WhaleSurfing

Ask those FAs about their paychecks and work rules compared to SWA FAs. No comparison. SWA flight attendants are the industry’s highest paid. Those “several flight attendants” are clueless.

pitchattitude

Believe me, I did. And you are correct. They ARE clueless and don’t think pilots know enough about the subject to be telling them anything. Consider who we are talking about.

filejw

Ladies and gentlemen a word from an old retiree . Iv known and been friends with many very nice FA's none of whom I would ever take career advice.

Quiet Storm

There is alot of hang up about the term LCC . Someone said that most pilots don't consider an "LCC" to be be a "major" and someone else said that Southwest is closer to a "legacy" than a LCC , when Southwest was literally the first LCC ever created . A legacy is just a term dedicated for any airline that still is around pre - deregulation. Alaska and Hawaiin are legacies, by definition.

Any airline that sells their own tickets is going to be a major step up from the regionals . All the major airlines have starting FO pay around 90 dollars an hour (excluding Frontier, Spirit, and Allegiant) their first year pay is still relatively low, however, the rest still applies.... 12 year CA pay around 270+ an hour, and 15-16% direct contribution into your 401k , and overall better work rules and working conditions than any regional . All this is pretty much industry standard at the majors, wether it be a LCC ULCC or Legacy. CBAs will only continue to improve . The time of taking concessions is far past us . Places like Kallitta, ATI, and Omni are also great options for some and have recently seen great improvements in their contracts .

Nothing wrong with holding out for whatever you consider to be your dream job. But in this market , I think you're doing yourself an injustice to not even consider all options .

Slowhawk

My opinion is that anyone at a regional with 1000 TPIC in their pocket should be doing everything they can to get to any LCC while they wait for a major to call. If the economy tanks or we have another terrorist event and the industry takes a turn, I’d rather be stuck somewhere for a decade making six figures than stuck at a flopping regional enduring regional QOL

Or, even if nothing happens to the economy, nothing wrong with advancing your career (and pay and retirement), even if that left seat at a regional is comfy.

But if you live in base at your regional I could see why you’d stay

DoNoHarm

Most of the LCC's will not survive a serious economic downturn. If that does happen, the smaller LCC's will be a shell of what they are today and anyone that is not very senior will be furlough fodder.

Excargodog

I am not so sure about that. Fuel costs everybody about the same. Everybody is flying about the same equipment. While the 12 year captain at Frontier or Spirit might be making ALMOST as much as the 12 year Captain at Delta, a whole lot fewer of the captains at Frontier or Spirit are GOING TO BE 12 year captains.

Granted, by reneging on pensions through bankruptcy a lot of the legacy Legacy personnel costs have been decreased, but per butt in the seat hour several of the LCCs have significantly lower actual personnel costs. They may compete much better than you’d expect.

Quiet Storm

What? That just isn't true at all . The LCC business model has already shown it has been successful in previous downturns in the economy. I guess Southwest, Frontier, JetBlue, and Allegiant were all started and only sucessful after 2009, by your logic .

Common sense would tell you that a business model with a lower cost structure would stand a better chance, at success in a bad economy .

MD-11Loader

I’ve been told by several flight attendants that “I’m the father” and “I owe child support” but like you, I don’t pay attention to what they say and just keep on keepin on the way Joe Dirt taught me to.

pitchattitude

You trying to carry on Hard Lemonade’s torch?