Attrition significantly increasing
01-06-2025 | 10:22 AM
#51
Line Holder
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 949
Likes: 58
I'm not knocking the legacies, but a lot of what you describe primarily applies to the multi-day trips at NK.
Doing mostly day turns you won't deal with nearly as many headaches. It's pretty much show up, fly two legs and walk back to the car after setting the parking brake. Most of the time I don't even see the FAs working in the back.
Occasionaly I may time out and get stuck, but honestly that is mabye once a year for me.
Overall I am much more healthy being home most nights: eating real food at home, working out in my local gym, going for a run on the beach, sleeping in my own bed, etc...
I am no stranger to the 4 day trip life, and I don't miss the hotels and garbage airport food. It's just not for me and I get sick more often living that kind of lifestyle.
WB flying did interest me at some point, but knowing what that kind of flying does to the body I think I would pass if it were an option.
It doesn't look cool and sexy on IG, but non-redeye NB out and backs are about the healthiest kind of flying one can do. However if all one cares about is running up the W2 every year, then the legacies are the way to go. No question about it.
Obviously if NK ceases to exist then none of this matters.
EDIT: Please don't rebut this with the outlier 27.5 year CA who lives in base at xzy legacy and who just started doing day turns toward the end of his/her career. I realize this is possible but I am discussing the kind of flying that one does for the bulk of their career in a tax friendly red state.
Doing mostly day turns you won't deal with nearly as many headaches. It's pretty much show up, fly two legs and walk back to the car after setting the parking brake. Most of the time I don't even see the FAs working in the back.
Occasionaly I may time out and get stuck, but honestly that is mabye once a year for me.
Overall I am much more healthy being home most nights: eating real food at home, working out in my local gym, going for a run on the beach, sleeping in my own bed, etc...
I am no stranger to the 4 day trip life, and I don't miss the hotels and garbage airport food. It's just not for me and I get sick more often living that kind of lifestyle.
WB flying did interest me at some point, but knowing what that kind of flying does to the body I think I would pass if it were an option.
It doesn't look cool and sexy on IG, but non-redeye NB out and backs are about the healthiest kind of flying one can do. However if all one cares about is running up the W2 every year, then the legacies are the way to go. No question about it.
Obviously if NK ceases to exist then none of this matters.
EDIT: Please don't rebut this with the outlier 27.5 year CA who lives in base at xzy legacy and who just started doing day turns toward the end of his/her career. I realize this is possible but I am discussing the kind of flying that one does for the bulk of their career in a tax friendly red state.
As far as destinations, IG, health concerns. That's all very individual. Personally, I prefer domestic layovers. But as I'm looking at flying a schedule and going home (and/or res and never going to work) while maximizing time:$:work, WB is the perfect fit in my case.
01-06-2025 | 12:06 PM
#52
Prime Minister/Moderator
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 45,120
Likes: 796
From: Engines Turn or People Swim
01-06-2025 | 12:34 PM
#53
Perennial Reserve
Joined: Jan 2018
Posts: 14,246
Likes: 257
Even if the losses are from WB CAs they ripple down quickly into the NB ranks. Where NK was retiring 25-50 people a year from a pilot group of 3000 United is retiring 600-700 a year from 16,000, but almost all of that 700 a year ripples down into the NB CADRE which is maybe 7000 - 8000 pilots, only a little more than twice the NB pilots NK had before the current unpleasantness.
Not even counting growth, the effective NB seniority to CA at UA increases vastly quicker than at NK and so does NB seniority at CA, since you continue to lose CAs to fill WB retirement vacancies.
It's a whole different ball game in seniority progression in the NB. So maybe you are too old to ever get to WB CA, you can still get to NB CA a lot faster and gain seniority as a NB CA faster. Pretty much the same for the other big three legacies. Not to mention that a number of people senior to you will find their niche at WB FO, where they will stay until they retire or are senior enough to make WB CA, and never compete for NB CA at all.
It's really a sort of fascinating queuing theory example.
01-06-2025 | 01:09 PM
#55
Line Holder
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 1,877
Likes: 199
01-06-2025 | 04:37 PM
#56
Line Holder
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 1,412
Likes: 12
From: A320
01-06-2025 | 04:39 PM
#57
Line Holder
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 1,069
Likes: 25
Hopefully that is indicative of the rumor being true that many of the new AA/DL/UA classes are being filled with folks leaving Spirit. Hopefully that will mean no more furloughs and fast recalls as well. That will also make it extremely difficult for them to come for give backs in bankruptcy as attrition is a very expensive problem in normal times, so if attrition is higher than they want, they would be stupid to make things worse!
01-06-2025 | 07:58 PM
#59
On Reserve
Joined: Dec 2023
Posts: 133
Likes: 65
From: 320 PIC
It’s called hope dude. Not everyone can go anywhere. Some people have all the qualifications, skills and professionalism in the world, yet will never be selected for screening by a legacy carrier.
If things are so bleak with the future of NK, why would the system waste its time on a restructure, when liquidation is imminent?
If things are so bleak with the future of NK, why would the system waste its time on a restructure, when liquidation is imminent?
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
