Take-home pay
 

If some peeps would be willing to provided what first officer 1st year and 2nd year take home pay? What are the average line credit hours?

Thanks in advance!

Take the hourly credit, multiply it by min guarantee, multiply that by 12 and then multiply that by .60-.67. That’ll be pretty accurate. The variance is for 401k contribution, and you can add some per diem in if you don’t plan to spend every cent on the road.

For first year I’d budget 2-3 months at $1750 for indoc and training just to be safe.

I’m not at Spirit, but multiplying your min guarantee by .60-.67 seems a little excessive. Unless I’m missing something, that’s like crediting 120 each and every month.

You'll only see 60-67% of your gross pay as take-home pay, after taxes. When you add up payroll taxes and income tax, that's about right.

So, if guarantee is 75, using 50 hrs of credit (75 x .66) for take-home pay should account for taxes, not the other way around.

You can make a bit of extra money by not spending per diem, but most people prefer to exclude that from the base wages since you might not get much flying on reserve.

I'm paying attention to this since it definitely affects me. My friend at Spirit says his take home is about 72% of gross, but he's filing married and I'm not sure if that includes perdiem (which we all know is tax free on overnight pairings).

Even with the new contract Spirit will be a little bit of a pay cut coming from regional FO just because of not crediting as many hours. I frequently credit over 100 at Xjet but am told that's rare at Spirit and impossible on reserve.

At Xjet, my take home is about 69% of gross filing unmarried, including perdiem and ALL deductions.

Ahhh I gotcha now. Guess I need more coffee today.

Math and early mornings don’t always mix well.

We put in about 10% into the 401k so that plus taxes and other payroll deductions lands us in the range I’m talking about. Either way, it’s pretty easy to get an easy approximation of your paycheck, and very easy since you’re paid guarantee bi-monthly with overages and per diem showing up on your check on the 15th based on the prior month.

You might take a slight cut on year one pay but at year two, you’re gonna start looking at what kind of stupid boat you want to waste your money on.

Not a bad problem to have!

I credited well over 100 hours last month on reserve, so no it's not impossible on reserve and not all that rare for a line holder either. It just depends on if you want to pick up the phone or not.

Like FNGFO said, count on guarantee minus taxes for first year. 2nd year, if you can hold a line (no promises) ALV for July/LAS was 83 hours. What you get still depends on what the senior people bid so count on min credit window 76-83hrs.

X list is your friend. Blocked 65 and my take home was over $10k recently. I fly with FO's who are regularly nearing this as well. Be flexible and reap the benefits.

That's great to hear! First year I will want to credit as much as I can as I need the $$ for my fancy and expensive lifestyle. I've also heard about the X/Y list and for the Y list I can offer to cover other airports than just ACY.

Take-home pay
 

Honestly don’t count on it if you’re doing a serious budget. It’s feast or famine with the X/Y list. Some months the phone won’t stop ringing and some you never hear a peep. They also usually only call when you have stuff going on. When you want them to call it’s usually crickets.


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I'm flexible, I can survive on first year but it'll be tight without dipping into savings (I have plenty). But I'd like as much as possible, even if it's not every month.

Best advice on here. Every time I list it’s crickets but I do know folks who get called a lot, but don’t plan on it.


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It's not impossible. I'm on reserve and a commuter. This month i'm already at 100+ with just 1 X list. I also did 100+ last June-August as a reserve.

You'll be fine as long as you live in domicile. The X list generally doesn't work that well for commuters.

Be careful with Y list. If they get a hold of you for Y list, you cannot decline the assignment. Just let it go to voicemail and decide from there.

X list has very much been a hit and miss, and not something I would factor into first year pay.

Some experiences:

I had a meaty 4 day trip premium trip that made for a nicer paycheck the next month, but I was also used often and inefficiently most of the rest of my reserve days (double deadheads to operate one short leg then deadhead home etc) and didn’t break guarantee so the remaining 8 days off sort of made it all a wash.

I accepted a short red eye turn X list call. I live a couple hours from base, so between commute both ways, gas, parking (the employee parking/shuttle is whole other discussion) taxes, delays etc etc, the net $300 wasn’t worth the time off I gave up to do it.

Had a last day red eye trans con home, the plane next to us was delayed with a tech issue and we were offered 2 hours credit to give up our plane, take a 3-4 hour delay and ferry that plane home. The captain was all for it as his commute didn’t leave till later that day and it was another $500. I would have gladly given my measly $100 to just go home. ($114 technically, but I doubled tipped some van drivers as the skipper said it wasn’t something “he did”)

I’m not bashing premium pay events, and they can definitely be a nice kicker when your paychecks aren’t so impressive, but on first year pay the juice isn’t always worth the squeeze.

Take home pay on year one pay is roughly $3200 a month after training. I'm ACY and never come close to breaking guarantee (which is what I prefer living in base).

Don't be short sighted though. The quality of life here is extremely high living in base. And second year of pay will be a huge increase in pay compared to any regional FO on any year pay.

Just be aware I don't think we hire many FOs anymore? A year ago everyone in my interview group that got an offer was a higher hour regional CA. Maybe things have changed a little I'm not sure. Either way best of luck. Just don't compare Spirit to any regional. Here you can have a life and a future.

As in he didn't tip at all? Jeez, would have been tempted to not do it to annoy him.

Home skillet makes at least $1k per FDP and can’t afford $4 a day in tips. $8 for a 4 day? SMFH.

30 cents in 1980 is a dollar today. Van drivers once did much better..

First year - drop everything you can and deliver pizzas, you might make more money that way :)

You most certainly will not.

Maybe under the old contract. As a third year FO I'm on track to pay more in taxes this year than I made gross during my first year as an FO here. I don't care how good (or bad) we have it in the future, I will never forget first year pay under the old contract here. It was a GD shame!

True, new contract passed after I was on second year pay. First year I worked as little as possible since my wife made more than me doing baby clothes consignment sales. Then I quit because the company sued me. But the current contract seems pretty solid especially for pilots working the schedule to fly over guarantee.

What would you consider average pay once your on second year ?

I don't mean the guys crediting way over 100 every month or if you still can drop everything every month, Just wondering what the yearly average 2nd year take home pay ?

Thanks

There’s so much that goes into this question/answer but if you want to get a close approximation to what your take home would be add 2% to the hourly rate then multiply it by 72 then multiply that number by .67 and you’ll have your low ball minimum guarantee of what you’ll take home. If you fly more than guarantee then replace 72 with your hours for the month and it will get you pretty close. If you try and max your 401k out or put nothing in to your 401k then it screws that formula up... Too many variables to really give you a solid answer.


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:eek:Sounds like a fun story

They sued all of us remember. That gave him a bad taste and he left for greener pastures.

I guess he is at SWA now...good for him

Its easy to head out the door with the bas taste when you have a class at SWA..I thought he just left because of the lawsuit, and didnt already have a new gig set up

Answer is: $0!!!

The fact is that I had not updated my applications for months, but the day after the TRO dropped I updated my apps, called my friends for recommendations, and got 2 interviews almost immediately. None of that would have happened if the company hadn't sued us and I might still be flying for spirit today if it hadn't happened. I took a pay cut the day I quit and by my calculations over my remaining 18 years of flying I'll make up to $200,000 LESS where I'm at.

I freely admit that being a member of the check of the month club made it a lot easier to do 2 consecutive years on first year pay. I paid those dues over the previous 26 years and one result of the choices I made is that now I have the luxury of quitting and taking a pay cut if I don't like my boss.

Everyone has their own preferences and reasons and I wouldn't dream of criticizing anyone for joining, staying with, or leaving Spirit. I had a good time and learned a lot flying the yellow bus and the pilot group was almost universally made up of good people I enjoyed working with. Awesome pilot group, possibly the best possible group of people to help me transition from mil to civilian flying and I'm in debt to those amazing pilots who taught me how to fly all over again. Still, mgt crossed a line that was to me intolerable so I left as soon as I got an offer elsewhere that offered essentially the same pay. Putting my money where my mouth is, I don't even update my logbook anymore because that's how important management practices and labor relations are to me when compared to other things like salary and benefits.

Legit reasoning, glad you’re happier with the move. In the end, it’s all that matters.

Best of luck!!

My first year I invested in a clown costume and did kids birthday gigs around town.

It was $5 extra if they wanted to me to juggle.

Where'd you go from Spirit?

Me? SWA. It's a happy place mostly.

I've been very lucky to work with great people both at Spirit and SWA.

I'm surprised you think you'll make less at SWA than at Spirit...