Virgin America's 2015 big Pilot pay raise
- Thread starter Cherokee_Cruiser
- Start date
surreal1221
Well-Known Member
word302 said:
A lot of pay rates are percentage based so increases to the lower longevity rates for CA are necessary so as to allow for an appropriate rate increase at the lower level longevity FO rates.
For example, traditionally, FO rates are around 60% of what the same CA rate is for the same longevity position.
SpiceWeasel
Tre Kronor
Looks like they're taking the union drive seriously.
FlyByWire22
Well-Known Member
Nice
Soul Brotha'
Well-Known Member
And the work rules are what? Not slamming you guys, just wondering. JB has a lot of work to do.
WestIndian425
Well-Known Member
I figure with this coming out, once the organization of the JetBlue ALPA is complete, the pilot have a bit more ammo to use for the negotiations. Of course, this is speculation.
stuckingfk
Well-Known Member
I don't know this for sure, just heard a fellow aviator talking about it, but when you upgrade at Virgin you go back to year 1 CA pay.
For this kind of pay raise to come about, they must have some serious attrition. Still wouldn't get me to go there, many of their Captains there aren't going anywhere, and being a FO at Virgin for an extended amount of time doesn't sound that appealing.
Dexter
Hop off there, Blonde Ambition Tour
Honestly a friend who's an FO there has pretty phenomenal schedules. 6 leg 4 days don't sound too shabby no matter what carrier you're at.
Autothrust Blue
Did Not Grow Up
Yeah, but I would still rather make -scrolls up- $52/hour instead of $41.90/hour to fly said trips.
And then $85/hour thereafter :O
BobDDuck
Island Bus Driver
I actually was just looking at the math on that recently. The average (for the legacies) is around 53% for year 2 (year one pay is a fixed number normally) and ends up at around 68% at year 12.
Of course the actual hourly rate is a function of that AND what the captain scale is.
Cherokee_Cruiser
Bronteroc
Minimal. So far this year just one FO who is going to United. Last year the company planned on an attrition number of 24 pilots whereas reality was about 15 gone (includes one termination). As of this writing it's fair to say our attrition is minimal.
Our work rules don't compare to jetBlue - you guys have it better. I can answer something specific if you are wondering about a certain topic? There is no night pay. Premium pay of 125% for any credit above 80 hrs. Scheduled layover of 24 hrs or more pays an extra 3.5 hrs. Min day pay is 3.5 hrs (sim, recurrent ground school, etc). It doesn't really affect trip pay because most trips are transcons anyway so they pay on average 5.5-6.5 per day.
Not true. Any pilot who upgrades does so at their respective longevity (like any other airline). What you are thinking of only existed here for a very short time when the airline first started. But that was changed a long time ago and you keep longevity pay for upgrade.
Attrition question already answered above. Our attrition numbers have been minimal and below company planned.
Yes the Captains aren't going anywhere. But what do you mean being a FO for an "extended" time? I think some people have really let Spirit Airlines get to their head and that if you haven't upgraded in 2.5 yrs then it isn't worth it? Keep in mind even Spirit pushed 5-8+ year upgrades at some point in their history. Today VX's most junior CA is a March 2010 DOH. So the 5 planes coming this year means guys from April-Dec 2010 will upgrade which is 5 years for them. 5 planes next year in 2016. No fleet plan yet for 2017-2019 but this is subject to change now that the IPO is done.
With the exception of Spirit Airlines, any airline with A320s is going to be a 4-8+ year upgrade.
When he said 6 leg 4 days it sounds like he meant 6 total legs in 4 days in regards to being a phenomenal schedule.
Eg,
Day 1 - SFO-LAX-BOS
Day 2 - BOS-LAX
Day 3 - LAX-FLL
Day 4 - FLL-LAX-SFO
6 legs, 4 day trip.
B767
Well-Known Member
Pretty sure he knew what that meant. We at the regional level, especially him on the jet he flies, fly 6 leg 3-4 day trips. He was saying he would rather get paid $52/hr instead of our lowly regional pay. Thought that was pretty obvious? Not like Virgin has exclusivity on 6 leg 4 day trips...
wheelsup
Well-Known Member
I went from 8 leg days to 2 leg three days. Regionals were fun but damn that was a lot of work.
B767
Well-Known Member
I don't fly the 200 much...mainly for that reason. I don't like doing more than 3-4 legs a day. On the 700 I usually only do 2 legs per day. I don't know what the trips are like on the 175 at my shop, but I can't imagine they're doing more than 2-3 legs per day.
Autothrust Blue
Did Not Grow Up
Yup. It's a "long" day now if I fly more than 2 legs. @Cherokee_Cruiser
As I told my dad, who was stunned by the fact that I'm going to tank my 'regional' jet up and fly it nonstop from SF to Minneapolis tomorrow, "There have been some changes here at the 'bottom'."
B767
Well-Known Member
Yup. I think LAX-MSP is the longest route we do on the 700 now. Right up there with it is AUS/DFW/SAT-LAX/SFO. And, we do red eyes now...
I think your fleet is getting more of those SFO routes. SFO-STL ouch. And I know they will be starting SEA-MKE in the coming months on it.
Autothrust Blue
Did Not Grow Up
Westbound, STL-SFO was 4:57 block a few days ago.