Should I leave for Spirit?

[Flyingdude]

Need some input from you guys please. I have an interview with Spirit and I am currently one of the many longtime fo's at Eagle. I want to leave Eagle as bad as anyone, but to do so for Spirit leaves me with some questions. I live in my base and hold whatever schedule that I want, however I have grown very tired of being at the mercy of the Eagle ways. I understand that Spirit is opening a base in SJU, which concerns me since I will be junior of course. I have already done one tour of duty there when I was hired with Eagle, and I am not to excited about doing it again. It would be a pay cut for me as well which would be tough as I have no rich relatives to help me out. I know that they are going to double the fleet in the next 4 years so upgrade potential is good at Spirit. I saw that the gaurantee is 72 hrs a month, how common is it to fly more than the 72 hrs, has 72 hrs straight pay is not good for me in the first year. My hourly rate at Eagle is not as good as 1st year at Spirit, however, I get over 90 hrs pay every month. The recruiter said after my interview they are not going to hire for a while in 2008, so I would be junior for a while. This is one thing in FLL, however, a whole different thing in SJU.(I know this from experience) Any input from Spirit guys would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Shrek]

SJU WILL be your base - it will go very junior.

Nobody I know that is on 1st year pay has rich relatives either..........

We are in contract negotiations and during such to fly the contract is in our best interest. You will get more than 72 hours on reserve but I doubt 90.

You will be getting an oppurtunity to fly an Airbus WITHOUT previous Turbine-PIC I presume?.......think of how that sounds to the majority of pilots at LCCs and Majors that had to accumulate 1000s of hours of PIC and know somebody to get their shot.

 

[crashmbern]

quick question, when did you fill out your application??? I filled out the long application back before christmas. I'm barely above the mins though, so thats probably why.

 

[Beetle007]

The bottom 7% to 10% of FOs will be based in SJU and we aren't getting the new airplanes (if it happens) until the end of 2009.

I don't think you will be taking much of a pay cut, but commuting to SJU could cut into your salary. I estimate I spend over $500 a month commuting to FLL which is a little over $8500 of pretax income per year.

 

[Flyingdude]

I do have some PIC turbine time(500 hrs. from my last job)clearly not enough though. I went to the DFW job fair and was given an interview date there. I would like to fly an airbus, however, that is not a priority.(I would fly a 172 if the money was good enough) For me QOL, future career potential, and money are my priorities, in that order! I spent over a year in SJU when I hired on at Eagle, for the first several months I lived there, then I commuted to SJU from DFW, so I am familiar with what it would be like to do both. Last year at Eagle I grossed $51,000 (which includes per diem) as an fo, is this possible in the first year at Spirit. Can anyone confirm that hiring will mostly cease for 2008 into 2009. I would rather not be the most junior guy in the company for 2 years when that whole time I could be not commuting and capt. at my current airline. I do appreciate all the opinions and input from you guys!

 

[Beetle007]

I would rather not be the most junior guy in the company for 2 years when that whole time I could be not commuting and capt. at my current airline.

I think you answered your own question.

Is commuting from DFW to SJU much worse than commuting to FLL? What didn't you like about the commute to SJU?

 

[Flyingdude]

Yes, it is worse than commuting to FLL. For many reasons: 1) it's a 5 hr. flight compared to 2.5 2) On cruise ship days in SJU, don't even think about getting a seat, all the flights are full 3) There are very few early or late flights in and out of SJU, its like a 9 to 5 operation, therefore commuting leaves very few options. FLL leaves many more options for getting to and from work. 4) Crash pad costs in SJU are expensive, and getting a cheap hotel for the night like we do in the states is not an option in SJU. (The cheapest I found when I was there was $100 a night which included crew discount)

 

[troll565]

SJU WILL be your base

That's not accurate at all. Spirit is going to try and put people in SJU that want to be there, hence the job fair there next month. 7-10% is only 35-50 pilots total...most likely:

20 capts
20 f/o's
5 capt reserve
5 fo reserve

A couple f/o's live there or would move back, plus some would commute just to have the seniority plus pilots that will be hired that already live in SJU and want to stay there = good chance that you won't have to go, and if you did, it wouldnt be for more than a few months.

As far as hiring, just like has been said before, 16/month thru June. Do the math.

 

[Whiskerbizkit]

Wait untill you acually have a job offer before you make a decision.

 

[easydoesit]

Stay where you are at, go for QOL. Spirit is a bit shaky.

 

[need2fly]

Spirit is going to try and put people in SJU that want to be there, hence the job fair there next month.

Kind of reminds me of my interview just last year. They liked pilots with an address in the DTW area. That didn't work out so well for a bunch of people. They want SJU people for now, but who knows about next week. Do not trust anything Spirit is telling you!

 

[curtis46]

If you guys allow me,for those of the pilots who will be base in SJU,get out of SJU!!!!!
PR is a beautiful country,get together and discover the country side.great sceneries,good people,try the local food,horse riding,scuba diving and if you try to learn some spanish word you might even get laid.
Those who hate PR are those who never get out of SJU or never bother to learn the language.
But how the Mexican dare not to learn english!
ok...hide....

 

[troll565]

24 Capts and 24 FO's in SJU
8 & 8 in ACY and LGA

DTW reduced by another 24 & 24

 

[huncowboy]

24 Capts and 24 FO's in SJU
8 & 8 in ACY and LGA

DTW reduced by another 24 & 24

In class today they told us 24 CA and 23 FO (like it makes a difference I know...) The bids will close on the 16th and will be published roughly 10 days later. So by the end of Feb we will know more.

SJU came up, since it is likely our class will be based there. However they expect that it will be filled with locals from SJU within a month or two. They have received over 100 applications from local pilots living in SJU, on top there are a few who are already on line and commute to SJU. I am sure (hope) the next classes will be filled with those guys.

I think SJU bottom 1/2 will go junior then eventually it will become stagnant, and slowly senior at least on the FO side.

While we are at it: Any crash pads in SJU? How about transportation to/from the field?

Actually I have another question: We had a chance to look over the current FLL bid packet. The only international overnight I saw out of FLL was SJU (which will be gone soon) and nothing else. Is that the only intl. overnight? I was a tiny bit disappointed.

 

[That'sHowIRoll]

San Juan and Lima are usually the only overnights outside of the U.S..

 

[troll565]

San Juan and Lima are usually the only overnights outside of the U.S..

San Juan is the U.S.

 

[That'sHowIRoll]

San Juan is the U.S.

My apologies. San Juan and Lima are the only overnights outside the STATES.

 

[Longhorn]

Have you thought about JetBlue? Our minimums have recently changed to accommodate guys just like you (long time first officers without much PIC time)

 

[BOHICAgain]

Stay where you are at, go for QOL. Spirit is a bit shaky.

I agree unless you want to retire at spirit. Im sure you waited long enough at eagle and you will be a Captain at eagle before at Spirit. that is just a guess though.

I live in FLL and I am not interested in Spirit, wife worked there for a couple of years and she was always unhappy

 

[flt]

What wife isnt allways unhappy? Spirit is not any different from any other Airline it has its problems just like every other Airline. you just have to figure out whats best for you. Do not let others do it for you make a decision and do not look back.