Airline Pilot Central Forums - United v. Spirit

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- - United v. Spirit (https://www.airlinepilotforums.com/spirit/133967-united-v-spirit.html)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slowhawk (Post 3241243)

I'm old and reasonable.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by flyboyike (Post 3241271)

I'm old and reasonable.

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I’m young and unreasonable.

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Quote:

Originally Posted by Chimpy (Post 3241104)

DELTA...............j/k it all depends, nobody can give you the right answer. Spirit is awesome, UAL I’m sure is awesome. In a nutshell I’d say Spirit will offer more time at home, UAL will offer more money.

FYI
UAL absolutely does not require 1,000hrs TPIC.

No doubt. Soon all you’ll need is XX chromosomes and you’re hired.

Even better is that the above quote isn’t inflammatory, they have stated as much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qotsaautopilot (Post 3241194)

No one has voluntarily left United for spirit.

I believe HB took his last UAL bypass to remain at Spirit. Last I checked, he was doing pretty well as a check airman here.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Slowhawk (Post 3241243)

Personally I’d rather be here.

living in base is what really matters.

besides that, I’d rather be here. I spent my whole life wanting to fly widebody for UA, including my whole regional career. Came here, and haven’t updated my UA app since because I honestly can’t believe how great my QOL is.

Fast growth, profitable company, good, young and reasonable captains, well-maintained brand new jets, and a (precovid) 2.5 year upgrade… yeah I’d definitely rather be here. I regularly fly with CA’s hired 4 years ago that hold a great line, make 300 a year(precovid), and get 16+ days off. Not to mention the incredible ability to drop flying all you want.

compare that to slinging gear for 10 years for mostly gray-haired ex-mil jerks that have been in the left seat since 1990 :( but hey you’ll get to fly a big airplane and eat hot meals

To the OP. This dude absolutely nailed it and said what I was going to say.

With our current order for 150 airplanes, in the next 5-6 years, there will be continuous hiring and upgrades until the last A/C shows up.

I’ve been here just over 2 years and (if not for Covid) would have upgraded end of this year. Now it will be middle of next. Oh well.

The ability to drop to 0 and the schedule flexibility cannot be beat. Even when I was the most junior line holder I’m still able to make my schedule EXACTLY how I need it. I have a very good friend at United. He cannot do what I do with my schedule.

I did not renew my AApps account this past fall.

Finally in 2019 (full year before Covid) we only had 24ish pilots leave for other airlines. That doesn’t happen by accident. By and large this is a great group of pilots who are happy here.

This is my 4th and last airline. Hands down the easiest and best job I’ve had in my career.

Thanks everyone for the input. To the guy that called me out for "just asking my friends at each carrier," you got me. I'm actively in touch with 4+ people in Spirit with many more acq. but I only know two at UA, 777FO and a 737FO, I don't know any A320 FOs there.

This information has helped my wife and I a lot in our decision making. :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by CincoDeMayo (Post 3241284)

I believe HB took his last UAL bypass to remain at Spirit. Last I checked, he was doing pretty well as a check airman here.

Technically, he didn't leave UAL voluntary, but he did choose to stay here over returning....

Quote:

Originally Posted by Asiabound (Post 3241141)

Fair point, but I'm 40 not 30 and I'm hoping to retire at 60 (maybe I'm crazy for saying that out loud). If I was in class tomorrow at NK I would probably be in the top 10-15? percent seniority-wise by then, but it would probably be what? 4-5 years from now to reach 1000 PIC as CA at Spirit? By that point if I made the jump, I would be pushing 45 and would probably be only 50% on the UA list when I turned 60. I guess what I'm saying is I'm looking for what gets me the better QOL in the shorter term. Plus I hate starting at the bottom and really only want to do it one more time, unless I don't have a choice of course.

I would guess (at least) half the pilots on the NK list are younger than you, so to get to the top 10% Spirit needs to grow to 5 times the size it is now with 13K pilots. Not impossible, but for seniority progres nothing beats people above you retiring...
When I got hired here I had 20 years to go, and 30% of the group would retire before me. For AA in the same time frame 97% retirements, and UAL 90%. I love it here, but for seniority I would think UA is better. UAL has 12K pilots and between 2022 and 2042 just over 10K retirements. Even if you don't get hired until 2026, still over 8K retirements, so ZERO growth you would be at 33% relative seniority, and because of WB flying a very senior NB captain.

Quote:

Originally Posted by symbian simian (Post 3241340)

Technically, he didn't leave UAL voluntary, but he did choose to stay here over returning....

Don’t split hairs. He could have gone back, he wanted to remain a Spirit pilot, right? He could have gone back with his UAL seniority and still decided to stay. At this point, with all his bypasses, he is/could be, holding CA, and chose to stay here

Quote:

Originally Posted by CincoDeMayo (Post 3241353)

Not splitting anything. I already acknowledged he chose not to go back, but there is a real difference between leaving a position on a seniority list voluntary or getting furloughed.