Just flew with a really sharp F/O from FLL. Been here 1.5 years and has an offer from FedEx and DELTA. Nothing particularly crazy about his resume either. Did have around 6k hours, lol

 

Chimpy, I was wondering where you've been. I think Ram got suspended or something. His posts disappeared today.

 

I'm still around . I've been busy not flying this summer, lol. Upgraded in January and still on high mins!!!!!!!

I've been much less miserable the past few months staying off here, lol haha

 

This message board is depressing... I get it!

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So some of this is probably BS, but its a discussion board right???

I have a vague feeling the company is going to get bit in the butt the longer the contract is delayed. Some prospective new hires will realize that the math may work out better doing 2-3 years at a regional before moving to a legacy instead of doing 1-2 at Spirit, and they'll pick those options as the course with the lowest negative impact on their families.

The company is going to have to solve its identity crisis over whether they want the pilot group to have a 1-5 year revolving door or not, because at some point it'll be better financially for a lot of mid-time and ex-military folks to just go to or stick with a regional before jumping to a legacy. In part that could be because just by itself, the $40k bonus over 2 years is a better deal than an entire year at Spirit, and those regionals are offering that *now*, not maybe someday. An ex-mil pilot will often be coming from an annual salary somewhere between $60k and $120k, and sucking up a year at $35k is a big deal for a guy with a few kids.

Yea I know wah wah cry me a river, but when there are alternatives that impact their families less, it shouldn't surprise anyone to see people taking them, redirecting a whole group of folks to spend 1-2 yrs at a regional that pays its new hires better.

I dunno if that particular demographic is large enough for it to matter, only that a handful of people I know are squarely in the group of people who are doing that sort of math *now*, not waiting for a new contract someday in the future.

Plus... Would a contract approved even 6 months ago have been anywhere near as good as one approved now, given the movement we've seen with recent contracts at other places? The more other airlines that get their contracts updated and in place, the more Spirit is going to end up paying. That's the real reason the contract delays seem baffling. Every contract that gets approved by every other airline, major legacy cargo LCC regional etc, means Spirit's contract is going to cost more, because the bar is getting raised fairly rapidly. Are *this* quarter's results that much important than the total of the next 5 years of workforce costs?

 

I have a friend who wanted to come home from overseas who opted to hire at endeavor instead of Spirit. How sad is that?




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This. I wouldn't have said so even a year ago, but I've seen the tide already starting to change, and this from someone with a rather pessimistic view of the motivation for any management team to get a deal done in RLA contact negotiations. I hope our management pulls their collective heads out of their a $$es and gets it done. You can't grow an Airline without pilots.

 

Hey chimp,

Just because you're not reading about it doesn't mean it's not happening. You're still the second lowest paid Airbus pilot. Complacency plays right into their hands. Get miserable and get angry damn it.

 

Very sad....

Considering year 3 he'll have a big pay cut right back down to poverty regional wages. His only hope at that point would be to wait another 5-7 years to upgrade at endeavor!

Not sure why anyone would choose a regional over Spirit. Sure year one sucks, but how many regional FOs top out at $109?? Am I excusing our pay? No. Absolutely not. But what I am saying is going into a regional with the idea you'll be at a legacy in no time is exactly how many people I know got stuck at regionals suffering to survive for many years. Yes times are changing. But on that same note I still know plenty of super qualified individuals with way more padding in their resumes who can't get even a look from a legacy. Aim for the stars, but make sure the fallback isn't as harsh as dropping back down to $40 an hour after 2-3 years of making $60,000+.

 

Military guys don't have that problem. If they get current 121 at a regional they will go to a legacy no doubt. The only military guys we have here are because they want to be not because other calls haven't come in.