Spirit Air Pilots move toward possible strike

[greenbayfan]

When you consider - especially for those of us that commute - that what management has done to the schedules will prevent many of us from seeing our families for weeks at a time, and only then for brief periods...

I don't know any airline that currently builds schedules that have a minimum of 4 days off between trips, and news flash brother.....most pilots commute at EVERY airline. I can see the rage over mgmt. making up their own rules as you go and if mgmt is nickle and diming you regarding when you start the clock running, I'm thinking the pilots won't need to do much to shut down Spirit Airlines if they are resorting to these tactics.

 

[Mike man]

I don't know any airline that currently builds schedules that have a minimum of 4 days off between trips, and news flash brother.....most pilots commute at EVERY airline. I can see the rage over mgmt. making up their own rules as you go and if mgmt is nickle and diming you regarding when you start the clock running, I'm thinking the pilots won't need to do much to shut down Spirit Airlines if they are resorting to these tactics.

Actually you do...Spirit

From the contract:

g. “Regular Lines” which shall contain:

(1) A planned sequence of trips with intervening days off arranged in a schedule for the month and a variety of bid lines;

(2) No more than eighty-five (85) block hours;

(3) No out of base trips;

(4) No reserve days;

(5) To the maximum extent possible, blocks of five (5) consecutive days off in domicile. In lieu of the above, to the maximum extent possible, no less than four (4) consecutive days off in domicile, except regular lines may contain blocks of less than four (4) consecutive days off in domicile on the first three and last three days of the month. Exceptions tomultiple day-off blocks may occur with prior consultation of the Scheduling Committee Chairman.

(3)No more than 28.5 block hours within a seven-day period.

 

[Bighorn]

I don't know any airline that currently builds schedules that have a minimum of 4 days off between trips, and news flash brother.....most pilots commute at EVERY airline. I can see the rage over mgmt. making up their own rules as you go and if mgmt is nickle and diming you regarding when you start the clock running, I'm thinking the pilots won't need to do much to shut down Spirit Airlines if they are resorting to these tactics.

You had to know the handwriting was on the wall when Spirit started charging for friggn water and pretzels...they can go out of biz anytime and it would do us all alot more good than harm....


Do you remember saying this. I'll let my kids read it a hole. It would do us all a lot more good than harm?

I do hope Midwest, or where ever you work, stays around for the sake of your family.

 

[macdu]

We have the "wheels in motion" too. Just communicate with the tug driver you need 1.5mph or 2knots on the PFD to get the out time so your on the clock. A good tug driver can get you there in 30 feet and still be in the parking area. It's a little aggressive but hey, I get tired of doing one and a half/two hours of prep work and not earning a dime. We mastered this during the winter months at ORD when we have to get deiced at the gate. Now the clock is running when I have to wait for traffic in the alley or I am getting deiced.
By the way if you can befriend a mechanic, all the various ACARS timing changes are in the box for you to choose from. Just need the access code. Hackers welcome. I must state; I do not recommend that. Just be a better player at the game!
I also want to add my own "goodluck" to all you folks.

 

[labbats]

Actually you do...Spirit

From the contract:

g. “Regular Lines” which shall contain:

(1) A planned sequence of trips with intervening days off arranged in a schedule for the month and a variety of bid lines;

(2) No more than eighty-five (85) block hours;

(3) No out of base trips;

(4) No reserve days;

(5) To the maximum extent possible, blocks of five (5) consecutive days off in domicile. In lieu of the above, to the maximum extent possible, no less than four (4) consecutive days off in domicile, except regular lines may contain blocks of less than four (4) consecutive days off in domicile on the first three and last three days of the month. Exceptions tomultiple day-off blocks may occur with prior consultation of the Scheduling Committee Chairman.

(3)No more than 28.5 block hours within a seven-day period.

"To the maximum extent possible" just negated everything said after it. Our contract is littered with the same.

Why anyone would sign a contract with loopholes is beyond me. What's the point of a contract?

How about I write up a contract that I'll pay your kid to mow my lawn for $50 a week if I can afford it. If not then it'll be $5. Would you sign that? Of course not, but ALPA and the Teamsters have no issues whatsoever.

 

[greenbayfan]

Do you remember saying this. I'll let my kids read it a hole. It would do us all a lot more good than harm?

I do remember WRITING that, not saying it. I'm not holding any grudge about my daughter not getting a friggn' bottle of water, I just think that Spirit has long been surviving on low fares alone, NOT it's customer service, evident by charging a minor child for water during a ground stop. Now that Spirit's ridiculously low fare business model is being trampled by fuel prices, who would CHOOSE to fly on Spirit and get nickled and dimed? Not to mention the seat pitch, I'm 6'00" and the damn seat in front of me is hitting my knees, it's WORSE than Greyhound. The government should put the terrorists on Spirit to torture them instead of waterboarding 'em.

It's now survival of the fittest, and it's funny how you come to the defense of a company that treats their employees the way Spirit is. The industry is getting leaned out, which it should have done after 9/11 if the government hadn't bailed out the airlines. Now it's time to get fares where they should be by eliminating the bottom feeders, and maybe our profession will be back to getting compensated they way we should, like the good 'ole days.

 

[Colonel Savage]

Contractually and historically we are paid when all the doors are closed. June 1st the company reprogrammed the ACARS to record the out time when the wheels move. So when you are in LGA sitting at the gate with the doors closed, waiting for someone to clear the alley we are not getting paid.

Thanks Mike. That is aggravating. Alot of carriers have gone to that method, including UAL I believe.

 

[Jeff Helgeson]

rumor clarification?

Is Spirit selling one airplane a month until a return to profitability?

Thanks

 

[Ty Webb]

Go ahead and shut it down. After all, there are lots of airlines hiring pilots, and it will be easy to find another job!

Hey, Butt-Nugget:

It's called having "Principles". It's the difference between a job and a career. People of quality understand it. People like you . . . . well, maybe not so much.

AMF!

Ty

 

[crxpilot]

We have the "wheels in motion" too. Just communicate with the tug driver you need 1.5mph or 2knots on the PFD to get the out time so your on the clock. A good tug driver can get you there in 30 feet and still be in the parking area. It's a little aggressive but hey, I get tired of doing one and a half/two hours of prep work and not earning a dime. We mastered this during the winter months at ORD when we have to get deiced at the gate. Now the clock is running when I have to wait for traffic in the alley or I am getting deiced.
By the way if you can befriend a mechanic, all the various ACARS timing changes are in the box for you to choose from. Just need the access code. Hackers welcome. I must state; I do not recommend that. Just be a better player at the game!
I also want to add my own "goodluck" to all you folks.

just pull the acars CB for a few minutes to negate any out time, then you have to call in the time yourself.

 

[McNugget]

Hey, Butt-Nugget:

It's called having "Principles". It's the difference between a job and a career. People of quality understand it. People like you . . . . well, maybe not so much.

AMF!

Ty

Ty,

You bore me...really. Once again, is that the best you can do?

 

[gatorbird]

I don't know any airline that currently builds schedules that have a minimum of 4 days off between trips, and news flash brother.....most pilots commute at EVERY airline. quote]


You're right, I can't think of any other airline that builds schedules this way either. This language is what made Spirit attractive to me, even though I knew I was taking a job with a commute and sub-standard pay. That's what this pilot group negotiated for (before my time) - a contract with high QOL provisions that traded for payrates. It attracted many pilots to Spirit over the last 2 years.

Likewise, I've spent a good bit of my time talking with other pilots and friends about preserving this language in our future CBAs. As I said before, many more of us now commute than any other time in the airline's history as a result of base reductions/reallocations.

Do you know what's left if this scheduling rule goes away for good? A contract with crappy payrates and average QOL provisions.

I remember your comments about how we all might be better off without Spirit around. I hope you're just young and naive. While most of us here don't agree with some of the business practices that this management team has implemented here, we still come to work and do our best within our own job responsibilities. I'm not sure who you work for or what business model your management has chosen for you, but regardless of who or what, I wouldn't wish ill will upon your job. You know what they say about karma!

gator

 

[gatorbird]

We have the "wheels in motion" too. Just communicate with the tug driver you need 1.5mph or 2knots on the PFD to get the out time so your on the clock. A good tug driver can get you there in 30 feet and still be in the parking area. It's a little aggressive but hey, I get tired of doing one and a half/two hours of prep work and not earning a dime. We mastered this during the winter months at ORD when we have to get deiced at the gate. Now the clock is running when I have to wait for traffic in the alley or I am getting deiced.
By the way if you can befriend a mechanic, all the various ACARS timing changes are in the box for you to choose from. Just need the access code. Hackers welcome. I must state; I do not recommend that. Just be a better player at the game!
I also want to add my own "goodluck" to all you folks.

Problem is we don't have many experienced tug drivers that you can trust not to push you all the way into the alley. Also, some have very limited English skills, so you can't give them much more than "brakes released, clear to push" and "brakes set, clear to disconnect, pin on the left". Crappy headsets only complicate things.

Getting an access code and modifying times would only get you served with a NOI, and possibly punished to the maximum extent possible to make an example.

Our best bet is to win in arbitration, then let the company know that if they want to discuss changing it- just add it to the laundry list of things they are putting off in negotiations.

gator

 

[gatorbird]

Is Spirit selling one airplane a month until a return to profitability?

Thanks

All we've been told is this:

5 aircraft are being parked (the company press release used the word "retired"...) through August. We lost one 319 last week. However, the airline is utilizing block hours mimicking a loss of 7 aircraft; they claim they'll fill in the block hours as market opportunities emerge. More South America flying appears to be the plan (Manaus, Brazil announced earlier in the month).

All we believe is this:

............

gator

 

[Mike man]

I'd bet money that they are transferring the airplanes to Tiger Airways...http://www.tigerairways.com/about_us/

How many white airplanes do/did we have? What do you bet only the white ones are leaving the property?