frotter

I think you meant reason...ration is what is in the survival kits.

Spirit receiving the consequence of their mis-management, and staffing, would be of keen interest to its share holders. When the operation is allowed to fall on its face, as it did in June...and perhaps this week, as shown by desperate emails...the people who own spirit will want results. With the evidence of how poorly mgt is doing its job, and how we have been going above and beyond our job descriptions to avoid their shortcomings, it'll be easy to show who owns Spirit's failure to produce. What leverage technique do you have in mind which would produce better results?

dn_wisconsin

Nope didn't miss the point. It was a joke, one that was meant to be fun. As someone else pointed out we need leverage. That's exactly what I was talking about pages ago where I got attacked for saying I'm ok with industry average pay. It's because it's easy to defend that position when asking for it. We can't argue what JB, Delta or Southwest might make. We can't just say we're above average as someone pointed out to me.

frotter

The evidence of what we do to save spirit from management's mishandling and lack of required skills and choices, definitely won't harm selling our worth to the company.
Always enjoy the humor on this site as a relief, and, if we want to own our expectations about this contract, we all need to do our part. WE will be the one's responsible for what we negotiate.

Judge Smails

Looks like we've lost the FLL Hilton, although the new hotel in Hallandale Beach looks pretty badass.

gringo

Now if we can only do something about that crappy training hotel... Not that it makes much of a difference to those already on property, but it's a pretty crappy way to start off a new hire.

GeauxPro

No, I meant rational. Just like you meant rational. Oops, just noticed that I left off the 'al'. Thanks for catching that.

Let us get this straight. You think that sending Bendoritis an email every time we do someone else's job will build leverage? Is this correct?

You could be on the right track with the "let the stockholders know" idea, but sending letters to current mgt is a waste of time.

Better results? STOP DOING EVERYONE ELSE'S JOB maybe?

What better way for stockholders to see managements incompetence than just allowing the works to grind to a halt? By fixing every problem you see, OTHER PEOPLES RESPONSIBILITIES, you only mask the problems from the stockholders view.

But you get to help some of your buds from a regional get hired by sucking up to Sandi, we got that going for us

abbynormallaw

^this! If we did this, IROPs and delays would run rampant! Bendo would be fired and working at Frontier again.. We may get a TA.. But, we have too many Patsy's here...

ILOVELAMP

They have me staying at the Hyatt House is that the new or old one? Start training on the 7th

dn_wisconsin

Both. It's old and new. You want to be there. Full kitchens but not a tremendous amount of stuff within walking distance (mostly fast food). If someone from class has a car go to the store and get groceries.

Chimpy

U.S. Airlines Set for Pivotal Year for Labor

Credit Suisse

Rising non-fuel costs are an increasing concern for airline investors when considering margin trajectories in 2016-2017. Open labor negotiations are popular topics since wages are the predominant driver of higher costs. We take a closer look at each airlines’ labor situation and the timeline and process for negotiations.

2016 is a pivotal year in the industry for labor. Only two sizeable union groups ratified new contracts in the last 12 months (American Airlines Group (ticker: AAL) pilot and flight attendants) while there were three major rejections (Delta Air Lines (DAL) and Southwest Airlines (LUV) pilots, Southwest flight attendants). We count 18 amendable contracts (with most in active negotiations) across our coverage.

As fuel has declined, labor is now by far the largest component of airlines’ cost structure, averaging 30% of total operating expenses. 2016 will mark the seventh year of industry profitability, making this the longest up-cycle in the history of the industry. High-teens operating margins are about two times those of the prior peak during the late 1990s. Following the last extended upcycle in the late 1990s, generous labor contracts led to rising wage expense that weighed heavily on industry profitability after the cycle turned in 2001. In the following 10 years, nearly every major airline filed bankruptcy enabling a substantial reduction in wage rates. As benefits from post-bankruptcy restructuring diminish and contracts are becoming amendable, wage escalation is creating upward pressure on cost structures across the industry. Upgauging and productivity initiatives should help keep nonfuel unit costs sub inflation, but for several carriers we expect 2016 or 2017 could see above inflation unit cost growth when contracts with sizeable pay increases are ratified.

Unprecedented profitability and generous wage increases from major airlines have elevated employee expectations. Pattern bargaining is prevailing as groups look to recently signed competitor contracts and demand even higher pay rates. High expectations have led to numerous rejections of initial tentative agreements as groups hope for higher wages with fewer concessions in the next go-around. Concessions come in the form of profit-sharing reductions (or elimination in the case of American Airlines) or changes to work rules (including scope, flexibility, codeshares) that allow companies to improve productivity or generate more revenue. It seems unlikely management teams will reward contract rejections with meaningfully higher economics. We expect major labor deals will not be reached until mid-2016 at the earliest.

Alaska Air Group (ALK) has the most visibility, facing the least level of escalation and incremental expense before 2018. American Airlines is next with fresh five-year contracts for pilots and flight attendants, but remaining groups could add an additional one to two points to 2016 cost per available seat mile (CASM)-ex growth guidance of 0-2% if signed soon. Delta’s pilot contract is amendable Jan. 1, 2016, and negotiations continue after an attempt at an early agreement failed over the summer; as with the non-pilot group though, a profit-sharing trade should cushion the impact of what is likely a mid-teens increase in pay rates. United Continental Holdings (UAL), Southwest, Allegiant Travel (ALGT) and Spirit Airlines (SAVE) have multiple contracts up for renegotiation with varying (and widening) gaps to industry average. United’s renewed focus on expediting new and extended labor contracts make it the most likely to see deals ratified near-term.

-- Julie Yates
-- Parker Kim