.....it is kind of like playing Dungeons & Dragons without directions.

Well since no one else is going to give you a REAL answer, I might as well. We are planning to hire about 100 pilots this year, thats a 25% increase. Right now the plan is to hire a class of 12 each month until staffing is where they like it, then hire again end of the year for the two new aircraft we are scheduled to get in Nov. Please understand these are the "plans", and Spirit has been known to change their plans multiple times...in fact I would count on it. Its just about impossible right now to get an interview without an internal rec or two. There are just two many qualified applicants. I would expect that to begin to thin out as the year goes on.

As far as financials, the previous statement is correct. We are a private company, and therefore only required to submit a limited amount of financial data to the BTS. You can find that on their website RITA | Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS). Also, we recently filed for IPO with the SEC. That is a public filing, and a very detailed analysis of our finances can be found there.

Hope this helps, and good luck to you!

CS

Hahaha so true and I can tell you it's gotten a lot worse in 3 years. I just went through requal training and it's like a skeleton crew hired a skeleton crew to run the operation.

This is all subject to change when or if a new game "Board" comes in via.....????

Southwest eyes international growth for 2012
Southwest Airlines could expand into international markets as early as next year, Chief Financial Officer Laura Wright said Thursday. The carrier will begin taking delivery of larger Boeing 737-800 aircraft in 2012, allowing efficient service on international routes "should we want to." Wright also noted that takeover target AirTran Airways has an extensive network in the Caribbean, bringing needed expertise in international service. "We're certainly going to learn a lot about those international markets with AirTran," she said.

HOW could this affect NKS' traffic ????

Source: ATA Smart brief.

Good one Shiftwork! Its actually quite simple:

1) The company is playing "Jenga"...they pull the wrong block out of the stack and the whole thing collapses...

2) The union is playing "Hangman"...they're gonna get those pesky "200 Percent JRM evildoers"...

3) The average APC analyst is playing "Candy Land"...where the road ahead is filled with visions of hiring plans, upgrades, gumdrops, and lollipops!
;)

N606NK and N607NK are scheduled to both arrive mid-February.

Source? I just flew with one of the delivery pilots and he said next one is scheduled for mid April.

A very very good source. He is wrong. Just wait and see.


*Disclaimer: N607NK is scheduled to be delivered mid-February but may have an acceptance flight from Spirit next month.

Well, actually, do a Google search for 'N606NK'. You will find some photos of it already.

Well...right now, Spirit isn't much of a threat to anyone. The airline is still relatively small and offers limited frequency to the markets we serve (of course, there are some exceptions). The big boys will let NK get away with flying a route here or there.

The problem I see down the road is if Spirit tries to grow their network to the point where it impacts the revenue generation of Southwest, JetBlue, AA, etc. At that point, those carriers have enough "tools in their arsenal" where they can engage NK in a prolonged fare war, and attempt to bleed NK's cash like no tomorrow. Nobody is doing that yet because everyone is conserving cash...but, when things turn around, and the time for growth is right, those other guys will seize the opportunity.

Remember, NK has a "go it alone strategy." We'll have to see how that strategy plays out without having partnerships like other airlines.

Two new aircraft scheduled for Feb, and they just drew down the March schedule. Hmmm..

Obviously these planes just popped up out of nowhere, taking management by surprise, otherwise they would have been properly staffed to fly them once they showed up. Not like it's hard to find pilots or sim time these days.

Also I didn't know we had "delivery pilots"

Maybe not hard to find pilots but sim time has been almost impossible to get. A classmate of mine needed extra time and had to wait close to a week to get one more session. It's to early on a Saturday to listen to crap you don't have a single clue about. I've kept my mouth shut with all your negativity but now its just getting old. If you don't like it here anymore go where the grass is greener......if you can find it.

This place is not perfect and never will be, just deal with it and move on. Just like the contract. We get it you are a 26%er.

Yeah, with all the training going on... Ha

Last PC, we were the only ones at Airbus... at 6pm on a week night.
Just because your friend needed to wait, doesn't mean sim time is hard to come by. Its out there.

NK knew these planes were coming and CHOSE not to crew them. Why?
They drew down flying for March, coincidence? I think not.
You want to keep your head buried in the sand, be my guest. Don't use your brain, and don't read my posts.

Planespotters also shows 2 aircraft coming soon to Spirit.

No sarcasm but I am not getting your point. We are pretty much overstaffed for February. It is actually counterproductive (for us) because there is so little in open time that trip trading is not picking up any speed. True we are getting two more planes, but we also have two classes. One is in the pipe the other one is scheduled for end of March.

I think we will be just a bit short for the Summer. May be not even because they will build a ton of high value (90+) lines with 13 days off.

The only way we will be short if Delta starts hiring. I know some DTW FOs who want to jump ship. Ohhh and the new rest rules may have an effect if they get implemented but those will probably not even take effect this year.

Other than that, no more planes after 607 all the way until the end of the year, or after IPO. But the way oil is at the moment I doubt they will rush the IPO. I think this will be a "wait and see" year.

Relax Farva. Just order a large cola.

My point was I don't see how they can accept 2 new planes within the next couple of weeks if they had to cut 500 hours out of the schedule for March. And by delivery pilots I mean one of the two guys who always goes and picks them up from Airbus.

It's possible but both a/c will be ready for delivery by mid-February.

They were anticipating a larger number of pilots returning from furlough. At the last moment a group of furloughees resigned that had previously accepted recall. This left the staffing much lower than expected (see the bid list for ACY...big disparity between CA and FO). Since it takes twice as long for a new hire class to be released to line than a recall class, we dont have anymore bodies until the last week in March. They decided that rather than having to JRM and/or cancel a ton of flights the first three weeks of March it was better to draw the flying down a bit (500 hours).

As for the airplanes, they were always scheduled for a Feb delivery. They are paid for, and they are coming whether we want them or not. That will be it as far as new planes go until the fall.

And as for having delivery pilots, there is training that must be done in order to go over and get the jets...so says the FAA. To date, there are only a couple guys that have the training.

Good points about the returning furloughees and the aircraft deliveries.

But how can you say this? "They decided that rather than having to JRM and/or cancel a ton of flights the first three weeks of March it was better to draw the flying down a bit (500 hours). "
Do you seriously believe that they would cancel approximately 40 round trips just because they are afraid that each trip could cost another $800 in pilot costs? I suggest that any canceled flying is the result of marketing re-analysis. They told us about it hoping we would blame it on the "selfish".

Farva wants a "liter of cola"
...do we have liter of cola?

I am not saying that, it is what I was told by management. We could argue all day whether or not the reasons they gave are truthful , or if there lies more to the story. In the end, it really doent matter, and its only 500 hours.

500hrs... heck, that's only a little over twice what some pilots have credited in a month at NK;-)

Yeah, they get 250 hrs credit for working 80, you get 80 hrs credit for working 80.

1. How does their actions affect YOUR paycheck?
2. Which one is the dim bulb?

If you don't know the answer to #1, then YOU are the dim bulb.

I don't know the double super secret number to call. I don't worry about what other people make $$ nor do I equate $$ with IQ....

Enjoy your life:)

I will, at the beach. Enjoy working 'til 65!

The problem here is that there is no concrete answer. The "labor" answer is that the OT flier is hurting someone else. The "200%" answer is that is does not.

The SWA answer is that it does not. I choose the SWA answer because I make $150K a year to Captain a 145 seat bird and my bud the SWA Captain makes over $300K to drag around only 137 revenue producing seats.

SWA has straight time OT. 150% OT and more. I think Voluntary JA does pay 200%, BTW. I don't hear
ANY pilot at SWA beotching about another SWA pilot hurting another pilots income. Senior lance Cpt's not withstanding.

You believe that it hurts you. I showed a concrete example of a carrier that it works to everyone's advantage. But I'll concede that the answer, for any management other than Herb Kelleher/Colleen Barrett/Gary Kelly, is somewhere in the middle.

Sorry, I didn't see any quotation marks.

I will; never been afraid of working.

Enjoy the beach..... by yourself.

BTW: Don't get burnt!

OK, I get it, you don't want to discuss the matter on it's merits.
So what do we do now?
I know, lets have a spelling contest!
Glad that public school education worked out for you
No wonder you can't get a grasp on the economics.

Devided.... dude, you crack me up!
You did that on purpose right? I realize, the "e" and the "i" are right next to each other. Oh, wait a minute... Never mind. I could understand if it was in the body of the text, but it's your signature dude! Maybe I'll go with "All Hiway".

Seriously though, thanks for the laugh.

Ram

Come on man, you cant stop spuying crap?

Seriously?

Glad I can make you laugh and bring a little bit of cheer to your otherwise gloomy life? :D

Good catch on the spelling. (Yes I was embarrassed) Probably why I would've cut it in the Air Force: I'll be more diligent with regards to spelling!

What is there to discuss? :confused:

1. You are unhappy person that doesn't like where you work?
Hint: We already know it, end of discussion....

2. You have a superior spelling skill set because you attended a private school, 30+ years ago? Excellent, let's discuss the merits of spelling pertaining to NK's business model; maybe you can work on a PowerPoint?

Hopefully we can fly some day together; we'll probably have a good time and a beer afterwards or......... you will have me wanting to jump off the highest bridge in town because I've been shown the light!!!!

BTW: I didn't spel chek, so u can spend yor afternoon cheken me graemar...... after you get back from the beech.

March 1st Class finalized. 12 people. Calls already out I believe.

The other board has some new info on possible new destinations and expansion!

No one wants to comment here I guess?

JN

I thought we comment about the new places. I can tell you two classes a month for 4-6 months about +/- 70 new additions. :)

Good news. Both A320s are ready to be delivered! They are seating on the ramp in Toulouse.

When is scheduled delivery? Also, what are the expansion rumors you all are hearing?

According to my source, the acceptance flight should be coming up anytime now. The acceptance flight is normally conducted within 2 weeks of the aircraft deemed 'ready for delivery'. The next one is scheduled for December. As of now, it is an A319. Not A320. Looks like we are hiring 40 pilots now, followed by 30 or so late this year.

N606NK is arriving tomorrow via Gander!