Spirit Hiring FOs
 

Careers Home Apply

Gonna be honest...didn't have this one on my bingo card a few months ago. Could really work out nicely for some, especially if the post-bankruptcy model pans out.

yeah. They’re gonna be the next Delta Air Lines.

get in there and get that early seniority number!!!

You prior apply to the Rhodesian Air Force too?

I just wanna know how ya’ll went straight from CFI to United.

Never change APC, never change.

Does this imply they aren’t getting the recall numbers they were expecting? I wouldn’t think you’d hire until all recalls were back on properly. Do the furloughed pilots have the ability to bypass recall until a later date?

511 furloughees had until March 23rd to accept the recall, and have until April 8 to return to duty. Mandatory recalls will immediately follow. System-wide vacancy bid will come out in April, which will be effective June 1. I'm guessing they get about 100, which is less than the recent monthly attrition rate.

I understand it’s a risky move but, is it possible that upgrade might be quick for someone getting in now?

No.

filler

1) as above, no
2) the level of attrition that would produce that would have its own risks

Hi all - first time poster here. Wanted to get some gouge from any current Spirit pilots. I just applied to the new FO posting. IF I get an interview I need to weigh pro's and con's and I know I don't have the depth of knowledge of Spirit nor the 121 world to make an educated decision on my own. Right now I live in Lauderdale and fly out of FLL. Current 91 gig has me flying King Airs making ~$170,000 a year (ATP, typed in the 300). Job satisfaction is not so great right now, I'm nearly maxed on earning potential and the airlines have my interest with the aggressive hiring going on right now. Have an app out in several places but Spirit is particularly appealing because of the FLL base and future potential earnings. Is this dumb to consider?? I've talked, briefly, with former Spirit guys and they all said they used to love the flying and the culture. Am I suffering from some form of Shiny Jet Syndrome or could Spirit be a decent fit?

Anyone thinking of going to Spirit has to go in knowing that it is very possible all you will ever get is a Type rating in AB and maybe a few hours. I know several pilots that were sitting in new hire ground school with ATA ceased. Some people still won with prefered interviews at SWA. Some did not because they did not meet SWA min hiring. So you have to ask yourself is it worth the risk, if getting lucky is you get the Type and 100 hours and if your unlucky you never see the plane. Yes it possible they make it long term, but right now that a long shot bet at best. It would be a good idea to have a plan B if it ends in a few month, in six month, in a year. What options and will you reasonably have, and if that time will open additional doors. You could be back doing what your currently doing in 3 months, seen it happen.

Airlines hire till the day they shutdown.

Spirit is a different animal than it was 10 years ago. I’d hate to see you leaving your job to maybe be out on the street in the near future. The problem with Spirit right now is that the BK exit is still very packed with unknowns. If NK exits BK, there will still be the wonder of how long will it last. Not a fun way to live. I hope forever but everyone will be gunning for a much smaller NK with higher CASM and no real plan to survive. I still believe NK will attempt to exit BK only because the money from the outside has run dry. It’s either exit or close. I also think after an exit, more concessions have to come. Wage will have to livable but no windfall. The industry is cutthroat and I think you should really think before making the move you’re looking at.

Wage cuts by pilots will not save Spirit.

Please don’t listen to the negativity. The same 5 people spewing the liquidation nonsense is exactly that, nonsense. We will start taking deliveries 2027. There is growth coming plus the attrition equals a great opportunity. If you live in FL or NYC you will have the best quality of life in the industry and make as much money as you want.

A lot of former employees that thought spirit was shutting down left to go to legacies. Now they are really struggling with the fact the Spirit is going to survive and they walked away from decades of seniority. Don’t listen to their nonsense.

Did you see the company’s projections for 2025 after the first bankruptcy? How did those work out. The new projections were optimistic at best. Then they added a page at the end after they had made all their projections. Oh btw, fuel cost!

They added a fuel note because a drastic event happened while they were finishing up their filing. If you read the fuel note it lays out different options depending what happens. It doesn’t even read overly pessimistic or doomsday.
Obviously fuel remaining high will make things difficult, but acting that adding that fuel appendix is somehow them ‘forgetting fuel cost’ is disingenuous.

They can’t be pessimistic. I don’t think they forgot fuel cost but I do think it renders a lot of the number in their plan irrelevant.

Agreed. Spirit is already trying to thread the needle, catch a falling knife so to speak. Too many pilots are bailing for greener pastures. They already have a big cost advantage on the wages aspect. Another pay cut would be too much I think, unless they want to be a 0- 50 airplane airline

After 6+ years of losses, Dave has a solid plan to lead this airline to profitability in 2027, despite 25% post-Covid inflation, Middle East tension, and a spike in oil prices.

Source...
Trust Me Bro

Appreciate the replies and the differing perspectives from all of you. We'll see how things shake out over the coming weeks and if I get any traction here or somewhere else.

Or is it the Pollyanna types that talk about how great Spirit is going to be? NK is still at risk of not making it. Employees will have that hanging over their heads for quite a while. Having to wonder everyday if your job will be here tomorrow is a tough way to live and sleep at night for many. We have a limited time to work in the industry due to age limits, medical issues, etc… If you are happy, I am happy for you. We all have choices. It is very concerning that NK is coming out a much smaller airline trying to compete with behemoths that want nothing more than to squash NK. To sugar coat this is crazy to me but to each his own. For a senior NK pilot to tell a junior pilot or potential junior pilot to bury their heads in the sand, and not look at reality, is quite deceitful. Nothing about NKs future is set in stone, good or bad. I only encourage people to look at the facts and read between the lines.

thankfully we have you to clarify things. To tell us the future. Amazing I made it this far in my career without your insight and foresight. You mention choices. We are all well aware the choices weather it be stay or leave. Spirit has been around what, 40 years? Tiny DC-9 operator to reasonably sized disruptor. It has survived all the ups and downs. Bull markets and bear markets. Perhaps it will and perhaps it won’t this time. Your analysis and dour outlook may turn out to be true. But guess what, maybe it won’t .

Don’t be a dish!t like me and bypass class dates trying push back to see if Southwest would make a move based on stupid rumors !!! All I can do is sit a wait but I think I botched my chances.

Youre a ****ing fool. This isn’t the 90s. I’m tired of you “Spirit is gonna make it” types arrogantly proselytizing NKs continued existence.

Objectively I don't see it.

I have a couple good friends at NK, who are staying for now, so I'm definitely rooting for you all.

But I don't see the math, and this escalation of the Oct 7 war isn't going to help, certainly not short-term.

I'm one of the many that left for a legacy and walked away from over a decade of seniority. I would do it again tomorrow. Prior to what's happening in Iran, I actually did think Spirit had a chance to survive, however Spirit's bankruptcy exit plan is contingent on ~$60/bbl oil. We're heading for double that or more. I seriously wish you guys the best as I still have friends there, but you better hope this war winds down quickly. Based on the news this morning, that doesn't look promising.

No, many of us gave up 10+ years at Spirit because we didn't know what would happen in the future. Even if Spirit survive, I would going from 30% to commuting across the country and sit reserve as a CA if I'm lucky, or have a short commute and be an FO making less than what I make now as a 2nd year FO. Plus now I get to drive to work and have a better QOL.

"Decades of seniority"

What is that decade of seniority getting someone based in DFW, ORD, or LAS? Plug CA? Commuting CA? FO?
I couldn't give 2 poops about 10 years seniority if it cant even get me a holiday or weekend off, or hold the base that I live in. What's the CA plug for DFW? 12 years with Teo? Yeah, sweet.

No one is safe if this war doesn't wind down soon.

Extreme worst case, junior legacy pilots get furloughed. But still have a career to come back to.

Most likely if this drags on, the legacies will just let their substantial retirements reduce headcount, with short-term staff tuning via voluntary LOA, reduced lines, etc. Furloughs at multi-fleet airlines are waaaay more costly, due to multiple training events for each furlough, then repeated for each recall.

Extreme worst case?? I think you might be seriously underestimating how destructive a global recession can be. There is no guarantee that this mess in Iran ends quickly or cleanly. Add to the fact that the battlefield is on top of one of the most significant costs (Oil) to an airline only exasperates the potential negative impact. Depressed demand and higher operating cost is never good.

We obviously don't know yet.

But I do know in detail how this (ill advised) adventure will be executed. Iran is not likely to be able to interfere with the SoH for too much longer. That's just military math... capabilities, assets, stockpiles.

Plus at some point (if there's not a deal negotiated) we and other nations *will* prioritize to facilitating commerce through the strait. Political reality.

How long it takes the economic fallout to resolve is too complicated for me to guess at.

heez, why are all pilots so doom and gloomy and not forward thinkers? Today it's raining so the world will flood.
Obtuse

I’d wager it’s 1991, 2001, Age 65, and 2008. Plus the end of pensions coupled with the lost decade and food stamp wages at RJ operators in the 1990s and 2000s. Couple all that with the fact that many here on APC are older than most - typically Xers or older and hit more of those speed bumps.

Does it make sense anymore? Recent history and industry consolidation suggests not, but time will tell. Could still be pretty damn rough if you’re at the wrong place.

I missed 1991 but got kicked in the sack on all the others and I just dont see the point of the overly dramatic pessimist.
every contract negotiation and there are many who insist we need to sign yesterday because the economy will collapse tomorrow.
hard to get ahead when people are willing to settle for last weeks wages

How do you know in detail??

Attritions about to hit a grinding halt I’d be very surprised if we run any new hires this year now.

Shrinking to 78 aircraft with these recalls we are going to be overstaffed by 450 Pilots.

Guessing these scenarios are covered extensively in military war college. People who understand how to plan wars can recognize patterns.

How many accepted the recall? Surely not enough to cover March’s attrition…