1st year. And don't forget they use MERIT upgrade.
Here are the FACTS:
Current rates as of June 1, 2010:
Capt (thru highest published) $100-105-110-115-120-125-127-129-131-133
FO (thru highest published) $44-57-65-70-75-80-82-83-84-85
Current upgrades going to late 2nd yr FOs, I believe.
Upgrade DOES NOT GO BACK TO YR 1 CAPT PAY. Longevity is longevity, just like anywhere else, PERIOD. It started as longevity-in-seat but that was discontinued sometime in 2008 as I recall, AND, it was retroactive for everyone affected (probably less than 75 pilots?), meaning when they changed the policy, everyone got a retro check for the difference.
NO merit upgrade. I've been here since 2007 and that WAS NOT the case then and hasn't been since. Pure seniority upgrade, contingent on passing training.
Can it be better? Hell yes. Will we get there? Eventually. Will we vote in a union at some point? Probably. Is QOL good? You bet! I'm in the bottom 50% of Capts and I fly 12 days/month, all commutable.
Other posters have said this, and I will confirm it: we have A LOT of people who feel ALPA has screwed them. Right or wrong, that's how they feel, and good luck getting them to change their minds. Also have a lot of republican-voting, anti-union types as well, so until these folks open their eyes to what's going on at places like Spirit and Allgiant we'll have an uphill battle to collective representation.