Getting Spirit Pilots Home

Richman said:
Despite being a largely pragmatic group of people, pilots can't seem to resist rolling the dice on what would otherwise be a recognizably bad situation or be willing to tolerate a short term loss for long term gain.
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There was an element of "rolling the dice" - but there was also a good chance of a rescue, depending on what the Illuminati ultimately decided to do, those decisions are really above our pay grade. I also really think it's a math problem at this point for those of us not at a carrier that's "too big to fail"---> X number of years left, incremental increases in the pay scales at a new job, seniority loss, seat loss, retirement contributions, time value of money, QOL considerations, etc.

Not trying to argue here... but It's easy to pontificate from a very safe spot on a legacy seniority list, having already survived those various "career destructive" events - almost 20 years or more ago now in the case of the Widget and NWA. I will say that I'm telling everyone that's in the bottom quartile (and even bottom 1/2) of our list... do your personal math, fill out those apps, do the work to secure other employment - and then decide if it's right for you to go. (if it makes sense for you - @killbilly for instance, dude... you know that you could be driving to work, right?)

The other lesson that I am taking from all of this is: continue to update my logbook (which I've been doing since day 1 - just flew with a FO that's been updating about 2-4 months a night on his layovers), keep up networking, keep up with my "soft" skills (which is somewhat hard now that I've started my 2nd job of a transcon commute) my resume still looks decent and I have my committee work which looks real good - and ultimately be ready, just in case... if the wheels fall off. And hopefully, the industry will be able to absorb my whole pilot group just like it's prepared to aborb the entire Spirit pilot group this year.

Oh, I have my "interview story" now - had a pretty big non-normal recently that came to a very successful conclusion - so at least I have that going for me. But, it's my hope that I won't have to interview again.

The last time I was furloughed - no one was hiring. At least this time around, it's different.
 
ClearedForOption said:
There was an element of "rolling the dice" - but there was also a good chance of a rescue, depending on what the Illuminati ultimately decided to do, those decisions are really above our pay grade. I also really think it's a math problem at this point for those of us not at a carrier that's "too big to fail"---> X number of years left, incremental increases in the pay scales at a new job, seniority loss, seat loss, retirement contributions, time value of money, QOL considerations, etc.

Not trying to argue here... but It's easy to pontificate from a very safe spot on a legacy seniority list, having already survived those various "career destructive" events - almost 20 years or more ago now in the case of the Widget and NWA. I will say that I'm telling everyone that's in the bottom quartile (and even bottom 1/2) of our list... do your personal math, fill out those apps, do the work to secure other employment - and then decide if it's right for you to go. (if it makes sense for you - @killbilly for instance, dude... you know that you could be driving to work, right?)

The other lesson that I am taking from all of this is: continue to update my logbook (which I've been doing since day 1 - just flew with a FO that's been updating about 2-4 months a night on his layovers), keep up networking, keep up with my "soft" skills (which is somewhat hard now that I've started my 2nd job of a transcon commute) my resume still looks decent and I have my committee work which looks real good - and ultimately be ready, just in case... if the wheels fall off. And hopefully, the industry will be able to absorb my whole pilot group just like it's prepared to aborb the entire Spirit pilot group this year.

Oh, I have my "interview story" now - had a pretty big non-normal recently that came to a very successful conclusion - so at least I have that going for me. But, it's my hope that I won't have to interview again.

The last time I was furloughed - no one was hiring. At least this time around, it's different.
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I'm going to pile on here.

Leaving a place like Spirit in late 2019 for a job at a legacy carrier, at a point when Spirit was printing money, would have resulted in getting immediately punched in the face by COVID while at the bottom of a very large list.

Did it work out? Eventually, but there were a whole bunch of pilots in the UNA category at Delta, or getting one third pay at United. Didn't American actually furlough?

Same thing now; we're about to see another oil shock with the straight having been closed for 3 months. You can't shut off 20% of the global supply of oil for that long and get away without any economic damage.

If a guy is at the bottom of a list right now, sure, there's no risk in jumping. But once you're off the bottom 20% the risks start to become real. The prospect of going from making $200 an hour to zero dollars an hour while the economy falls apart isn't something a whole lot of folks will be able to handle financially.
 
Richman said:
Despite being a largely pragmatic group of people, pilots can't seem to resist rolling the dice on what would otherwise be a recognizably bad situation or be willing to tolerate a short term loss for long term gain.
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Respectfully...what?! My decision to ride it out had nothing to do with not recognizing the situation. Rather it was a calculated decision on what was best for me with the available information on hand. Of course there was the threat of shutdown; but considering my age, seniority, and the prospect of another merger attempt it made sense for me to simply ride it out and hope for the best.
 
CoffeeIcePapers said:
Sorry didn’t mean to start a dogpile. My only point was why not put out some apps and get the process started? Taking an interview doesn’t mean you have to take a job.
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So riddle me this... let's say I put out apps months ago or longer, as you suggest, get called for an interview, and I'm lucky enough to get a CJO. Now I have a decision to make, even though I'm not really ready. Instead, I likely burned a bridge by turning down a class date because I wasn't planning to walk away before it was absolutely necessary. Now, when I NEED that opportunity/CJO (as in right now), I've limited the pool of available companies that would consider me as a viable candidate because I did them dirty by applying with no real intention of taking the job at the time.

I'm all set, thanks. I don't have a moment's regret not applying sooner anywhere. I did what I did, not without thought or consideration of where Spirit was at the time or where they could've been; instead, I did it fully understanding the situation. I will happily live with my decision to hold out to the end. I had zero intention of ever leaving Spirit; it was a great gig while it lasted, and I was one of the very last people to command a Spirit flight, so there’s that too.
 
Cruise said:
So riddle me this... let's say I put out apps months ago or longer, as you suggest, get called for an interview, and I'm lucky enough to get a CJO. Now I have a decision to make, even though I'm not really ready. Instead, I likely burned a bridge by turning down a class date because I wasn't planning to walk away before it was absolutely necessary. Now, when I NEED that opportunity/CJO (as in right now), I've limited the pool of available companies that would consider me as a viable candidate because I did them dirty by applying with no real intention of taking the job at the time.
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Maybe after an interview at a major, you would have convinced yourself to go. Maybe no one would have called. It sometimes takes months or years (or never) to get a call back. To be clear, I wasn't questioning your decision, just curious. Thanks for answering and good luck. If you want a recommendation to pocket aces, DM me. I was also at Spirit, too.
 
I have no connection to Spirit….never worked there, never rode as a passenger. But taxiing past the old hangar at DTW recently, with a couple yellow birds just parked there, I realized it was probably the last time id ever see one again. Which is sad. I’m sorry guys, sorry it ended, sorry it ended this way.
 
Cruise said:
The thought of being a new hire again isn't very palatable, but that's the hand I was dealt, so I guess
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I left 2 months before the closure, even up till the week before the ship sank I was second guessing my decision. I was there just shy of 9 years, left seat for the last 6 and made it as high as 36%. It was a lot to give up it was a VERY hard reality check, I started over at AA, I'll reach that 36% mark again, in about 20 years, it is what it is.

But its been a good move, AA has been great so far. The fed me more meals in the first 3 days than what Spirit did in 9 years. The crews up front have a very Spirit like feel, really laid back and down to earth people so far. And already knowing the bus made training a snooze fest, especially compared to Spirit. Once you get there it's not as bad as you think it will be, I was really dreading it for a while and now that I'm here its been good. I try not to think about the seniority thing. and at all the legacies its moving quick enough that at least in the right seat in a few years the QOL will be good, and same with the pay, in a few years as an FO I won't be that far off from Spirit reserve captain pay.

It sucks, I do miss Spirit. But moving on has generally been positive so far.
 
Cruise said:
So riddle me this... let's say I put out apps months ago or longer, as you suggest, get called for an interview, and I'm lucky enough to get a CJO. Now I have a decision to make, even though I'm not really ready. Instead, I likely burned a bridge by turning down a class date because I wasn't planning to walk away before it was absolutely necessary. Now, when I NEED that opportunity/CJO (as in right now), I've limited the pool of available companies that would consider me as a viable candidate because I did them dirty by applying with no real intention of taking the job at the time.

I'm all set, thanks. I don't have a moment's regret not applying sooner anywhere. I did what I did, not without thought or consideration of where Spirit was at the time or where they could've been; instead, I did it fully understanding the situation. I will happily live with my decision to hold out to the end. I had zero intention of ever leaving Spirit; it was a great gig while it lasted, and I was one of the very last people to command a Spirit flight, so there’s that too.
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That is what happened to me…

I panicked when the merger between JetBlue and Spirit fell apart January 2024. For the first time I dropped an app to United. As soon as i hit submit. I regretted the decision and then secretly hoped that maybe it will be like when I applied to United American and Delta when I was a regional airline pilot. Maybe it will just be Crickets.

I went on with my life.. in addition to dropping the one app to United, I started stockpiling cash for a furlough / liquidation fund.

6 months later in June 2024, United sent me an invite to do the Hogan. I just sank it was not what I wanted to see. At the time I wasn’t ready to leave and I wanted to give spirit more time to recover, since I had just reached top of pay scale at Spirit. I asked United if I could defer and reapply in the future if I declined to do the hogan. Which they said that was fine. I could continue the process later when I was ready just let them know.

By August 2025 I was looking at no longer being able to hold a line in Texas after already getting displaced out from DFW to IAH and I would need to commute to Florida to keep holding a line. I reached back out to United and applied to American for the first time. When I didn’t hear anything from United I tried reapplying to United but the application wouldn’t let me complete a new one as I had an existing one on file. I updated the existing United application with more flight time. Crickets from both United and American over the last 6 months despite the fact that plenty of Spirit pilots were now being actively hired by all 3 carriers and Spirit finally shutting down in May 2026.

So in hindsight, I shouldn’t have dropped the United App until I was really ready to go. I think if I had waited I would have at least gottten an interview rather than the cold shoulder that I’m getting now.

I’m okay with how things have turned out. I’m ready to retire at 60. Spirit left me with a large 401k and HSA balance. I’ll go do some international flying for 2 more years being a lazy IRP then call it quits and take up my backup doing tax compliance and resolution for pocket change to supplement the 401k distributions until social security whenever kicks in…. I’m thinking probably 67.

But now as much as I complained about having to go to work every week when I was at spirit. I really miss being a Spirit 320 captain. It was the most fun and satisfying experience I’ve had as a professional aviator.
 
skypilot6 said:
I left 2 months before the closure, even up till the week before the ship sank I was second guessing my decision. I was there just shy of 9 years, left seat for the last 6 and made it as high as 36%. It was a lot to give up it was a VERY hard reality check, I started over at AA, I'll reach that 36% mark again, in about 20 years, it is what it is.

But its been a good move, AA has been great so far. The fed me more meals in the first 3 days than what Spirit did in 9 years. The crews up front have a very Spirit like feel, really laid back and down to earth people so far. And already knowing the bus made training a snooze fest, especially compared to Spirit. Once you get there it's not as bad as you think it will be, I was really dreading it for a while and now that I'm here its been good. I try not to think about the seniority thing. and at all the legacies its moving quick enough that at least in the right seat in a few years the QOL will be good, and same with the pay, in a few years as an FO I won't be that far off from Spirit reserve captain pay.

It sucks, I do miss Spirit. But moving on has generally been positive so far.
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Also keep in mind that 36% at a single narrowbody fleet airline isn’t the same as one with multiple narrow and widebody options. While starting over is definitely a kick in the nuts, you can likely hold narrowbody captain in 4 years or less.
 
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