I am a 17-year captain at NetJets and am looking for info on Spirit. With the amount of hiring that the new aircraft order has generated I am interested in the QOL for FO's and Captains. LAS would be my preferred base.

- How long would it take me to get LAS?
- How long would it take to get a line in LAS as an FO and Capt.
- How long is upgrade with current hiring and the current aircraft order?

Thanks for the info.

 

LAS probably a few months if that after OE. Upgrade is around 3 years, give or take a month or two. But that’s is right now.

the other stuff I’m not sure.

 

You'll find a lot of former QS pilots here. None of us regret leaving.

The junior FO line holder in LAS is a September 2019 hire.

The junior CA line holder in LAS is a October 2014 hire.

I haven't run the numbers on future upgrades. 144 airplanes now, 49 more deliveries, an order for another 100, options for another 50, and seeking another 20-25 on the used airplane market.

 

i like it here but if you live in Vegas I’d look to southwest. More money and more time off . You’ll work harder at work than we do but you’ll see daylight more. Our Vegas flying is horrible.

 

I finally got off reserve in Vegas next month. I was hired august 2018.

That said, my only regret about leaving netjets is not having done it sooner. I was only there for a little over 3 years though...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

There are a lot of former frac guys here. None of them wish they were back slinging bags and cleaning lavs.

 

Is this primarily due to the number of redeyes? Other?

 

Take it with a grain of salt, what QOTSA says. He is always trying to suggest people go somewhere else, his track record is consistent with these kinds of posts.

LAS has a lot of red eyes and a lot of pairings begin with a red eye out of LAS. If people hate red eyes then I would not only suggest avoiding LAS, but perhaps Spirit all together. With seniority you can minimize your red eyes but as a junior pilot,
you won’t.

That being said, I have known many LAS pilots who enjoy the red eye on day 1, allowing them an afternoon commute in vs say DFW where most pairings require a commute in the night prior. And LAS is always a nice commute option with the number of flights at all hours of the day.

 

Thanks for info. Considering that LAS has a lot of red eyes, they may be less stressful compared with NetJets typical schedule of 11 to 13 hours of duty with only 11 to 12 hours off. From what I have heard LAS usually does one leg, maybe two at most for the red eyes. That may not be bad considering how pilots at NetJets get slammed with scheduling, being a loader, caterer, customer service agent, and then be a pilot.

Thanks again for the info.

 

In LAS (and other bases now) you could end up with an all red eye 4 day trip. I personally don’t complain about 1 leg red eyes, but back to back night turns could be rough. Since I can’t copy and paste actual trips here, I’ll try to paint the picture for you:

Night 1
11ish pm LAS-FLL landing at sunrise

Night 2
11ish pm FLL-PTY-FLL landing at sunrise

Night 3
11ish pm FLL-GUA-FLL landing at sunrise

Night 4
8-9pm FLL-LAS landing before midnight (LAS time zone)

As you see, this particular trip doesn’t allow for a single night of sleep, you’ll have to be pretty good at sleeping during the day, otherwise it’s almost impossible to catch up with your rest.

Having said this, not every trip out of LAS it’s like this, and LAS it’s not the only base doing them. If you want to look at the silver lining, these kind of trips usually credit close to 25hrs, so if you manage 3 a month, you’re already breaking guarantee with plenty of time off to recover

I’m not trying to discourage you to come over here. Just give you some perspective so you can have an educated decision.
I haven’t done fractional myself, but I did corporate. I had my fun flying large cabin jets around the world, but there’s nothing like having control of your schedule with plenty of flexibility and working as much or as little as you want.