Powderkeg

Year+

filler.....

Blueskies67

Over a year for both and presumably that way until they start hiring bigger classes again at the end of the year. They are planning a regular size class for May and two small classes in June/July then back to normal size if the can fill them August onward, but their plan changes daily.

PulledBreaker

This. You'll be on second year pay before you see a line. So budget $39 x 75 × 12 ($35,000) to support your family for an entire year.

FYI, the company wanted to drop reserves down to 70 hours. Yes, cut your first year pay even lower. Keep that in mind if you do actually show up for an interview.

dracir1

Listen, fellas...

All this discouragement to potential new employees is silly. It really is beneath us and unneccesary. Guys are languishing at corporate or in the regionals (like I was) and are looking to improve their plight. Despite how bad it is here currently, it's still a step up. I get being informative to them but we should be welcoming them with open arms into our brotherhood should they be offered a FO position and they accept it.

Why? For two reasons. One is obvious - it's the right thing to do. They are our brothers (and sisters) in the industry and might possibly share a cockpit/road trip or two (or 1000) with us someday.

Two, they really don't have that much bearing on our contract situation. There are literally tens of thousands of regional pilots waiting. Maybe some have crossed us off for now but there are more than enough to fill out an app and attend an interview. So, THEY aren't going to affect the companies recruiting efforts nor will they sway the companies efforts toward their contract negotiations. The ONLY thing that we have going for us is our good faith bargaining, the industry continuing to increase wages at other airlines and the NMB releasing us. That's it.

So while I'm sure everyone coming to this thread appreciates the "candor" and verocity with which the negative aspects of a job at F9 is shared/displayed, I think is speaks less about the company we work for and more about the F9 pilot community.

Just my $0.02. Throw spears in 5, 4, 3 . .

CantStayAway

Not throwing spears here, but it must be noted that you’re incorrect about us having no problem recruiting. We definitely are. It’s yet to be determined if that will affect negotiations, but in time it definitely could. If it gets to that point we’ll likely see significant signing bonuses before a contract. As for the NMB releasing us, not likely.

Personally I will discourage anyone from coming here before we get a contract, for the good of them and all of us. Once they decide to come to class anyway, I’ll welcome with open arms. No judgment. No hatred. I just want people to know what it is they’re signing up for and how it affects our collective situation.

PulledBreaker

I respectfully disagree dracir1. Giving potential new hires accurate and factual information is how we keep them informed and give them the knowledge needed to make informed decisions.

Saying new hires will only make 35k while commuting to reserve for a year, is in fact, true.

OpenClimb

I think the only way a regional guy should come here is if they’ve already been rejected by every other mainline carrier. Alternatively, use it as a placeholder until something better comes along.

I understand that we’re probably a better option than most fee for departure carriers, but I also believe we’re at the bottom of the barrel among mainline carriers.

I don’t think sharing this information is in any way unprofessional; quite the opposite, actually. I’d rather be sitting next to someone who’s come to F9 fully informed rather than fly with a ticked off person who is surprised by our substandard situation.

Flipadelphia

+1!!!!!

Dracir1, I think you mean well but I’m dumbfounded as to why you have issue with giving new hires the facts. Seems like maybe you think your opinions outweigh the facts?

chinookwinds

As an additional fact of attracting and retaining new hires.
If Frontier does not settle on a respectable contract for this pilot group, the ability for this airline to hire for anything close to their growth projections just will NOT be possible. It is obvious that they finally recognize that they have a problem;
1)Training contact---Gone
2)Paid hotels during training----Was not done when I was hired in 2007, and hadn’t ever been considered until now.
3)Multiple Flow/preferential hiring agreements with several regional Airlines, most recently Trans States.
Due to the current inability for this airline to attract new hire candidates (not to mention quality/experienced) will have an impact on our ability to obtain an acceptable contract and will have not only have an immediate effect, but long term ramifications on the growth of this airline without it. Frontier needs to get a respectable contract for the long term success of the Airline.

dracir1

I'm not arguing facts and I agree that what was written is in fact true.

But, the tone of this entire thread has turned to "Don't Come Here" and this place sucks and etc. That is the message that I'm referring to. All of you responding to me know exactly what I'm talking about.

We are all better than this. We are a professional pilot group - not just our contract. I know very good people here and enjoy flying with lots of us. Some of us, I could do without flying with but that is few and far between - just like I'm sure it is just about every where else.

No one on this thread or who has spent 15 minutes on APC has any doubt about the hierachy of airlines. No one is thinking Frontier is some kingpin or ideal place to work. And, as I mentioned, I came here from a regional knowing full well how bad this place was (the pay, some of the work rules, the no hotels during training, etc.) Of course, I would much rather be at a one of the big three or SW if I'd been offered but I wasn't. The people on this thread probably haven't been either. On that note, I would suspect that YOU didn't choose this place over any other unless you were hired prior to the concessionairry contract if you had better options as well.

All I'm saying is chill out on the negativity. Presentation of the facts is cool and expected. But if you read back just 3 or 4 pages from here, and you were a potential new hire, you'd swear the pilot group is a bunch of whiny bi*&hes.