Pilot Furlough Recalls!
 

Email out today stating all Pilots will be recalled for Summer. Great news for all!

Let’s hope it’s a long term thing and they don’t recall just to furlough again later in the year

Congratulations!

I bet less than 10% actually return. The ones that were experienced most likely have moved to a better company by now, and the low time ones are at the regionals and have more seniority now than they would if they returned to spirit. Unless they are sub 2500 hours and live in Lauderdale, they will stay gone.

The risk they face is to give up whatever flying job they have moved on to so that they just get furloughed again or the company shuts down and they have to start over again. Nobody that's moved onto a major is coming back. What's still puzzling is that they haven't released December monthly operating report because most leases were rejected in October and November so December should be a good idea of company finances. They aren't releasing it for a reason and that can't be a good sign.

NK will be happy if there is a low uptake on recalls especially mandatory recalls. It means they will forfeit their unvested 401k. Thats a lot of money going back to Spirit which can subsidize training new hires. Getting first yr pay FO's on the books will bring down their labor costs.

Over/Under on how many go back? 10%? 20%?

If it was me and was gone, I'd stay gone. Good luck NK bros & sis.

Lowest pay scale pilots are good, yes. The problem is the people who come (if they even can get people) as a new hire and leave within months. That's a lot of training costs. There needs to be a training bond. We lost so much money, I bet, on the people who got the A320 type and left within a few months after.

I flew with a new hire FO a couple years ago that said as soon as he got his A320 type rating at Spirit he updated his United app and got an email within a week to start the process. He spent a total of 4 months at Spirit. I've heard the same from those that came from Frontier and Allegiant as well. Most were there less than 6 months.

Unless unemployed with nothing to lose, taking a class date with a company that is in a fight for survival already comes with significant risks. Add a training bond to that and you’d likely find it extremely difficult to find people willing to take the job. Unless Spirit can return to profitability, they appear to be in a damned if they do, damned if they don’t situation.