and does not put 20% of their pay away for retirement is a fool. You may make more money later and have more discretionary income but You can never get the time back for compounding your interest in an investment.

If you took $25.00 an hour of your starting pay and put it into retirement you would still be making more per hour than most other starting salaries. Why depend on an employer to provide your retirement when you can so easily do so yourself.

Just about every other carrier out there offers a 15% DC. Anything you put on top of that is gravy. That's a deal breaker for a lot of people that have many years left in the industry. And yeah, I think a lot of people would leave after a few years and start over. FDX pay is about $180K second year. That's a LOT of cheddar over a 20 year career.

180k? I've flown with 2nd year guys here that topped 220k. Just some perspective for you.

I'm quoting FDX guarantee pay. I'm sure a lot of those guys can break 230 with OT just like some of our first officers break guarantee (but 180K?....I haven't come even close). Gotta look at reality here. Not everyone has a pension and funded 401 from a previous career like Max. Most will be relying on K4 for a funded retirement.

Well I'm rocking an average of 72 hrs a month. With the raise...that'd be around $115K a year. To make $220K you'd have to average 140 credit hours a month. That's over double guarantee pay...and I'm using $131/hr for that figure. There is absolutely no overtime available right now. I call shenanigans.

I'm thinking of rental properties, additional sources of income I can continue to do beyond age 65. 401K is nice but not enough