So what happens when what you deserve and what is negotiated are no where near each other?

You also have the "I'm home every night crowd" that feel what is acceptable is very different than what is deserved....because their home every night. The captains that have been here a couple of years that are making a comfortable living make me nervous in what they find acceptable.

You leave for a place that pays you what you deserve. Easier said than done but the time draws near where G4 will fight even to get the scraps. Right now management can carve out a niche between regional and major pay. Throw in 'home-every-night" syndrome, a 2-year upgrade and you have plenty of pilots lined up for interviews. That will end soon as upgrades slow, overnights grow, and the fight over dwindling talent intensifies. Word from WN is they're dropping the PIC minimums. Dropping the type requirement wasn't netting the numbers they needed. The writing is on the wall. Hang tough, phones will be ringing.

Questions from a potential new hire- What bases are the new hires getting out of training, what aircraft (Guessing MD80), average hrs per month and potential new bases on the horizon?

you leave for another airline.

You seriously underestimate the new hires with this statement. Most came from Republic and Expressjet.....both are pilot groups that can hold their heads high for not rubber-stamping their respective union's TAs with NO votes. They've ALREADY been through what the Allegiant pilot group is about to experience and it has been my experience that they are actually far more militant than a lot of these "home every night" and/or "we don't need to write that up" captains with which they fly.

Regarding the lead-up to a contract, the new hires will be a problem for management; not for the pilot group.

I wouldn't expect WN to drop the 1000 TPIC anytime soon, or at least "not in the near term." Comes from the chief hiring pilot and OAK CP at the Travis AFB briefing. Where are you getting your info from?

They're having no problem attracting quality applicants I can name you half a dozen Captains with outstanding quals who've been trying to get on with WN for some time & no luck.

Heard the same thing yesterday from a guy in training over there. They are telling SW new hires in class that the PIC requirements are being lowered because of the new realities of the marketplace. Majors are sucking up a lot of talent and the supply trend is worsening. A lot of quality right seaters in the military and commercial sector that are short of 1000 but have a ton of experience.

If you are over 40 and accept a job at SW, you may never see the captain seat before you retire.