Spirit Airlines is currently hiring pilots, approx. 16 a month for 2007. It's a great place to work (ALPA) with an all new Airbus fleet 34 total 319's and 321's. Spirit is currently in a growth mode with 43 more aircraft on order over the next few years.

Spirit has a little over 400 pilots and will grow to over 1000 pilots in the next 3-5 years with 75 A320 series aircraft. Bases are FLL and DTW with a monthly bid in ACY.

The company is looking for pilots with apprrox 3000 to 5000 total, 2000 multi, 1000 turbine pic. All new hire pilots will be type rated. Pay would be comparable to jet Blue and Air Tran and currently under new contract talks.

Routes are North America, Mexico, Carrabean and soon South America.

You can apply through Airline Apps.:)

any inside info on the contract negotiations

One of their First Officers, a good friend of mine, was just hired as an A-320 Captain at another airline overseas.
BIG bucks apparently.
GOOD for him!:D

At this point it's normal section 6 negotiations and the company and the negotiators meet once a month. Indigo is not wanting to let go with the money and at the same time the pilots won't stop short of fair waiges. The contract amendable date was Jan 31, 2007 (after 4 years) and negotiated to allow the company to grow.

Captain John Prater, Alpa's newly elected President will be visiting Spirit for a pilot rally Feb. 27th. There should be a write up in the April issue of Alpa mag. about the event as well.

Alpa national's new theme is we are "Taking it back", the market is positve and most carriers should see an upswing over the next few years.:)

Do you know which airline the Spirit FO went to to make big bucks? I hear most jobs are 120K plus housing for Captains, it should be 150K.:cool:

On another website rumors are spreading that hiring is shut down until October. Any truth to this? :(

No truth to that. The hiring will continue from what I have heard. There are 24 pilots in a short term pool to be called for class over the next 4 to 6 weeks.:cool:

Thanks for the reply. Keeping my fingers crossed, maybe a call will come soon.:O

I know of two who will be attending class in March; one is returning from leave and the other is a new hire. :cool:

"Taking it back" haha thats a good one....how did it get away in the first place???:confused:

You are right, How did it get taking away in the first place? Lesson learned, never give up your pay to help a company. We are just pilots not investors...! If you look at history, pilots have always lost when giving up pay.

With ALPA, the new theme is 'Takin it back" which is what we need to do.:ok:

http://airlinepilotcentral.com/images/stories/airlines/PAY_SPIRITPAY2006.gif

Excuse me but I'm a little confused by the fact that you posted this thread with a "Thumbs Up" Icon. With this rates it will take 5 years as an F/O to start making what a regional captain makes at the same seniority and then it will take you another 3 or 4 years to get the money back that you lost with the pay cut to subsidize your SJS hunger,We are talking about an 8 year investment just to break even economically. So, this is a thumbs up thread because?:yuk:

hopefully the new contract will look much more friendly for the pilots

That place has come a long way since "charter one" with a couple cv-580's...guy named antunes still there?

Well if you look around the industry Spirit Airlines is thumbs up for the following reasons.

1. large growth potential double to triple in size in 2-4 years.
2. ALPA carrier with ALPA national making it the poster child of taking it back.
3. Spirit is currently hiring approx 16 a month through the year.
4. Newest fleet in the US
5. The new contract will bring Spirit pay way up from where it is now.
6. IPO on the horizon in next 1-2 years

I think Spirit is thumbs up..!:) :)

Hey Iron butt,
"It" got away via the US Bankruptcy court and Chapter 11, northwest, delta, united, Us Airways (twice), ATA, are all in or have been in bankruptcy since 9/11 and they took "it" away with the judge's permission.

I would have to say the loads to the Caribbean are packed, just like the other destinations. The pull outs are strictly due to aircraft utilization for better routes as far as I know.

There is major backing behind Spirit and it is not the same as 6 months ago.:rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes:

The same thing was said about People's Express, Jet Blue, and that airline out of Vegas with shiny brand new 757's (I can't even remember how it was called) I don't know man. There are some places that thrive with growth and there are some others that start going into markets that are too competitive with mainline carriers to be able to survive, Maybe you guys will get lucky and be absorbed by the inevitable round of consolidation in the industry. I'm a believer that Jet Blue and other LCC's will disappear on their current form and one that will survive will be SWA by metamorphosing into a "Major"
Spirit, Airtran,Jetblue. Too risky a move and with abysmal salary rates (substandard even at regional levels) and it seems that you are putting all your eggs in the ALPA basket. Shows how little interaction and experience you have with our beloved union.
If you are young and want to get Airbus experience to build resume for an eventual career move, I guess Spirit and USA 3000 will do just fine. Good luck to you

This should help the load factors:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17484546/from/ET/

I guess one of the main differences in Spirit Airlines is that it has been around for almost 20 years. Worst case public IPO in 2 years and then being bought. That is the down side, it's hard to tell.:cool:

I have to admit that seems crazy to charge for a coke, lets see what happens.

I remember American eagle tried a pilot program last year (or the year before) of charging for drinks/snacks. It was hugely unpopular with the passengers and was discontinued almost immediately.

I guess once the company starts losing load factor they will change back to free soda. It never stops with aviation.:confused:

people can be so cheap. they are saving 25-50 bucks on the ticket, but refuse to buy a $1 coke. Besides the point, drinks should be free

Yes antunes is still here he is ACY based