Virgin America - do pilots have to sign any work agreement/ contract

[Sailpilot]

I got to go inside one of the planes a while back. I didn't actually ride but I thought it looked really nice inside. Airbus is pretty nice to begin with, but the interior on that thing was really nice.

I thought it looked like a sleazy strip club when I got in the plane.

Yes, I like that...

 

[Ralph Cramden]

I thought it looked like a sleazy strip club when I got in the plane.

Yes, I like that...

That was my initial impression as well. Since then I have had the unfortunate opportunity to ride home on many of our red eye flights. The blue to deep purple to pink transition during the red eye really helps prevent that morning groggy feeling.

I really hate it on other airline red eyes when the bright white cabin lighting is suddenly turned on. There ain't enough coffee in the world to overcome that insult!

 

[Busdriver320]

That was my initial impression as well. Since then I have had the unfortunate opportunity to ride home on many of our red eye flights. The blue to deep purple to pink transition during the red eye really helps prevent that morning groggy feeling.

I really hate it on other airline red eyes when the bright white cabin lighting is suddenly turned on. There ain't enough coffee in the world to overcome that insult!

Now if we, and every other airline, could disable the BRIGHT individual lights on all redeyes! I can't stand these self-centered idiots who insist on turning on their overhead reading lights when just about EVERYONE ELSE on the plane is trying to sleep! Get a battery-powered clamp-on book light for crisakes!

 

[kwick]

Ten year UAL A320 captain is $134.
Ten year Spirit A320 captain is $138.

Spirit had to strike to get $5/hr more than VA rates. VA has not been a round nearly long enough, nor is big enough, to have a negative effect on other airline pay rates. And we are in the ballpark with two legacies, and an LCC that just had to strike to get into that ballpark.

VA rates are not great, we all recognize that. But they are not out of line with the industry and are quite reasonable for an airline just just started year three of operations. The pay rates will come up in time, just like they did for JetBlue.

Top Spirit pay tops out at $185/hr.

That's about 50k per year more.

 

[StarChecker]

VA has not been a round nearly long enough, nor is big enough, to have a negative effect on other airline pay rates.

I'm not going to argue JetBlue vs Virgin rates since JB paid $85/hr when everyone else was paying $200+/hr.



BUT....


our COO in his last conference call mentioned how your payrates were going to be included in our peer set since soon you'll be a "major" airline. So your payrates absolutely and directly affect ours.

 

[NEDude]

Top Spirit pay tops out at $185/hr.

That's about 50k per year more.

To be more accurate, you need to compare rates at years of service. That is the only unbiased way to compare things. Virgin does not have a published pay rate beyond ten years because the most senior pilot on property is still six years away from that pay. To say that our pay "tops out at $133" is at best a gross oversimplification. Suffice it to say as Virgin America has 15 year captains, you will see pay rates published for those years of service. If you think otherwise, you are an ignorant fool. At this point there is simply no need for the company to publish pay rates that it will not have to pay for over a decade.

Spirit has 15 year captains so clearly they need to publish those rates as they are clearly applicable to their pilot group.

If you really want to compare raw numbers though, lets compare what a three year pilot a Virgin America is making versus a three year pilot at Spirit is making (hourly rate x min guarantee):

Virgin America - $92,400
Spirit - $57,024

A three year pilot at Spirit is still a junior FO, whereas a three year pilot at Virgin America is a senior captain. And I'd much rather have an extra $35,000 at year three, than an extra $7,500 at year ten.

 

[BeachBummer]

I'm not going to argue JetBlue vs Virgin rates since JB paid $85/hr when everyone else was paying $200+/hr.



BUT....


our COO in his last conference call mentioned how your payrates were going to be included in our peer set since soon you'll be a "major" airline. So your payrates absolutely and directly affect ours.

I empathize with our pay or lack there of, but this is not the VA pilots problem. Who we include in our peer set is up to... well not us. not to mention that I don't think there is any comparison with VA to anyone right now. they are only 4ish years old. The fact that RM wants to compare is bogus. We could go on and on about who to include as peers, but we get nothin until we have a say in the matter.