putzin

SJS kids, it’s a thing.

BobSacamano

Huh? There were literally hundreds of pilots over that time period to “took advantage” of the hiring spree you’re referring to. That’s what all the attrition was.

Stayontarget

Who knows? Bringing in 42 airplanes next year when your fleet size is only ~150 is ambitious. We can barely seem to hire enough ground staff to manage what we have and then as others have pointed out where do you put them? 21 is a more manageable number and more in line with what the last two years will have been. I’m expecting somewhat flat growth for us and further shrinkage for them over the next two years until the Pratt issue gets put behind us. Bringing on aircraft would help mitigate that.

Or it may actually help a potential merger to have so many aircraft down while everything else gets sorted out. They are being paid for by Pratt for now. Fly the ~320 usable combined fleet in ‘25 and then quickly scale up as the approximately 90 downed aircraft come back online or see how the ULCC market is doing? Maybe the aircraft being down but paid for gives you time and ability pivot easier?

redhot

The merger if announced in Q4 2024 would not be complete until sometime late in 2025. 2025 in general would be a non factor... I personally think the merger will be announced sometime in sep/oct/nov...

If they do merge I might actually think on staying long term if I don't get an oppertunity in 25 for a legacy. I would much prefer to bet on the 5th largest airline in the country then be on the bottom of a legacy after literally thousands more where hired before me after 2025. At a certain point idgaf about flying for widget or globe if the combined spirit/frontier offered good pay and good trips long term. Anyone thinking about that combined airline in QOL in the very short term is short cited. Who knows what the cobined airline turns into 5-10 years from now, personally I think it's pretty exicitng if it were to happen

Noisecanceller

If you were working paycheck to paycheck would you marry a girlfriend that ranks as a 5 and has $250k in student loan debt, works as a barista, but has a Miata owned free and clear. Oh and while you told her it’s not wise she still racks up her credit cards every month with no real plans on how to pay them while working as a barista.

Aero1900

Is the Miata a stick shift? If it's an automatic, I'm a hard pass. But if she drives manual I'm willing to take a second look.

Chimpy

I don't think they look at it like that. A Merged larger ULCC (or LCC whatever they call it now) will offer a much brighter future for both. JB ultimately f'd up what would have been a pretty good merger IMO. I think it still happens just with NK in a much worse positon than we were in 2022. The nice thing is the greedy shareholders who ignored Ted and voted in favor of JB for a few dollars more per share wil end up with significantly less (probably) than what F9 offered back then.

RiddleEagle18

No one is acquiring spirit until after their trip through chapter 11 or as part of their chapter 11 dip financing.

No one wants to take on the current debt.

Beehan

People keep saying this, but I'm confused as to why this is so relevant now versus the prior merger attempt. The debt was always going to come due next year, wasn't it? Or did something change between the prior merger attempt and now? If their assets and debts were good enough for us to acquire in 2022, they're good enough to acquire now. Just at a discounted price. Or if that's incorrect I'm curious as to why.

Aero1900

I think the debt has always been there, but their financial performance has gotten worse. They just look weaker than they did a few years ago