Pilots Turn Down 30% Increase over Five Years And A $3,000 Signing Bonus Per Pilot At

[RedDogC130]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Spirit-Airlines-Update-on-bw-3119022790.html?x=0&.v=1


MIRAMAR, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Spirit Airlines with the help of the National Mediation Board worked tirelessly through the night until 5:00 am to reach a fair and equitable agreement with its pilot union.
Spirit offered over 30 percent pay increases totaling $70 million over five years, net of productivity improvements. At the same time, the pilots would have retained a four-day off break between each and every trip, a feature not found in any other ALPA contract.
In addition, under the offer each pilot would have received a $3,000 signing bonus. The pilots would also receive an eight percent 401-K match in years one through three with an increase to nine percent in year four, while all other Spirit employees only receive a three percent match.
“We are frustrated and disappointed that our pilots have turned down an over 30 percent increase at a cost of over $70 million over five years while disrupting thousands of our customers and jeopardizing the livelihoods of our over 2,000 employees,” said Spirit Airlines President and CEO Ben Baldanza.
As a result of the pilots’ decision to strike, Spirit Airlines flights are cancelled for Saturday, June 12, 2010.
For those customers whose flights are cancelled, Spirit is processing a credit for the full amount of the flight, as well as providing a $100 future flight credit.
Customers who made their reservation prior to May 11, 2010 directly with Spirit and purchased travel insurance should call Travel Guard at 866-877-3191 if their flight has been cancelled.

Is this all true?

 

[bluechunks]

Is this all true?

Spin. Spin. Spin.

Do the math. The "pay raise" is spread over several years (and they have been at the table for ~4 years) and means the "pay raise" does not even beat inflation....and Sprit is not exactly overpaid to begin with.

 

[Mr Wu]

Is this all true?

I don't think it matters if it's true or not. They would have just released the good stuff to the press and keep the crap that went along with it to themselves. 30% over 5 years but you still don't get it if you don't fly 4200 hours (i assume they didn't take that tidbit out).

 

[9rj9]

it's just PR

30% over 5 years translates to 14 years

4 years negotiating
5 year contract
4-5 years for negotiating next contract

Increase might be equal to the inflation rate but not much more.

Little sympathy for management here in so florida, Spirit is known as the $45 dollars for a carry-on airline. Everyone figures if they would do this imagine what they do to their employees .

 

[flynryan15]

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Spirit-Airlines-Update-on-bw-3119022790.html?x=0&.v=1


MIRAMAR, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Spirit Airlines with the help of the National Mediation Board worked tirelessly through the night until 5:00 am to reach a fair and equitable agreement with its pilot union.
Spirit offered over 30 percent pay increases totaling $70 million over five years, net of productivity improvements. At the same time, the pilots would have retained a four-day off break between each and every trip, a feature not found in any other ALPA contract.
In addition, under the offer each pilot would have received a $3,000 signing bonus. The pilots would also receive an eight percent 401-K match in years one through three with an increase to nine percent in year four, while all other Spirit employees only receive a three percent match.
“We are frustrated and disappointed that our pilots have turned down an over 30 percent increase at a cost of over $70 million over five years while disrupting thousands of our customers and jeopardizing the livelihoods of our over 2,000 employees,” said Spirit Airlines President and CEO Ben Baldanza.
As a result of the pilots’ decision to strike, Spirit Airlines flights are cancelled for Saturday, June 12, 2010.
For those customers whose flights are cancelled, Spirit is processing a credit for the full amount of the flight, as well as providing a $100 future flight credit.
Customers who made their reservation prior to May 11, 2010 directly with Spirit and purchased travel insurance should call Travel Guard at 866-877-3191 if their flight has been cancelled.

Is this all true?

Come on this isn't your first rodeo! You should know better then to believe a company press release put out minutes after the strike. The bold statement above is enough to be a show stopper when you are dealing with a mgt team the likes of Spirit.

 

[MarineGrunt]

Come on this isn't your first rodeo! You should know better then to believe a company press release put out minutes after the strike. The bold statement above is enough to be a show stopper when you are dealing with a mgt team the likes of Spirit.

So what was the actual offer on the table? Not trying to take sides, but if I were another Spirit employee trying to make ends meet and support a family, I would expect a better answer than "didn't keep up with inflation" when the stike could very well make me lose my job....

[flame suit - donned]

 

[sniper]

So what was the actual offer on the table? Not trying to take sides, but if I were another Spirit employee trying to make ends meet and support a family, I would expect a better answer than "didn't keep up with inflation" when the stike could very well make me lose my job....

[flame suit - donned]

Not good enough for the spirit pilots.

 

[Mike man]

Here ya go...

So 30%...ok lets figure this one out Ben:

4 years to negotiate a contract
5 year contract
4 years to negotiate a new contract after the 5 year one
--
13 YEARS

30% / 13 = 2.3%

The historic inflation average is 3.42% from 1913-present, granted it was 2.7% from 2000-2009...so Ben, what you are saying is you are offering a NEGATIVE .4% raise? Get bent!

 

[flynryan15]

So what was the actual offer on the table? Not trying to take sides, but if I were another Spirit employee trying to make ends meet and support a family, I would expect a better answer than "didn't keep up with inflation" when the stike could very well make me lose my job....

[flame suit - donned]

Mgt claims 30% over 5 years, with a 401k bump, and a 3k signing bonus. They have been negotiating in bad faith for 4 years and put together this last minute insult to save face. Perhaps if mgt would have started with this offer a deal would have been reached years ago? Beyond that 3k over retro is a absolute NO!

Then you have the fact that Spirits mgt is known for openly violating the pilot contract and taking the fly noe grieve later practice to a whole new level! Make no mistake mgt is the enemy here! And they abuse every employee group at Spirit! Did you knoe gate agents have to buy their own pens?

 

[ultrarunner]

Ha, $3000 signing bonus. The signing bonus should be 100% retroactive to what ever agreement is signed. NOT NEGOTIABLE!

 

[MarineGrunt]

Here ya go...

So 30%...ok lets figure this one out Ben:

4 years to negotiate a contract
5 year contract
4 years to negotiate a new contract after the 5 year one
--
13 YEARS

30% / 13 = 2.3%

The historic inflation average is 3.42% from 1913-present, granted it was 2.7% from 2000-2009...so Ben, what you are saying is you are offering a NEGATIVE .4% raise? Get bent!

I'm pretty sure if I get a 30% raise, from that point on, I am getting 30% more money, but maybe thats just me....

Edit to add - Technically, you are counting retro twice....

 

[flynryan15]

I'm pretty sure if I get a 30% raise, from that point on, I am getting 30% more money, but maybe thats just me....

Not if they change your workrules, trip rigs and duty rigs. This is a very big pie we are talking about. Not to mention what if you lose your medical in year 2? You didn't get your 30%, you didn't get the retro pay you were owed and what ever insurance you have to cover your medical will be figured of your current rate. Which won't be the 30%.

 

[MarineGrunt]

Not if they change your workrules, trip rigs and duty rigs. This is a very big pie we are talking about. Not to mention what if you lose your medicalin year 2? You didn't get your 30%, you didn't get the retro pay you were owed and what ever insurance you have to cover your medical will be figured of your current rate. Which won't be the 30%.

Which is why I asked my original question... Did they plan on changing work rules? Was mgmt taking benefits, etc? It's easy to point to company press releases and shout "spin" and "propaganda," but if you really seek support, you need to state your case a little better..... jus sayin...

 

[flynryan15]

Which is why I asked my original question... Did they plan on changing work rules? Was mgmt taking benefits, etc? It's easy to point to company press releases and shout "spin" and "propaganda," but if you really seek support, you need to state your case a little better..... jus sayin...

That is why I am saying don't believe a press release put out by mgt minutes after the strike. Furthermore I believe one of the GIANT sticking points is changing the abusive culture and practice by mgt at Spirit.

 

[MarineGrunt]

That is why I am saying don't believe a press release put out by mgt minutes after the strike. Furthermore I believe one of the GIANT sticking points is changing the abusive culture and practice by mgt at Spirit.

Fair enough. It will be interesting to see the details when they come out.

Best of luck to ALL of the Spirit folks...

 

[BoilerUP]

Spirit's pay on the A319 (evidently the bulk of their fleet) is currently lower than VIRGIN AMERICA.

Lower than USA 3000.

Lower than AirTran.

WAY lower than Frontier, Airways (East) United *and* Allegiant.

And they PALE in comparison to JBLU Airbus pay...and even E190 pay!

 

[A-V-8]

So does anyone know what the union is proposing? How far apart are they?

 

[Fedora]

r1

I know some of the Spirit pilots - they are all good folks out to do what they love and earn a living. I believe that they were promised a lot when the airline started to expand, and morale was high. Obviously things did not turn out as planned. Before we all start double guessing their decision, remember that we do not know all of the facts as they do. There are always the yeas and nays in the vote, but for the majority to take this action it must have been pretty grim. We won't get any real info as long as they are in negotiations - other than what led them to this perhaps.
I believe that they are not trying to "bring the company to it's knees," but just trying to get a fair shake and similar treatment to that of the other LCC pilots.
Please honor their lines by not crossing them - and hope that this one comes out OK.

 

[JetMonkey]

So does anyone know what the union is proposing? How far apart are they?

Parity.

 

[kwick]

The contract needs to be retro-
active to the ammendable date to
be fair.

The $3000 signing bonus
in lieu of retroactive pay is a
complete joke!

The signing bonus should be
closer to $90k, or make the
contract retroactive.

Spirit has some "Young-Gun"
Georgia Attorney that should have
settled this thing two years ago.

Now they just have to "Man-Up"
and pay the market rate.

 

[Dizel8]

If you trail inflation for years on end, then just making up for inflation isn't actually a payraise!

jetblue did the exact same thing, I now make, adjusted for inflation, what I did 5 or 6 years ago. In order for it to work, you have to end up ahead of inflation once in a blue moon or get a COLA raise every year that offsets inflation.

 

[B727FA]

I'm making $.67 more an hour in real pay now than I was making in '97. Sick...I know. Lead the way, Spirit pilots! Draw, and HOLD the Line! We're behind you!

(BTW--I've been other places and ridden the ride up and down and this is where the Industry has landed me. I'm not bitching, just saying what we were doing 10-15 years ago is exactly where we are again. It has to STOP! No more subsidizing low ticket costs (and MGT pockets!) with our pay!)

Proud UNION airline crew!

 

[Lear70]

I'm pretty sure if I get a 30% raise, from that point on, I am getting 30% more money, but maybe thats just me...

It's not a 30% raise up front.

It's a 30% raise spread out over 5 years. That's 6% per year, BUT,,, that's not in a pure hourly rate. Spirit management is incorporate all the other pieces of the puzzle that ADD UP to 6%.

So if you look at it from the perspective of a Spirit pilot that hasn't had a Cost of Living raise in 4 years, and you add the 6% per year to their current rate, they still lose .5% (half a percent) of their income per year from increased cost of living.

At the end of 4 more years (2014), they're making 4% LESS than they were making back in 2006 when compared to actual spending power of that money.

Until there's a net GAIN of *SOME* sort, I don't blame them for turning it down... YMMV

 

[realmanofgenius]

would baldanza play the BK ch11 card in anyone's opinion as the nuclear option...to buy time and maybe hire a new cadre? is that conceivable? for a guy that wanted to charge for carry ons...it's in the sphere of where he operates...

 

[lostplnetairman]

Spirit is financed by investors Oaktree and Indigo. It's not Baldanza's sole call. If the investors want to write off the hundreds of millions they invested and invest in new millions of legal fees to unwind, sobeit. They would be bigger fools than anyone could imagine.

 

[realmanofgenius]

i wonder what the rules of ch11 are? there is no commandment stock has to be erased....or the new stock would go to indigo and oaktree at such level so as to replace or make them whole.....if the airline continues, it would have been cheaper to have just doubled the offer of 70 to 140 mil? right? what will it cost to using the current offer's math of 70 mil to make you guys whole or happy? trying to understand dollars and cents...are you close at all?

 

[OPECJet]

Fat man on Youtube alert!!!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSs-QXVKpIQ&feature=related

(Come to think of it, there's no way this blob is a man.)

 

[CX880]

Spirit will be out of business soon. Who's going to take over their flying? Airtran or Jetblue?

 

[rumorhasit]

What does the companies balance sheet look like? I mean has it made any money, is there growth in the $9 a flight but pay $50 bucks for a carryon bag?

 

[DieselDragRacer]

Is there any reason why the leasing company wouldn't be willing to put say the next 2 or 3 months of lease payments on the back end of Spirit's leases considering the circumstances? They do it all the time nowadays with mortgages and car loans and I'm sure the leasing company would rather extend the leases vs. repo'ing planes at a major loss.

Has any other airline done this in a strike situation in the past?