Cheap executive labor.

 

We may see the light. (Last Paragraph)

Air Traffic To And From Fort Lauderdale Takes Off - cbs4.com

 

haven't we been without a COO since they dumped that kid from Easy Jet who was here for 4 months?? perhaps they ARE gearing up for an IPO.

 

From what I can see (super high tech Kayak search), starting May 1st, flights from FLL to CUN and FLL to LGA will be on the A320. I haven't seen yet any flights starting April.

 

Here's the latest...

From Jeff S. today in recurrent. Four recalls will be in training in Feb for March 1st. Another 12 recalls will be in class in March for April 1st. A total of 26 recalls for the entire year is what he has been told to plan for. Still 4 320's, March, April, May, September. A couple new destinations down south middle of next year. New COO and VP Flt Ops have started, MA back in safety dept. No plans at all that he knows of to get rid of aircraft next year, but the first 320 will mostly allow a spare aircraft in the system. Thats pretty much it, I will post more if I hear anything.

 

Wow 26 is a pretty weak number for those still waiting on the list. I would have guessed with the amount of dequals, attrition, and 4 deliveries we would have needed more. Glass is half empty here guys but it looks like stuff going away.

If we are currently staffed to 14 pilots per A/C this looks like more of a net gain of 2 aircraft instead of 4/5 they have planned before. Sorry to those on the bottom with me.

 

Boredwlife,
I agree...I wanted to post something...but felt it was too negative...in any event, I was talking with a friend today how a furlough can wreck everything for a lot of people in one day, and take years to rebuild at such a miserable pace in Spirit's case. I feel like the next update we'll hear is, "we only need 2 for March, 1/2 for July, and then in September we'll refurlough for the fall"
I've had 3 pieces of bad news in the last hour and now this .
I hope to see you guys on reserve in ACY someday.

Also....if we're getting "3" jets, how does 26 people staff those jets? Wouldn't the number be more around 36...let alone 48?

 

I have heard the same thing. 4 for March, 12 for April, 10 for July. Disappointing indeed. I think they will cut back on utilization some. Nobody anticipates a busy vacation season for 2010. I think they are just holding on and trying to save up and wait for a better 2011 to crank things up. I am lucky that I am very close, but I really feel sorry for the guys who will not get in with this 26. I can't imagine another full f_ing year doing c_rap jobs for peanuts.

 

Sorry for the bad news guys. My advice, if you are not within 40 from the top of the furlough list, dont plan on getting back in the next 6-12 months. I have no idea whats going to end up happening next year with staffing, but I do know one thing....Spirit will run the airline as lean as they possibly can. I know we have about 14 pilots per airplane right now, but Spirit cannot keep up the aircraft utilization that they have now. We need to get these things in the hangar more frequently. Its not as easy as multiplying 4 aircraft by 14 pilots and expect that number of recalls. Marketing runs this airline, and flt ops will recall exactly the number of pilots they need to fly the schedule marketing has planned. That being said, these numbers dont take into account unplanned attrition or the new flight/duty regs, so who knows...

 

Why does this not surprise me? This is the biggest Mickey Mouse operation in the industry.

I will come back IF they ever call me. I just hope I don't have to finish my career here. But then again, I would be thankful to have a job.