flare next time

Maybe I've lost the plot, but as someone not at Spirit, I wanted some perspective from ya'll.
If the new agreement comes to fruition and the new pay rates come into effect, is there really much reason to leave Spirit for one of the big 3's? Aside from widebody options and perhaps some contractual issues that I'm not aware of, it seems like Spirit offers a great QOL with comparable pay.
To put it simply, why would someone leave Spirit, or why would someone stay?

FlyGuy2002

There’s so many variables to each individual to answer that. And the angry no voters will be on here screaming Shortly about all the short comings of this place. However many love this job and I’m one of them. It really is a good gig. Anecdotal evidence but all the peeps I’ve flown with that have left or leavin, the reasons had almost nothing to do with spirit or even pay for that matter. The enticement of wide bodies, career stability and bases have been the driving factor.

Pay is always part of the equation but I’ve yet to meet anyone who left simply because ‘pay sucks.’ Staying or leaving is personal. My situation and my life is fantastic. My fear is the B6 merger is gonna be a massive curveball that may or may not effect that. When b6 was first announced my initial reaction wasn’t to walk away but to run away as fast as possible. However my age and seniority just makes it foolish to leave. My negativity assumes the B6 SLI will be a fiasco. But I’m gonna enjoy my very nice QOL and paycheck until the battle Royale begins. I’ll deal with whatever comes, even if it means a move. I don’t blame guys for leaving for a host or reasons.. and everyone in my circle enjoys it and is staying.

The Draw of legacies are enticing to many . Not all. You can carve out a nice little life at Nk if you so choose.

Justabusdriver1

Some of the bigger reasons to leave would be wide body or fleet variability. Some want the chance to maybe fly a different type in their career even if they’re happy on the bus. But saying we offer competitive pay isn’t even close. When you factor in soft pay, overrides, retirement, profit sharing at other places the gap gets quite a bit wider from the hard pay that’s already pretty wide. Bases are probably the biggest one. If you prefer a base another airline has and or you plan on moving to base and another airline has one in a city you want to move to that would be a golden ticket.

From what I can see there 2 types of pilots here. Those who came with the intention of staying and living out their career, because they don’t want to go through another training, maybe they’re older and just plan to ride out as as they can till retirement or spirit offer them the best qol for their family and where they live. Then there people who came here never intending to stay but came for the type and experience but never intended on making this a destination. So those people usually already know they’re leaving for any number of the reasons above.

Noisecanceller

Without the JetBlue merger this place is done on its own. Without the JetBlue merger there will never be pay pairity with the legacies just look at this TA.
Without the JetBlue merger the future will be out of business or a Frontier merger at less than they offered last time. Ask anyone that was here in 2010 if you ever want to work for the folks running Frontier. I will dump all of my seniority and start over before that ever happens.

Irishblackbird

I'm a No voter, but certainly not angry as Flyguy suggests. I do agree with him in that the reasons to stay or go are as varied as the individual's wants and needs. The fact of the matter is that every contract out there has something that the other guy wants, be it it pay, work rule, or some percieved benefit that maybe a contract is lacking. There is no perfect contract.

In terms of Spirit, it is a great airline and I enjoy the crews I fly with in my base and what our product was. But, post covid this place has seem to lost its direction, identity, and the wheel house in terms of management is empty. Repeat problems never get corrected, bases are downsizing, upgrades have slowed, constant changes to the FOM, procedures or our ****ty manuals, and attrition will always be present, but has continued to increase to unmanageable levels. The place now has the feel of a big "Giong out of Business" sale since the merger was announced.

So the uncertainty of what we will become adds to the reason why many choose to leave. The ones who seem most at risk are the pilots who cant/won't leave. Namely, yes voting Captains. Those adverse to uncertainty are most likely drawn to the big 3 because of pay, benefits, and the likelihood that they will be around for the remainder of thier careers. I would hate to be a younger pilot and invest 7-10 years in a failed Blue/Spirit venture and then be looking for a job at the big 3 past peak hiring.

For me, I'm undecided. If I'm to believe what our negotiating committee has presented, then it sounds like Spirit is in dire straits financially, and if this merger doesn't go through I'd be very worried.

Bluedriver

What SLI result would you consider a "fiasco"?

Just curious, not starting any debate.

Noisecanceller

People that have no idea what an ALPA/ALPA merger is or how it works. SLI we will already be working under a ratified JCBA. THEN state your case, disagree, arbitrated, and done. Zero fiasco as far as list integration goes.

Bluedriver

Just wondered what his "opinion" was.

Lincoln Osiris

The pay isn’t going to be “comparable” not even close.

Noisecanceller

He doesn’t know that’s my point