They need pilots for the summer. If they dont have pilots to handle the flight, and they start mass cancelations, well....not good.

So you bring on as many recalls you can, they are typed, you push them thru the faster requal class and get them back on the line for Summer flying. As they shrink, you hope attrition continues to take higher pay CAs and you can keep lower end pay scale pilots to reduce costs, while the fleet shrinks to 1200 pilots by fall and the announced fleet count.

What they couldn't do is keep having pilots leave faster than the planes are going back, causing the imbalance and resulting in cancelations.

So...here's the gameplan folks. Shrink to 76 A/C, close 3-4 pointless bases, reduce crew staffing ratios to 12-14 pilots/aircraft, fill all upper management vacancies internally (cheaper than hiring industry experience), fly V-patterns between LGA/EWR and DTW/ORD to Florida/MYR/MSY with a bit of Texas and LAS mixed in (but not on Tuesdays and Saturdays, that'd be crazy!), and aim for about 8.5 hours of A/C utilization/day. How does this sound for a path to profitability?!

Growth in 2027? 😂 What's this super secret plan to profitability and growth that they've been hiding from everybody for the last several years? They recalled because they need meat in the seats NOW to replace the grossly underestimated mass exodus of pilots who keep dropping next month's flying into open time with their 2-week notice every...single...day. MGMT is putting bubblegum patches in the leaks in the levee to hopefully find a dance partner (F9), meanwhile praying Brent crude doesn't go to $150/barrel. 🤞What did miss?

bout covers it

If it work, it works. Most of us still here are driving to work, making great money and enjoying the QOL others are envious of.

For me, I don’t care what the business model looks like as long as the checks clear and I get to see my family almost every day.

Life’s too short to start over.

Are the envious people in the room with us right now?

Yes, deeply envious of our 72 Hour, 18 Days a month of RSV with no drops, pick ups, trades, premium, or sick if needed. All of that on top of our industry low wages and 8% DC. We have it so great I’ve actually been getting asked for lots of letters of Rec from United and American pilots who want to cash in on the massive QOL we offer and drive to work to our ORD DFW and IAH bases that are all about to close!

Basically a 1000 pilot airline with 76 airframes. Most pilots will be on the high end of the pay scale in each seat. Further concessions will have to come. Base closures and much more efficient and high flying schedules also. CC says something that makes sense. It’s all about perception. What is important to one pilot might not make sense to another. Priorities in every persons life is different too. Drive to work, collect a paycheck that keeps the lights on, and don’t compare your job with one at another airline. Very simple, if you’re game.

I would argue Life is Too short to "Not start over"

I would not blame anyone somewhat senior at Spirit who stayed but the entire notion of Starting over being the worst thing in the world isn't exactly true. Yes the absolutely MASSIVE Paycut sucks There is absolutely no way around it, and yes it also is a massive Kick in the Stomach being Junior to people 1/2 your age and 1/2 your experience (that's not a tangible thing, it's just ego driven) but after that (as a non commuter) the only regret you'll have is not leaving sooner. I know nobody has a crystal ball and nobody knows when the music will stop but if you could financially afford to start over, might be worth it to at the very least seriously consider it. Spirit was great, but it falls short in so many areas that you really never could understand until you go work for Delta, AA, or United.

Anyway, I am not saying to leave NK, everyone is different but The amount of sleep I lost and the stress I felt from January 16, to when I started over was a waste of time because it wasn't anywhere near as painful as I thought, (Financially, year one was fugging brutal and I get not being able to afford it), but schedule wise, learning a new airplane etc it gets very good, very quickly. (for now) Anyway, just something to think about.

Not directed at you per se, just kind of talking out loud.

Yup, in my second month at an airline based in Texas after 9 years at NK. Only ragret was I didn’t do this sooner.

That's your only regret? "Not even a single letter?"