VOLS FLYER

How are LAS reserves abused?

Margaritaville

Nice first post. It's rare we see someone create a troll account for Allegiant. Sorry you made bad life choices by working here, if you actually ever did/still work here.

How is the QOL in CLE? You must be clairvoyant since they haven't even officially announced the base and the rumor mill turned out to be premature.

As for the rest, who knows? Maybe they grew up in DSM, GRR or ABE? Maybe that's where future talent comes from? I think it's short sighted on the part of management, and severely limits their recruiting pool, but hey I just drive the Bus. Literally.

One thing everyone considering coming here should know is that you may have a hard time getting to your preferred base, especially if that base is in FL or the West Coast. This horse has been beat to death on the forums. You also may not be able to upgrade in your preferred base unless you're willing to wait a long time. Attrition is incredibly low here. The top half of the seniority list is completely stagnant. Yes, if you're junior in a seasonal base (VPS, SAV, PGD, SFB, LAX, IWA, BLI, ABE, maybe others) you could get TDY'd out for a few months a year. That means you'll be forced to bid a base from a list the company provides, you'll get a hotel room there and continuous per diem (~$1500 a month). It's not the end of the world, and not like the bad old days where we would get TDY'd 6 months straight. Lately TDY has gone senior (voluntary).

Another thing to consider is that this management group operates on spite. They truly hate us, and that will not change until there is change in top management. They ignore our contract, sue arbitrators, and do things "just because they can". They like to have their cake and eat it too. They will interpret the contract and rules however it benefits them best every time, even if it's the exact opposite of their previous interpretation, then tell you to pound sand. Our in house "PBS" is a joke. It's an Excel spreadsheet generator with no transparency. Senior pilots get forced into "must work days" that junior pilots get off. The response from management is always "the system worked perfectly, your seniority couldn't hold that day or you bid wrong". Our in house schedule portal "Merlot" is also a joke. You could need a 5 hour class just to do the basic functions. It goes down all the time, and they act like there's some vendor with Top Men in an underground bunker hard at work to solve the problem, instead of the pimple faced 25 year old IT guy down the hall who usually figures it out in a week or four.

Yes, if you come here, come here with eyes wide open. Those of you getting hired with extremely low time (and no PIC), no degree, DUIs, failures, or other skeletons that legacy hiring discriminates, be especially aware. You could be stuck here for many years as the legacies hire others. Allegiant is specifically targeting you because they know you won't be able to leave any time soon. If you're happy here, great. If you hate it, you may find yourself making a career damaging parallel or downward move to get out. You may or may not get to "sleep in your own bed every night". That bed may be in a hotel room or a crash pad too. We are currently the lowest paid Airbus pilots in the USA, and I'll be very surprised if the new contract changes that in 5 years or so. It certainly won't change the management attitude toward us.

So if you're still reading, consider yourself warned. This could either be the greatest job you've ever had, or the worst, depending on what you want. If you live in ABE, love it there, and want to spend the rest of your career doing flying club flying, welcome aboard! If you're using this for a stepping stone or don't understand what you're getting into, good luck and may the farce be with you [intentional spelling].

captnate702

You might not be able to bid GRR right off the bat, but with a little patience you should be able to hold GRR in less than a year. Western Michigan is beautiful in the summer, if you want to live there year round then I would recommend coming here. Allegiant can be the best airline to work for in North America depending on what you are looking for in QOL. It can also be the worst narrow body job in North America depending on your priorities. By advice: be realistic with your wants/needs and come here with eyes wide open.

You should be able to upgrade in GRR fairly soon compared to other airlines fwiw.

V2cut

Does anyone have a full history of Allegiant’s bases?

Flightaware

we had a bunch of casino charter bases back in the day like Laughlin, Reno, and maybe GPT.. the last of our casino bases was Wendover and it closed in 2015.

As far as the other bases go, we’ve closed GRR, LAX, OAK, and HNL but managed to reopen GRR and LAX. We recently shrunk our virtual base-VBD(permanent TDY) to 0 pilots but they say it’s not closed.

there’s probably some other random base i forgot from our charter days but we haven’t closed that many non-charter domiciles.

Lanesuzza

ABE, GRR & DSM are said to be the junior bases with fastest in-base seniority (upgrade) potential.
What about PIT and IND?
How many aircraft are based in those bases, how’s the QOL and how long can a newby expect to wait until being awarded those bases?

thanks.

baddaytoquitglu

Margaritaville I absolutely regret my decision to come here and I don't need a troll account on a site that's anonymous. Other than that I wholeheartedly agree with everything you stated

flydiamond

Just because ABE, GRR, and DSM have the fastest upgrade potential now doesn't mean they'll always be that way. Thats the thing with the micro bases... Once 18 or so 40 year old captains move there for upgrade and get settled, buy homes etc, there won't be much movement, except perhaps at the bottom of the seniority list within each micro base. Plan on upgrading and moving to some base that hasn't been announced yet...

That said, GRR and DSM are very very strong performing airports, not overly seasonal and I don't think they're limited on space. They will likely grow in size in the distant future (as compared to some other bases like SAV and VPS). Hopefully international flying gets figured out soon because that's where much of the potential is from these midwest bases...

Jim Rockford

Don’t forget Tunica!

Prop LT

Could anyone share DSM schedules now that their published? Average number of days off? Types of reserve awarded?