Agreed. Home basing is worth its weight in gold, especially if you're at an outfit like Omni or Kalitta that has a decent contract.

So, easy commute: 2 hour flight, one flight every hour, need 2 options for commute policy, get on first flight home every time, every trip commutable, 4 trips per month:
Get to the home airport 5 hours before check-in (get there 1 hour before check-in, 2 hour flight, one extra flight for policy, get to airport one hour before departure).
Go home, land 3 hours after check-out (1 hour wait, 2 hour flight).
So, minimum 100 hours pay per year lost (8 hours per trip, 4 per month, one month off for vacation makes 350 hours, 3.5 hour rig).
At $250/hr that is already $25K/yr, just for the extra time, with the easiest commute imaginable.
This is before un-commutable trips, and lost premium, because not in base, and don't even start on commuting to reserve.

Also: people complaining about having to pay $50/night for a hotel.....
(any night in a hotel is at least $300 in lost wages at 2nd year pay).

Why look at those companies when, with a little seniority, FedEx and UPS commercial you to work anyway.

But hey, sign up for pure home basing for half the compensation.

Any one saying these companies have decent contracts don’t understand how retirement works.

I just laughed and shook my head when I read that.

If somebody can’t put away a good retirement making $200k-$400k a year then something is amiss. ($500k for several at K4)
The LCC’s just recently started getting DC’s. I’d expect that the ACMI’s won’t be far behind.
Are they the big six? No.... but they are certainly respectable careers in their own right.
For many, living in base at an LCC or being home based ACMI beats commuting to a crashpad at a legacy. QOL has a value that varies from individual to individual.
YMMV

Different strokes for different folks and all that, for sure.
But there is a clear and definite reason people leave ACMIs for Big 6 (and JetBlue, Spirit), and no one leaves a Big 6 for ACMI.
Recently had an Atlas CA in my new hire class at a LCC.
As to retirement, there is a huge difference between " Maximum $10,000 company match annually" (Kalitta and Omni) and 16% direct contribution. By second year pay at Big 6, JetBlue, Spirit, you are seeing massive differences in retirement contributions, and thus compensation.
The pilots at Kalitta making $500k are the exception, just like the captains at Delta who cleared $900k last year (you read that correctly).

Much as we tend to thump our chests and debate our relative merits, most major airline/ACMI jobs are pretty good gigs, especially if you like airplanes.

Even some regional jobs can work out well, with luck, timing, and geography in your favor.

With all that said, the younger you are, the harder you should strive for Big Six employment. Second tier will be a very nice consolation prize if it comes to that.

Was DC in the last contract at JetBlue and Spirit?

I can speak to Spirit.

11% at DOS, increases 1% every year to 15%, so we are at 12% now and will be at 13% in March. Excess contributions over the IRS limit are paid back to the pilot.


I believe JetBlue is at 15% now and gets a bump in a few to 16%