For comparison, what do you like about your new job that you didn't have at Netjets? I assume you also miss the Encore/XL/Phenom dearly.

 

Well now hold the phone Macjet !
I said these were reasons that if I were looking elsewhere that I might apply at NJA.

I'm not going anywhere that I know of....unless forces greater than me intervene

Me and my King Air 300 are best of friends right now and I don't see that changing any time soon.

 

In a nutshell, everything. I spent 15 years on the corporate side of the house and my only regret is not going airline sooner.

I know where I'm flying, what time I land, and the hotel I'm going to stay at for the next month. This compared to NetJets only knowing the days that I'd be working and who knows where we end up. This allows me the ability to setup visits to places or people on my overnights and plan my time on the road.

Commuting. I really did not like riding the airlines from one airport to another to another to another. If I was going to be in an airliner I wanted to be up front and not 36A on a Delta MD-88.

All I have to do is fly. I don't have to load bags, track down the fuel truck, get catering, coffee, ice, papers, vacuum the airplane, wipe down the windows, clean the tray tables, check the safety cards, arrange the nuts, check beer dates, etc. My only concerns are the airplane, weather, and NOTAMS.

Comfort. I hated the Sovereign and the XL even more. Flying transcons in that tiny cockpit with the O2 mask on my head for 5-6 hours was painful. Having to walk over passengers to get to the lav and having strangers poke their head into the flight deck wasn't cool. The Airbus is worlds apart on comfort and I even look at the tiny 73 with disdain now.

Schedules. I'm just now at two years on property and already in the top 40% in base. I'm getting my top 10 or better choice of lines now every month. I also have the ability to drop trips, trade trips, and pick up in base or out of base. While NJA had the predictability of 7/7 I have far more control over when I work and haven't missed an event that I wanted to attend.

Pay. This is the only negative about Spirit. I did take a substantial pay cut to come here and will not defend the company here at all. Our pay is abysmal and it needs to be fixed. And I believe the market forces will dictate that it does get fixed. Leaving NJA was a short term pay cut but one that will pay dividends when I upgrade next year and even more with a new contract.

Job Security. I came here with 59 airplanes, we have 99 now, and our fleet plan had increased from 144 to 160 since I've been here. I will be near the top 1/3 and better if we order more airplanes. At NJA I had 100 guys below me and 2500 or so above me after 8 years. Here I have 500 below me with 1000 above me at 2 years. We made $450 million in profit last year with an average of 85 airplanes. Knock on wood, but I don't think I have to worry about being furloughed now.

QOL. I remember spending way too much time in HPN, PDK, PBI, SJT, MDW, etc sitting crew rot eating crappy crew food. I haven't had more than an 1 hour sit in the last year and that was last summer. Sitting in the crew room rotting away was not a fun life for me.

Living in base was a major factor in where I wanted to work. I think Delta is a far better job than Spirit but I wasn't willing to commute. AA might be a tossup depending up what you're looking for. They have better pay but the work rules are pretty brutal. Others have chosen WN or FedEx based upon their locations and desires. My NJA friend list keeps getting smaller and smaller. My class of 9 only has 3 still there and it would have been 2 if one hadn't blown an interview. The others I know there are leaving for WN and FedEx.

My assessment of NJA was that of a shrinking company with a stagnant seniority list and no potential of upgrade or increase in seniority or pay. And while I'm not trying to keep anyone away from NJA I was curious as to who is looking at the same company that I left and saying 'I want to apply here'. I really am curious as to what the driving factors are.

 

My apologies, I obviously misread what you typed. The 300 is a beast, enjoy it!

 

Macjet - wow, that was a thorough post covering all the bases! Yes, I bet the Airbus is more comfortable on transcon trips than the Sovereign. I can only imagine what 3-4 hours in the Phenom feels like.

 

Not good. 😲

 

I jumped in the sim at CMH while I was there knowing the future of the company and my seniority range was in that airplane. I went back to the hotel and started updating my resume and logbook. I remember guys leaving recall INDOC to go interview. We had one quit half way through the type to go back to his old job. I finished OE and resigned. To be fair, the same thing is happening here at NK now too. Guys are getting an Airbus type and leaving for higher paying gigs.

The only thing I miss at NJA is the Mo' Cowbell at City BBQ That !@#$%^ was good!!!

 

Wait !!! You are at Spirit !!! I love it : ) !!!

 

Well for starters, there are many out there that simply cannot afford to work for places like Spirit & Frontier. That is nice you were able to take such a substantial pay cut, but many cannot do that. It would take years to recoup that money.

 

I know Netjets FOs looking hard at Frontier and Allegiant too. JetBlue appears to be popular as well. Not everyone will head to the bigger legacies.