Virgin America first year FO pay

[Movin' on up!]

Anyone who can tell me what a first year FO at Virgin America can expect pay-wise? I know what the posted pay rates are and all that, but I'm looking for real life numbers. Please-- no gripes, complaints, comparisons to other airlines etc. Thanks in advance!

 

[Flyer1015]

Anyone who can tell me what a first year FO at Virgin America can expect pay-wise? I know what the posted pay rates are and all that, but I'm looking for real life numbers. Please-- no gripes, complaints, comparisons to other airlines etc. Thanks in advance!

Newhire training pay is $2500 month and hotel in SFO is not included. This is because as a newhire on paper you are considered SFO based and training/HQs are in SFO. Once on reserve it's $52/hr on a 75 hr guarantee. That comes out to $3900/month not including per diem. You can't pick up open time on reserve and I doubt you'll break guarantee. 52x75x12 = 46,800 base salary for the year plus per diem and maybe some bonus extras like QIP. You can probably count on at least 50k and perhaps a little more.

There are rumors about an upcoming pay raise announcement this month but so far nothing official.

 

[$$$4nothin]

Out of that $50,000 Subtract about 35% for taxes, health care, retirement, etc. This leaves you with about $32,500. Divided by 12 is about $2,700/month. That is a somewhat realistic number give our take say $200-$300/mo depending on your city and state taxes, healthcare needs, retirement planning etc.

 

[CX880]

Do most pilots commute there? You need to make about 150,000 in SFO or LAX to have a decent life.

 

[Ralph Cramden]

Yup, about 80% commuters here. Lots of crash pads in LAX & SFO.

 

[HDA]

Newhire training pay is $2500 month and hotel in SFO is not included. This is because as a newhire on paper you are considered SFO based and training/HQs are in SFO. Once on reserve it's $52/hr on a 75 hr guarantee. That comes out to $3900/month not including per diem. You can't pick up open time on reserve and I doubt you'll break guarantee. 52x75x12 = 46,800 base salary for the year plus per diem and maybe some bonus extras like QIP. You can probably count on at least 50k and perhaps a little more.

There are rumors about an upcoming pay raise announcement this month but so far nothing official.

New payscales came out yesterday.

First year FO pay remains the same. 2nd year FO now $85 and 3rd year now $98. Improvements to 401k as well with a company contribution of 4.5% on top of a match of 1.25% up to 6% of earnings. Equates to 12% company contribution. So you put in 6% and the company puts in 12%=18% total.

Average payrate increase was 15%. 6yr Captain pay is now $175. Payraises effective April 01, 2015.

 

[Andy]

Congratulations on the pay raises; well deserved for everyone who hung in there. I didn't think you guys were going to survive with the high debtload, but the restructurings and IPO helped quite a bit.

You guys should have some really decent Q4 numbers ... your load factors were up almost 3% year over year for Q4.

 

[1678]

PLEASE VIRGIN AMERICA PILOTS.....

Don't loose sight of the big picture for your future.....
Don't make the same mistake as other comparable carriers did.....

You are on "take 2", don't make them "win" and have to wait for "take 3"
Good luck and we will welcome you in to the "fraternity"...

 

[Mud]

We were over 90% support for ALPA cards. The new rates are good, but they hacked our profit sharing so it's really that money paid in a different way plus a slight bump. Most guys immediately recognized this so support with the latest informal poll is still in the mid-80 percent. Plenty of margin IMHO.

What the raise did do is make VA more attractive to new hires, particularly if you want to be west coast based.

 

[Lear70]

Completely unrelated question.

Can someone tell me where you get your black uniform jackets? Our newest "lightweight" black jacket at Southwest is a flipping disaster. Wondering if I picked up a Virgin jacket instead if our flight ops people would even know the difference (I doubt it).

PM me if you'd rather. Thanks!