Which half, may I ask, are you referring to? Those who’ve been in the profession for some 30 years and working for the same company and who have had pay, benefits along with their terms and conditions contained within their contracts eroded?

Or are you referring to the other half that are newbies in the business?

Are you one of the complaining passengers we hear about from our cabin crew because you are not the first to board??? did not get that emergency exit row with business class leg room??? had to pay to check your bag??? no free food??? no free dinks??? no pillows??? no blankets??? no free movie??? no free headsets

I won’t bore you about the details of the training and constant scrutiny that pilots undergo throughout their careers like no other professional, such as doctors or attorneys.

I don’t know Sandy69, based on education, training, and checking requirements, what do you think a reasonable salary would be. Maybe you can shed some light on the subject.

Oh by the way… what’s your profession, pay, and benefits. Do you think you are adequately rewarded for the work you perform? If not feel free to complain... we're good readers.

 

The great thing about America is choice. That's why there is more than one airline.

 

Boy! Aren't we glad that you have made it out of the swamp?

 

The fact of the matter is that leisure airline travel is subject to the law of income elasticity of demand. Spirit Airlines caters to the leisure traveler. If you view Spirit Airlines as an "inferior good", it would thereby follow that during this or any economic downturn, consumers will flock to the least expensive option when planning their travel. A load factor of over 80% for the fiscal year ending Dec. 2008 would seem to support this theory. Just like corporations, the consumer's primary concern is the bottom line. With one of the lowest operating costs in the industry, Spirit should be expected to thrive during recessionary periods. My question is how they will compete when the economy turns around and travelers have more discretionary income to shop for "superior goods". In an era where brand loyalty has nearly disappeared, will Spirit be able to retain repeat customers, or will they lose them to a more service-oriented airline?

 

I find your comment pretty standard in regards to the American public. Grossly uniformed but not afraid to just hang it all out there! Go ahead and stick you head in the sand regarding the big picture...if wages continue to spiral down, look what you are going to get a decade down the road for an airline pilot....some under-trained pimple face kid and some overworked, burned-out captain to babysit him. For one who desires to become a commercial pilot, the costs are just too high and the reward almost non-existent. Military pilots will not leave for this BS pay if they believe things will not improve. Enjoy reading about the wrecks down the road! If you want to pull your head out of the sand again I'll bet you have the same opinion on doctors. "They get paid too much and just golf all day." I bet you say that when you are upset over paying your $15 co-pay at the office. Well guess what...family practice doctors are leaving in droves. Most, like airline pilots would not recommend the career field to their friends or children. Tell ya what, take a look and see if the gas station you work for is losing money or not making enough. Go on in and volunteer to work 2 days a week free so your boss can lower the gas prices to drum up business. Don't ask him to cut his $300 grand per year salary, but volunteer to do your part so you can keep the operation making money! Good luck!


Seattle to San Francisco:

Greyhound Bus Lines:

Select Fare Type
Purchase Fare Type Qty Passenger Each Total
Refundable Fare
No further discounts are available on this fare. Help 1
Adult
$109.00
$109.00
7-Day Advance Purchase
No further discounts are available on this fare. Help 1
Adult
$65.00
$65.00
Non-refundable
No further discounts are available on this fare. Help 1
Adult
$97.00
$97.00

Here is the fun part! I like the 7am transfer!

Location Arrives Departs Layover Carrier Schedule

SEATTLE, WA 07:20am GLI 1443
TACOMA, WA 08:05am 08:15am :10 GLI 1443
OLYMPIA, WA 08:55am 09:05am :10 GLI 1443
CENTRALIA, WA 09:40am 09:40am GLI 1443
LONGVIEW, WA 10:30am 10:30am GLI 1443
PORTLAND, OR 11:25am 12:20pm :55 GLI 1443
WOODBURN, OR 01:05pm 01:05pm GLI 1443
SALEM, OR 01:35pm 01:40pm :05 GLI 1443
CORVALLIS, OR 02:30pm 02:35pm :05 GLI 1443
EUGENE, OR 03:30pm 03:45pm :15 GLI 1443
ROSEBURG, OR 05:00pm 05:05pm :05 GLI 1443
GRANTS PASS, OR 06:20pm 06:25pm :05 GLI 1443
RS MEDFORD, OR 06:50pm 07:25pm :35 GLI 1443
MEDFORD, OR 07:40pm 07:55pm :15 GLI 1443
WEED, CA 09:40pm 09:40pm GLI 1443
REDDING, CA 11:00pm 11:20pm :20 GLI 1443
SACRAMENTO, CA 02:00am GLI 1443
SACRAMENTO, CA Transfer 07:00am 5:00 GLI 8303
VACAVILLE, CA 07:40am 07:40am GLI 8303
SUISUN CITY, CA 08:05am 08:05am GLI 8303
VALLEJO, CA 08:30am 08:30am GLI 8303
OAKLAND, CA 09:05am 09:15am :10 GLI 8303
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 09:35am

GLI: GREYHOUND LINES, INC.


NOTICE the $59 fare!!!!!!

Southwest Airlines

Pricing
Passenger
Type Trip Routing Type of Fare Base Fare U.S.
Taxes PFC Security
Fee1 Passenger(s) Total
Adult Depart SEA-OAK Wanna Get Away $45.58 $7.02 $4.50 $2.50 1 $59.60

 

My post wasn't to say airline pilots are over or underpaid. It was just to provoke some thought of the airline guys who say passenger comfort or quality of travel doesn't matter because the tickets prices are cheap.
Most working class people who fly do so because it is convient and either just as or not mutch more expensive than driving, But continue to provide bad experiences and those customers will chooes driveing or other means of transportation.

 

Is anybody here the LEAST bit curious about how and why this segment on ABC News came about? I want to know if this was ABC News' idea to profile the airline, or if there was someone from Spirit that provoked them into doing this piece?

If someone knows the history behind this, please enlighten us all!

 

What "considerable differences"? Were there some 20, or even 10 years ago? Sure. But now - not so much.

bolds are mine

There is no "safety" difference between Spirit and ____ (insert favorite brand here), nor does any airline advertise that there is. "Crew experience"? Same thing, at least in the flight deck (and I've yet to hear of more than 1 accident investigation rule that either a contributing factor was FA negligence, or that a significant number of lives were saved due to the experience of the FA's. FA's have done their job when called upon - though I do recall one accident where the FA's didn't evacuate the aircraft b/c the flightdeck never issued the order. The passengers, like the FA's, just sat there and burned to death). I'd bet Spirit flight crews, are, on average, more experienced flying into the non-radar and mountainous terrain environment of Central and South America than the average crew (no other US airline flies these routes as often as an overall % of their flying), and can operate their airbus just as well as any other crew in domestic US flying. Flying outside the US is considerable different than the coddled, radar environment of the US - hence, why flying in the US is so safe. Heck, almost 1/2 of all of a legacy airline's domestic flying is now contracted out to an RJ operator - if you're concerned about "crew experience", you'd likely be better off not flying on AA, DL, CO, or US - fly a LCC, like JetBlue, Southwest, or Spirit.

As far as leg room, you have none on Spirit, and only a tad more on other carriers in steerage. Most of Spirit's depot level MX is contracted out, just like every other carrier. While Spirit's customer service philosophy is horrible, I can't say that other carriers have a significantly better one today (what they had is not relevant - 'what have you done for me today' is the new paradigm). There is no product differentiation anymore.

A "more service-oriented airline", "superior goods"? If you're flying either domestically within the US, or between the US and Central/South America (Spirit's competition), which airline would you be referring to? JetBlue is the only '4 star' airline that Spirit competes directly with (Frontier and Midwest are the only others in the western hemisphere, but Spirit doesn't fly head to head against them). Spirit, just like every other airline they compete with (excepting B6), is a '3 star' airline. Who exactly would be the "service oriented airline" that will steal away all of Spirit's customers with their great service (Spirit doesn't compete against the likes of Singapore Airlines and all those other true 'service oriented' airlines)?

 

Well said Sniper.

 

jetblue is a 4 star airline? Blue chips anyone?