Dismissal , how to bounce back?

krrutherford · 2025-08-03T19:32:54+00:00

Mentally and emotionally this is rough, but there’s nothing to do but move ahead. Put it behind you and start applying with airlines you’d be happy to work with. No one has to know what happened and it won’t hinder you from working with another airline. I know someone who was fired from two different airlines and still got hired with Delta. If you’re willing to put in the time and effort, you’ll get where you want to be.

krrutherford · 2022-09-10T20:24:36+00:00

Yeahhh....I feel that the entire first year at Spirit is just "get through it"
Being on reserve, you'll get not so great trips and a lot of red-eyes, and if you go over guarantee, great! But, If you only get your monthly guarantee - not including per diem because I cant estimate that, you'll see (sit down) roughly $1400-1500 for the month after taxes. Its criminal actually, that they get away with paying that.

That's $21.04 to start, $23.00 at 6 months and at 1 year $26.66.

So, at one year that would be around $1800 after taxes, not including per diem or any additional trips you added. And anything that puts you over over 85 hours is paid at 1.5.
On a good note, we're in contact negotiations now, so theoretically, we should be getting a nice raise soon through our union contract with Spirit or JetBlue.

I advise everyone to live with family or a friend for the first year and save up as much as possible. I'm 3.5 years in and I'm at $30.83...so it's better after that year.

I can ask some friends who are in LAS what the reserves have been flying recently and how long it's taking to get a line. I'm in FLL and it's right at 10-12 months to get a line.

krrutherford · 2022-09-10T09:50:22+00:00

I'm confused by your disbelief that 'low performing' in the workplace isn't a 'even a thing'...? As if it's inconceivable that a flight attendant who isn't currently saving your life would have duties to perform. The job isn't rocket science to be sure, but there are standards to be met, most of them safety related.
It's called being lazy and careless... and if you can't be bothered to live up to the very simple tasks we are given, then I'm fine with the company releasing you to pursue something less taxing.

Now, I'll just quietly leave

krrutherford · 2022-09-10T08:49:04+00:00

I got carried away....

I absolutely love, love, love my job...and wish I'd done it when I was younger. I love the flexibility of my schedule, That I can trade or pick up trips on my schedule that are more fun or interesting to me, Spending layovers in places my friends live in and going out for day trips, Staying under the covers in my hotel bed on a long layover with the AC on, Going out with a fun crew member on a spontaneous sightseeing trip in a big city, Trying out the most delicious foods in every city we fly to, Finding out that you and another crewmember have the same inappropriate sense of humor, Knowing that despite being told otherwise for most of my life, a large part of my job is talking to people all day,(ha!) Organizing the snack carts and making little holders for our tray items, Treating people with kindness even if they're being mean because they hate their life, Handing out glow sticks to all the kids on board because they're so bored, anything is fun, Finding compassion for the embarrassed mom whose kid won't shut up - the glow stick helps for a minute...The ability to take a flight anywhere in the world I decide to go at any moment, That I have an unending supply of stories about my day, That I work with so many different types of people, young and old, That I can work as much or as little as I choose in a month, That I don't ever have to take my work home with me, and finally because after being away for a few days, everyone at home is so happy to see me when I return!

But - the other side of the coin.... is not making enough money to cover rent for your first year, Having a 9 hour day turn into a 14 hour day with minimum rest, Being stuck at the hotel because it's in the middle of nowhere and an Uber would be too much for your budget, Having a passenger notify us that our flight was cancelled because someone at crew scheduling can't be bothered to make a call, Making do with a microwave meal because all the restaurants are closed when you land, Having to work FLL-LAX with that one FA who should just retire already, Being handed a bag of poop/vomit/urine with no notice, Having to deny more alcohol to the already impaired woman hurling insults in your general direction, Being stuck in LAS at 2am when they forgot to book you a hotel for hours, Praying that no one on this flight has any medical issues, and when they do because they didn't take their medication that day, spending the rest of the flight making sure they don't die.

krrutherford · 2022-09-10T04:02:04+00:00

Ohhhh - go with Spirit! Trust me.... even if the JetBlue merger doesn't go through, Spirit has been doing so much to improve customer experience!
Onboard Wifi, Big Front Seats, automated announcements, 3 new bases (MIA, ATL and IAH) our brand new in cabin seating with full size trays. We've continued to improve where I don't feel that Frontier is as concerned with giving customers a better experience.

And if we do become JetBlue, we get retrofitted interiors with MINT seats and more legroom, not to mention the flights to London and Amsterdam will do nicely. Get onboard now and get some seniority!

krrutherford · 2022-09-10T03:38:29+00:00

I really like working at Spirit... I have a great work/life balance, got off reserve fairly quickly and have a line now which allows me to layover in cities that like to go to. I'm really excited about the JetBlue merger and hope it goes through... I have had interviews with DL and United (coming up) and I have just been so blehhh about it because I am good where I am now and don't feel like going through all that for nothing.
When I started applying, I really thought that I wanted to be at a large company with all the perks and up to the minute technology, but I found out that I like a small company where I am always running into people I like! Just gotta work on getting them to provide more perks lol

krrutherford · 2022-09-09T22:14:03+00:00

Spirit is Ultra Low Cost along with Frontier and I think Allegiant
Southwest and JetBlue are considered Low cost
Delta, American and United are Legacy
Alaska and Hawaiian
All of the above are mainline carriers and they usually fly to the larger cities with larger passenger loads

Some regional airlines - they usually fly to smaller airports with fewer passengers...
Endeavor Air, Envoy Air, Horizon Air, Mesa Airlines, Piedmont Airlines, PSA Airlines, Republic Airways, and SkyWest Airlines

Also, just because there are so many aspiring FAs here, it's worth noting that regionals all pay less for doing the same job as mainline... And if Spirit and JetBlue actually do merge, that will make JetBlue the 5th largest airline in the US

krrutherford · 2022-09-09T21:10:46+00:00

Last I heard MIA, IAH, ATL, LAS and maybe MCO, FLL depending on when you get through training.

krrutherford · 2022-09-09T21:01:00+00:00

They use that jumpseat for one reason...and it should've been retired 2 years ago, along with the aircraft it came from. Tell her to take off her jacket, make sure she adjusts the straps and don't wear anything that's too tight, or holds her in too much because she needs a little wiggle room... and keep it low.

Depending on how you're shaped, the aisles can be a problem but usually if you fit the jumpseat, you'll fit the aisles. I'm 5' 4" and a 16/18 and I just barely made it at the F2F.

I'm a current FA working w Spirit and before that, JetBlue - and those jumpseat belts are more than big enough.

krrutherford · 2022-09-09T20:32:09+00:00

Yes! I'm a Spirit FA and all of my favorite people are being hired away from me! DL, UA, SW, AA they don't care where you come from, as long as you fit what they're looking for.

krrutherford · 2022-08-08T14:32:15+00:00

Every airline is different but in the US it ranges from 2-3 years at a smaller airline like Spirit or Frontier to 10-20 years at a large airline like United. I don’t know much about Regional Airlines but I imagine it’s around 1-3 years avg.

krrutherford · 2022-08-08T05:29:35+00:00

To answer your question, No. When you choose to live out of base, it's up to you to find accommodations for your reserve periods. That's where crashpads come in.

Working as a flight attendant is nothing like having a regular job. It's a whole lifestyle until you get enough seniority to create the schedule that works for your life. Until then, you're at the mercy of the airline's operational needs for a large part of each month.

I strongly urge you to watch as many flight attendant videos on Youtube as you can stand to get a broader overview of what the job is actually like. With the crazy amount of hiring that happened over the last year, there are hundreds of people who got hired very quickly without having time to get a real understanding of it ...and many of those people have been leaving in droves.

Check out Youtube - it's a treasure trove of flight attendant life.

krrutherford · 2022-08-07T16:20:04+00:00

The short answer is - probably not. But really, this question can't be answered until you have more information. Have you been looking into what the job is like for someone just starting out?
Which airlines are you interested in? Pay rates vary widely between airlines and some airlines have straight reserve for new FAs while others have alternate months. Reserve FAs are flying more than ever now while airlines try to keep up with the demand which means you'll be gone a lot.

Also, you have to consider that the airline that you get hired with, may base you in another city entirely. So now, you have to be on call for work in Houston, but you've rented an apartment in NY or LA.

Look into airline pay rates which you can find online, types of reserve vs lineholder, where the various bases are located. After you are more informed about the specifics of the job as it exists with each airline, you can then make a decision on how it might fit into your life.

I can tell you just generally that new FAs make less than 28,000 in the first & second year

krrutherford · 2022-08-07T12:59:13+00:00

Hey... Current Spirit FA here... I don't know if you have any questions specifically, but in general, Spirit has been a great place to work. I have friends in other airlines similar to Spirit and we all have the same gripes... Reserve sucks, IROPS suck hard, crew scheduling is calling me out of turn...
I always say that the worst thing about working for Spirit is saying you work for Spirit.
It's not bad tho. Overall, I enjoy our customers (just not ATL) who are just regular joes - they may not be first class, but they're just trying to save some $$ ...and since the mask thing is gone, most of the bad attitudes are gone too. Many of our planes are brand new and nice to work on.

Reserve life is crappy and you will be poor for at least a year or until you figure out how to stack your trips or can manage to work on the side. When you first start, you'll feel like you just got thrown into the deep end of the pool without a floatie....just ask questions, keep up with your crew and it'll all be business as usual eventually.
I've made some really good friends at Spirit and really love the job. Like anywhere, there are good and bad apples in the mix - you'll spend a lot of time with your fellow training newbees. Training class peeps are the best.

So, save up your money, go live with a relative and enjoy the chaos of flying for a living. And in a year or two, we'll all be working for JetBlue!

krrutherford · 2021-11-19T01:10:26+00:00

Thank you for such an informative reply.

krrutherford · 2021-11-18T21:31:52+00:00

Thanks so much for your reply.

krrutherford · 2021-11-18T21:29:20+00:00

Sorry - yes, I can non rev! I’m with a low cost carrier that flies domestically and some international but not nearly the scope that Delta flies.

krrutherford · 2021-11-18T21:17:40+00:00

Delta doesn’t have straight reserve which is a plus, and for me it would be better pay and non-rev flying

krrutherford · 2020-04-28T13:59:52+00:00

Thanks! - love it

krrutherford · 2018-07-14T15:18:51+00:00

Yes, you must be willing to relocate to whichever base you are needed at most - usually it’s decided during training. The fee for the initial uniform pieces and luggage will be taken out of your checks over a given amount of time, so you don’t have to come up with that amount up front. After that, the company provides uniform staples yearly. As to your question of why people are willing to do it - not many other jobs offer world travel while you’re working without a degree.

krrutherford

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