Info on bases; seniority, routes, QOL, etc.
#11
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Sep 2021
Posts: 262
I'd like to enter that chat with a hypothetical.
I see Breeze is still hiring DECs for the A220. I'm currently a captain at Spirit, just under 500 heavy jet PIC (the min Breeze wants for DEC). I live in NJ, currently commuting to reserve in FLL, although we should be getting a Newark base soon (I hope). Spirit continues to falter, with our management now saying as many as 70 planes may be parked next year. I had an interview with United a few months ago and they said no. I've been applying to AA and Delta and so far no calls.
If Spirit continues to falter and especially if I get downgraded, would DEC at Breeze be an unreasonable career move?
For consideration, how long to hold a line as a captain in BDL? What's the reserve call out time? I'm about a 3 hour drive to BDL. What's the breakdown of 1/2/3/4 day trips? Is there any schedule flexibility (can you drop/swap reserve days, etc)? I know of one person from my previous regional who's at Breeze, a Connecticut native, and I think he likes it.
I see Breeze is still hiring DECs for the A220. I'm currently a captain at Spirit, just under 500 heavy jet PIC (the min Breeze wants for DEC). I live in NJ, currently commuting to reserve in FLL, although we should be getting a Newark base soon (I hope). Spirit continues to falter, with our management now saying as many as 70 planes may be parked next year. I had an interview with United a few months ago and they said no. I've been applying to AA and Delta and so far no calls.
If Spirit continues to falter and especially if I get downgraded, would DEC at Breeze be an unreasonable career move?
For consideration, how long to hold a line as a captain in BDL? What's the reserve call out time? I'm about a 3 hour drive to BDL. What's the breakdown of 1/2/3/4 day trips? Is there any schedule flexibility (can you drop/swap reserve days, etc)? I know of one person from my previous regional who's at Breeze, a Connecticut native, and I think he likes it.
#12
I'd like to enter that chat with a hypothetical.
I see Breeze is still hiring DECs for the A220. I'm currently a captain at Spirit, just under 500 heavy jet PIC (the min Breeze wants for DEC). I live in NJ, currently commuting to reserve in FLL, although we should be getting a Newark base soon (I hope). Spirit continues to falter, with our management now saying as many as 70 planes may be parked next year. I had an interview with United a few months ago and they said no. I've been applying to AA and Delta and so far no calls.
If Spirit continues to falter and especially if I get downgraded, would DEC at Breeze be an unreasonable career move?
For consideration, how long to hold a line as a captain in BDL? What's the reserve call out time? I'm about a 3 hour drive to BDL. What's the breakdown of 1/2/3/4 day trips? Is there any schedule flexibility (can you drop/swap reserve days, etc)? I know of one person from my previous regional who's at Breeze, a Connecticut native, and I think he likes it.
I see Breeze is still hiring DECs for the A220. I'm currently a captain at Spirit, just under 500 heavy jet PIC (the min Breeze wants for DEC). I live in NJ, currently commuting to reserve in FLL, although we should be getting a Newark base soon (I hope). Spirit continues to falter, with our management now saying as many as 70 planes may be parked next year. I had an interview with United a few months ago and they said no. I've been applying to AA and Delta and so far no calls.
If Spirit continues to falter and especially if I get downgraded, would DEC at Breeze be an unreasonable career move?
For consideration, how long to hold a line as a captain in BDL? What's the reserve call out time? I'm about a 3 hour drive to BDL. What's the breakdown of 1/2/3/4 day trips? Is there any schedule flexibility (can you drop/swap reserve days, etc)? I know of one person from my previous regional who's at Breeze, a Connecticut native, and I think he likes it.
Id no question sit tight at Spirit and keep applying to legacies. There is no upside to a lateral move to Breeze.
#13
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2023
Posts: 350
Did they mean a Breeze Captain made more than an AA FO? What did they mean, because that’s pretty far fetched. I can count on one hand the amount of pilots on year 6+ pay longevity. A large portion of the rest have been getting screwed at a lower pay rate for 2+ years now (yes it’s changing finally since we are going all A220 fleet). But hardly any Captain here makes more than $245 per hour and most are making around $215. Sure the pay scale says $280. But it would be years to reach that. The old contract at AA paid $278 for narrowbody and that doesn’t include the 3% raise year after year. So they were getting closer to $300+ on the old contract. I love breeze and the people I work with, but you’re living in a dream if you think we are breaking the bank and have it good here. And I mean cheap as we offer a cheap product (bare bones airplane, no onboard screens, just preloaded entertainment). It’s not like JetBlue that feels all inclusive. If any pilot at Breeze really believes they’re cutting the line and going to magically get equal pay and treatment as legacy pilots, they are bat $hit insane!! It will take ALPA years to get us an Allegiant style contract. Have a reality check
#14
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2023
Posts: 350
I'd like to enter that chat with a hypothetical.
I see Breeze is still hiring DECs for the A220. I'm currently a captain at Spirit, just under 500 heavy jet PIC (the min Breeze wants for DEC). I live in NJ, currently commuting to reserve in FLL, although we should be getting a Newark base soon (I hope). Spirit continues to falter, with our management now saying as many as 70 planes may be parked next year. I had an interview with United a few months ago and they said no. I've been applying to AA and Delta and so far no calls.
If Spirit continues to falter and especially if I get downgraded, would DEC at Breeze be an unreasonable career move?
For consideration, how long to hold a line as a captain in BDL? What's the reserve call out time? I'm about a 3 hour drive to BDL. What's the breakdown of 1/2/3/4 day trips? Is there any schedule flexibility (can you drop/swap reserve days, etc)? I know of one person from my previous regional who's at Breeze, a Connecticut native, and I think he likes it.
I see Breeze is still hiring DECs for the A220. I'm currently a captain at Spirit, just under 500 heavy jet PIC (the min Breeze wants for DEC). I live in NJ, currently commuting to reserve in FLL, although we should be getting a Newark base soon (I hope). Spirit continues to falter, with our management now saying as many as 70 planes may be parked next year. I had an interview with United a few months ago and they said no. I've been applying to AA and Delta and so far no calls.
If Spirit continues to falter and especially if I get downgraded, would DEC at Breeze be an unreasonable career move?
For consideration, how long to hold a line as a captain in BDL? What's the reserve call out time? I'm about a 3 hour drive to BDL. What's the breakdown of 1/2/3/4 day trips? Is there any schedule flexibility (can you drop/swap reserve days, etc)? I know of one person from my previous regional who's at Breeze, a Connecticut native, and I think he likes it.
Only you could know how bad it might get at Spirit. If it’s bad then yea you should come over especially if you’re in the BDL area.
#15
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2022
Posts: 497
You’ve got fast wifi, entertainment using your own device, you’ve got food, new planes and direct flights bypassing hubs. Customer satisfaction and NPS scores are through the roof, not sure what in the world you’re talking about. Also I really hope we don’t get an Allegiant style contract where we make 57 bucks an hour!
lol. And flying over Dallas to go to Gulfport Mississippi! Move over airline industry, we’re coming through!!
#16
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2021
Posts: 222
Spirit continues to falter, with our management now saying as many as 70 planes may be parked next year. I had an interview with United a few months ago and they said no. I've been applying to AA and Delta and so far no calls.
If Spirit continues to falter and especially if I get downgraded, would DEC at Breeze be an unreasonable career move?
I know of one person from my previous regional who's at Breeze, a Connecticut native, and I think he likes it.
If Spirit continues to falter and especially if I get downgraded, would DEC at Breeze be an unreasonable career move?
I know of one person from my previous regional who's at Breeze, a Connecticut native, and I think he likes it.
I just had an AA recruiter on my JS. He said they will be hiring full steam ahead after the summer. This will be AA’s biggest summer schedule ever! They needed all hands on deck. You’ll get called, specially if you have PIC.
I believe Spirit will be fine tbh. Going to breeze from spirit is a lateral move at best. If you were an FO maybe, but you’re already a captain. You’re taking a pay cut and a QOL hit being at the bottom.
If you move to a base you might enjoy it , but from my experience Breeze is the worst airline to commute to. Worse than the regionals. When I left, my QOL was 10x better , even though I initially commuted. Now I’ll be upgrading next year and I’ll be making $100 dollars an hr more than when I left + 17% DC into my retirement. I have 25 years left. That’s millions of dollars over my career. I also got into this for the travel, you can’t compare the travel benefits breeze will offer vs the legacies (wife and I consistently get first class to Europe).
breeze is a good stepping stone but compared to established airlines, it only beats the regionals. As the legacies slow hiring overtime, breeze will have absolutely no reason to pay industry standard rates. You WILL always make less money than your peers. Azul A330 pilots are the least paid heavy group in the world, that was a title they earned and it’s probably still true. I like DN, I believe he is mostly sincere , but he is a business man and he does not believe in rewarding the work horses. If I were you I would not leave spirit and gamble on breeze. Breeze is also dealing with P&W issues.
good luck!
#17
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Mar 2023
Posts: 350
Alright this is just my opinion. I spent a few years as a breezyboi and my intuition was right most of the time.
I just had an AA recruiter on my JS. He said they will be hiring full steam ahead after the summer. This will be AA’s biggest summer schedule ever! They needed all hands on deck. You’ll get called, specially if you have PIC.
I believe Spirit will be fine tbh. Going to breeze from spirit is a lateral move at best. If you were an FO maybe, but you’re already a captain. You’re taking a pay cut and a QOL hit being at the bottom.
If you move to a base you might enjoy it , but from my experience Breeze is the worst airline to commute to. Worse than the regionals. When I left, my QOL was 10x better , even though I initially commuted. Now I’ll be upgrading next year and I’ll be making $100 dollars an hr more than when I left + 17% DC into my retirement. I have 25 years left. That’s millions of dollars over my career. I also got into this for the travel, you can’t compare the travel benefits breeze will offer vs the legacies (wife and I consistently get first class to Europe).
breeze is a good stepping stone but compared to established airlines, it only beats the regionals. As the legacies slow hiring overtime, breeze will have absolutely no reason to pay industry standard rates. You WILL always make less money than your peers. Azul A330 pilots are the least paid heavy group in the world, that was a title they earned and it’s probably still true. I like DN, I believe he is mostly sincere , but he is a business man and he does not believe in rewarding the work horses. If I were you I would not leave spirit and gamble on breeze. Breeze is also dealing with P&W issues.
good luck!
I just had an AA recruiter on my JS. He said they will be hiring full steam ahead after the summer. This will be AA’s biggest summer schedule ever! They needed all hands on deck. You’ll get called, specially if you have PIC.
I believe Spirit will be fine tbh. Going to breeze from spirit is a lateral move at best. If you were an FO maybe, but you’re already a captain. You’re taking a pay cut and a QOL hit being at the bottom.
If you move to a base you might enjoy it , but from my experience Breeze is the worst airline to commute to. Worse than the regionals. When I left, my QOL was 10x better , even though I initially commuted. Now I’ll be upgrading next year and I’ll be making $100 dollars an hr more than when I left + 17% DC into my retirement. I have 25 years left. That’s millions of dollars over my career. I also got into this for the travel, you can’t compare the travel benefits breeze will offer vs the legacies (wife and I consistently get first class to Europe).
breeze is a good stepping stone but compared to established airlines, it only beats the regionals. As the legacies slow hiring overtime, breeze will have absolutely no reason to pay industry standard rates. You WILL always make less money than your peers. Azul A330 pilots are the least paid heavy group in the world, that was a title they earned and it’s probably still true. I like DN, I believe he is mostly sincere , but he is a business man and he does not believe in rewarding the work horses. If I were you I would not leave spirit and gamble on breeze. Breeze is also dealing with P&W issues.
good luck!
What about JetBlue pilots? Are they the least paid narrow body pilots in the world? All we need is the DC and this place would be good to stay at. Pay was ok until Delta went up to 300 an hour for the A220. You come here for the schedules and seniority. Not sure how long it takes to have 18 to 20 off and day trips all month as a Captain at a legacy but it can’t be as fast as here. Of course if you want to fly heavy international, big planes with higher pay rates, go to a legacy. But that’s not for everyone.
Last edited by bluespoon; 05-10-2024 at 09:53 PM.
#18
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jul 2021
Posts: 222
What about JetBlue pilots? Are they the least paid narrow body pilots in the world? All we need is the DC and this place would be good to stay at. Pay was ok until Delta went up to 300 an hour for the A220. You come here for the schedules and seniority. Not sure how long it takes to have 18 to 20 off and day trips all month as a Captain at a legacy but it can’t be as fast as here. Of course if you want to fly heavy international, big planes with higher pay rates, go to a legacy. But that’s not for everyone.
#20
Gets Weekends Off
Joined APC: Jan 2022
Posts: 497
Almost all of the trips leave before 8am and return after 9pm. So you will commute in the day before, and commute home the day after. IF you’re a line holder. For reserve, enjoy 12 days off and no crashpads around an airport like BDL. TPA and MCO have crashpads because other airlines are based there
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