Spirit Benefits Comparison
 

Is there a comparison of the benefits package at Spirit under the new contract to other Major/LCC airlines?

I saw in another thread that someone mentioned paying $18 per paycheck for health insurance, which sounded like it was missing at least one zero. What is the monthly cost for a single person, married couple, or family? What does the company pay/provide?

Similar questions regarding LTD. What is the monthly coverage and cost? What is the standard/maximum income replaced? If you are on LTD are you still eligible for company health insurance?

Direct contribution to the 401(k) increases each year to 15% at DOS+4, what is the vesting process for those contributions? What types of investments are available with the chosen provider (funds, brokerage, etc)? To answer my own question, the Majors mostly do 16% direct contribution with some using A/B funds (FedEx, UPS, ?).

Spirit is at/near the top of my list and it sounds like the benefits package is pretty decent, but I would love to hear the insiders' perspectives.

We have 4 insurance options: A PPO (Pos Plan A/B), a HDHP (HSA plan), an HRA plan, and an EPO plan.

The HSA plan for 2019 costs $20/paycheck for a single guy PLUS the company puts in $1000 in your HSA yearly.

The diamond plan costs $18.25 for a single guy PLUS the company puts in $1000 in your HRA yearly.

As for LTD, the company pays for a $5,000 benefit monthly, and you can "buy-up" an additional 10,000 for a total LTD benefit of 15,000 (until 65)

Someone else can chime in more onthe insurance plan and prices, I'm not sure it's something I can post here but I don't see why not

I think 100% vested in 5 years.


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100% vested in 401k after 6 years

This is still somewhat below Industry standard I know with JB new contract it’s higher (I think it’s 10 and you can buy up from there) also we use a crappy ltd company and not Harvey watt like pretty much everyone else.



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It’s leaps and bounds better than what we had and better than United.

Delta still gets their DC 401k contribution while on LTD which is where we and most others lose out big. In fact I think Delta doubles it from 16% to 32% DC because the LTD benefit it only 50% of guarantee.

We also have offsets for any new outside income. So say you lose your medical for good you can’t even go get another job that doesn’t use a FAA medical because your income will offset your LTD benefit. That’s a big deal imo. I don’t know if it counts if your wife was not working and then got a job when you went on LTD. Not sure if her income offsets the benefit as well. I hope I never find out but those things need to change. Every six months it’s a roll of the dice.

What consideration of the policy's "deductible sources of income" are you referring to; that will offset?

The policy lists 8 deductible sources of income in which it will offset against your LTD payment. Which one do you feel references getting a job, say as a realtor, as a deductible source of income?

Because all I see is offset for amounts relating to social security disability, workers comp, and the such.

I thought the Ltd was own occupation meaning there aren't any offsets unless you start flying for someone else with the exceptions listed in the contract which are quite limited.

Own occupation refers to disability from performing ones own occupation, so a pilot. It is why this LTD language was so important, it protects us from medical loss and the insurance company saying "work at Home Depot, you are not disabled"

It isnt a reference to working for another company beyond the obvious that if you lose you medical at Spirit, and cant fly, you would have a hard time flying for another airline.

So if I were to get your medical back and start flying as a pilot again, safe to say, Unum would cancel your LTD payments because you no longer meet the definition of disabled.

But I do agree with you that I can not find any exception in the policy to wages earned in other fields offsetting the disability.

Is the LTD language good enough to cover most loss-of-medical issues, or would it be conceivable that you could be denied LTD if your medical was not approved?

Getting our medical seems like the biggest gamble we take in making it to 65 still flying.

Also if I remember right (and I don’t know if anyone found the answer out) if you have a loss of liscense policy through alpa then you couldn’t collect on both (ltd and loss of liscense).


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Yes. We lost the arbitration that claimed offsetting the LTD against another form of disability payment was a reduction in benefits, since this wasn’t the case with a prior insurer.

Decision: The arbitrator held that the evidence was insufficient to demonstrate how Aetna would have interpreted and applied its plan document, and any improvement under the successor Principal plan did not serve to raise the "floor" for the level of benefits required to be provided under the 2010 CBA. As a result, the arbitrator denied ALPA's claim that any offset for other group disability benefits violated the CBA.

I’ll be honest and say you are more informed than I. I am just going of what was said at the road show when the question was asked. I have not read the actual policy. I do use roadshow answers as fact. It’s certainly possible that I misunderstood.

We did just get an email regarding a recent arbitration. I don’t know if was just regarding income from other insurance plans. It said if we had other income before the disability that it wouldn’t offset, but new income after the disability would offset. I certainly could’ve misunderstood that. I don’t know if they were referring to wages, investment income, 1099, or other insurance only. I’m thuroughly confused now.

All the better if we are never able to hold a medical again we can go get a job at Flight safety or Home Depot or be a realtor and not have our benefit reduced. That should be a must.

Now, getting that DC while on LTD, we need that!

I already know what I’m going to do if I can’t hold a medical and quality for LTD...

Yup, that’s right, I’m gonna do 2 chicks at once.

That’s what I thought..Does anyone know then if the company will then pay me back for all the premiums I’ve paid for my loss of of liscense policy from alpa throughout the last 15 (or so) years now that all that money I’ve spent is useless?


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That's now how insurance (which LTD is) works. You can pay your entire career and then stop paying when you turn 60, lose your medical and be on the street. It's not an account you're putting money into, it's constant insurance.

It's not useless, if you had lost your license in the past 15 years you were covered.

It wasn’t useless. The old provider didn’t offset. The new one does. This is why ALPA filed a grievance as a reduction in benefits.


And as someone who has had insurance with ALPA; they have been great in answering my questions and being knowledgeable about the products offered.

You'll need a million bucks to make that happen. Chicks dig dudes with money.

Frontier guy here.

Can someone please explain the 321 override to me please? I understand it depends on the number of 21s in the fleet and that number can and will change. What is the current %override from the rates posted in the airline profiles section of this site?

Thanks.

It varies slightly month to month and is published in the bid pack each month. It adds about $2/hr to the rates or gives you an extra hour or two of credit each month, however you want to look at it.

Usually runs 2-2.25% over your hours.

Last month my A321 override was worth $5 extra an hour over my 80 hours credit and the pay was $404 extra. Month prior was more because of summer time block hours. But I usually just take my hourly rate and increase by 2% on my hourly rate and that is my effective rate with it blended, five or take.

Here is the language

The rates of pay for Airbus pilots shall be based on the ratio of total system-wide A321 block time to the sum of system-wide A319/ A320 and A321 block time (revenue and non-revenue) in the month. For example, in Septem-ber 2005, 2,400 block hours (50 percent) are flown in the A321, and 2,400 combined block hours (50 percent) are flown in the A319/A320. Therefore, all Airbus pilots shall be paid 105 percent of their rate of pay set forth in Section 3 of the Basic Agreement, regardless of which aircraft they are assigned/awarded, for all credit earned in the month. The overage shall be paid on the second paycheck in the following month, in this example, on the second paycheck in October 2005.

Thank you. That's what I thought but had heard the override was more

It is, kinda. The override is 10%. It is paid out pro-rated based on company wide block hours for the previous month, not your individual block on the 321. Last month, 319+320 was 30K hours, 321 was 10K hours, so 321 was 25% of flying, so the rate paid out was 2.5%.

Additionally, we’ve received our last 321 on our current order book. So the ~2% will be more diluted as we take more deliveries of 320’s....

Should come out roughly even with the ALPA dues drop, eh?

Think of it this way in normal override terms. The override is 10% in the contract. If you credit 80hrs in October and 20 of those hours were 321 flying, you would get a 10% override on only those 20 hours. That money workes out to a 2.5% increase on your entire month.

In Spirit terms we just take company wide airbus block hours instead of each single pilot. Whatever portion of the total block hours is 321 gets a 10% override. So if 25% of the Airbus block hours is 321 then that 25% of the flying gets a 10% override. That’s a 2.5% increase on all of the flying. So we take that 2.5% and apply it to every hour of credit each pilot has for the month whether it’s 321 or not.

As mentioned before as we take more 320s and the ratio of 321s goes down so will the override. Just as if it were another airline and they grew the 320 fleet and not the 321s at the same pace it would be less likely you’d fly 321 and therefore your monthly override money would be reduced. The override stays in place (10%) you just see it less often and get less of it.

Point being- the override is 10%. We just spread it around equally to the pilot group.

Sounds like travel benefits are so-so.

Are the ZED agreements Spirit has mostly Low, Medium, or High cost?

Profit share?
 

Is there a profit share? I haven't seen it discussed at all.

Typical fares for a some domestic and international are:

Hawaiian $60
Southwest $40
Frontier $30
Virgin Atlantic $100
Lufthansa $100
Alitalia $100

Oh boy, you just started a $hit storm. Enjoy the next 22 pages.

Keep in mind that ticket prices are identical for all airlines...

All Zed Lows are the same no matter the airline etc etc.

All that matters is: Distance and whether it's Low/Med/High (and departure fees if not in the USA)

No profit sharing, unless you bought some stock and are watching it grow!

Any Employee Stock Purchase Program?

lmao


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Question about being on LTD.

If you are on LTD do you still get your 401K DC and your medical benefits? Just curious.

doubt you will get a dc if you are not an active employee, the insurafe pays you not the company

You get cobra


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No.

27.I.3

Active pilot rates for 60 months on your medical