Duh, timing is everything. Glad I left NK in 22’. Good on ya for getting out.

 

For those that are leaving after 5,6,7 years, I'm interested in your perspectives that drove you to this decision. Fully aware of GTF issues, lagging demand, debt, inept management. What else am i missing? I'm sure giving up that much seniority is not a decision you come to lightly so curious how you think the next few months/years will play out. Furloughs on the horizon? Predict a mass exodus from Spirit soon if it hasn't already started?

I'm at Spirit myself, but one of the CFI -> Airbus low-time guys, so I have fewer options with only 510 hrs turbine. I'm considering leaving as well but to maybe Atlas to get a little Widebody international experience and maybe legacy after that if I don't like it. Could be fun. Sucks though...I really enjoy flying for Spirit for the most part.

Good luck to everyone making the leap. Not an ideal scenario for most I'm sure.

 

I am a low time FO. Hit submit on my application to the big three last month. Along with Atlas and Frontier. I had a meet n greet at United last week and was told my application is now in the short stack now. I was invited to the AA MTC in Miami, but couldn’t attend due to work. All have internal recommendations attached to the application.

My motivation is because I don’t want to be affected by a furlough, but if enough pilots senior to be bail then I'll happily stay for a while.

 

Look, Spirit has been great to all of us and many have been lucky enough to call this place home for a long time. Now that the merger was denied (crazy, I know) and an appeal is a longshot, it comes down to whether or not you see a path forward for Spirit. Those that do are staying put, conversely, those that do not are applying elsewhere. I believe it's that simple. Nobody knows how it'll all work out. You just have to take a look around, make a decision on what is best for your personal situation and take action (or not).

 

Well put.
I'm in the camp of "I have no idea how things will turn out for Spirit", hence the question of those who've been around longer than I have and may have seen the warning signs at previous airlines. I'm retired Air Force and went through years of "force shaping" uncertainty where I didn't know if I'd have a job next year. I'm wondering if I'm in that sort of position again with Spirit and how much time I have left before the wheels fall off, so to speak.
Like you said, no one knows the answer, so make a decision thats best for you and hope it works out.

 

First, thanks for your service. Second, my personal opinion is that Spirit will be fine near term and we will have a clearer picture in the coming months. We will have a decision on the appeal and Spirit may be forced to lay out their plan B (perhaps sooner than later). Once we gather all that information it should help you choose one way or the other. In the meantime, it's probably wise to at least be prepared to look elsewhere (can't hurt).

 

I think many were waiting for the merger to be approved which certainly seemed like a no brainer considering past airline merger history.

Now there are several paths forward. Winning the appeal would seem the very least likely and best path. Liquidation is certainly on the table and the worst path. Everything in between isn’t likely to be fun. The problem is that everyday someone waits around to see how it turns out is a day someone else gets hired ahead of you somewhere else.

At some point on the seniority list anything besides liquidation is likely to be better than starting at the bottom somewhere else. Age and where you live or want to live also being outside factors.

The absolute worst would be slogging through a mess for the next couple years to ultimately liquidate anyway. All that lost seniority elsewhere and the very real possibility in a couple years other properties aren’t hiring.

Another thing to consider is getting ahead of a wave of spirit refugees if things start to get worse.

Then there is an outside chance spirits situation gets bad enough that an acquisition by another carrier does get approved. A seniority integration would most likely happen, albeit not a friendly one with spirit being a distressed (bankrupt) carrier. However, in that scenario one would still most likely be senior to themselves if they stay vs had they left and gotten hired at the bottom of the aquiring six months or a year prior to the acquisition.

In the past you just rode it out bc if your airline were going bankrupt it was likely that the rest of the industry was in hard times as well. This is kind of uncharted territory.

Age 67 would be a major wildcard that could drop a grenade on everything. Hiring will freeze everywhere. If spirit needs to furlough every single 65+ pilot will result in at least one more furlough.

 

I’m kind of in the same boat as you as far as being at Spirit,

about to hit the submit button to American, kinda eyeballing United not sure.

somebody else asked earlier what drove you to want to leave Spirit. and the simple truth is, it’s just a realization that there’s really no more growth with ULCC’s especially if the stupid governments gonna block this merger.

I really didn’t want to leave.. I really enjoy it here, easy job I feel like I get paid a lot of money. Sometimes, I feel like there’s just kind of something missing. Like an incomplete puzzle to me..

been deciding if that is really worth it to leave and it’s a close call, but I think in the end it needs to happen.

 

Me when someone senior to me says they’re bailing.

 

While the future as always a bit of a crapshoot, getting in with a legacy puts you on the path to being a $300/hr FO within a decade.