To each their own , personally if I was going to return to 121 via the LCC route I think Jet Blue would be a great way to go, my Spirit friends seem pretty happy over there too (but their customers are miserable), in my heart of hearts I miss my ACMI 747 , but with a family and children that schedule is just not tenable, the flying however was sublime.

I wouldn't build your opinion from a few internet posts. We have definitely had our growing pains and in a few cases just completely dropped the ball. Late flights, cancelled flights, baggage fees, dirty planes, etc but the overall majority of the folks getting off my plane genuinely thank me and the FA's for the flight. The customer service standard that we need to shoot for is WN (EVERY SINGLE TIME I need a ride the WN folks go above and beyond. Thank you again!!). They still know how to take care of those in the back and it's something that we can most definitely improve. Spirit is growing and we sometimes screw stuff up but I wouldn't say our customers are miserable. Excluding the guy in Vegas who said that he'd rather be waterboarded than ride us again of course.

Good on you Macjet may you and your company kick butt, about half of my Detroit DC-3 freight dog mafia are over there so I want you guys to do well : )

Not everyone who flies SWA is happy either; so don't make too much of your unhappy Las Vegas passenger

Jason Derulo and entourage kicked off Southwest flight | Page Six

Thanks to everyone for the advice and info.

If only I had a crystal ball...😕

hkdguy

Here is what I don't understand. A Netjets pilot on a 7/7 will work 182 days a year minus 14 days of vacation and 12 days of pto for a total of 156 working days. that sounds ok to me. Are commuting pilots at jetblue/swa/ delta working less than that? Is it even close?

Yes, less than that, if chose so. Or work more and make more.
QOL, all about the options. I like time off, some likes money.
My first line I had 18 days off. (I dropped few days from the original line to go to minimum guaranteed). I swapped pairings to make it commutable. Using your format that would be 120 working days a year, after vacation/PTO.
With much more options to chose the days off than a NJ pilot.
I know your question was about commuting pilots, but to put things into prospective; now I live in base, I bid reserve and I fly an average of 4 days per month (rounded up from 3 something).
No, NJ is not even close. Without even entering the discussion of what you mean by "working".

Is JB still a 4-year predicted upgrade? I believe Spirit is also in that range. Obviously growth can stall - but still a consideration when comparing the potential financial impact of a move.

Living near a desirable base is a huge benefit - too bad JB only offers one West Coast base option for now! I think it is time for JB to buy either F9 or VX just to enhance pilot commuting options...

10 Year NJ pilot 7n7

182 days scheduled
-28 days of vacation
-7 days pto (you can't use more than 7 in a year.)
-------
147 days

I can't imagine 121 commuters are working less.