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100 unplanned new hires for SWA

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roughneck

Well-known member
Joined
Jun 28, 2002
Posts
558
copied from SWAPA forum.

"For all this talk of no growth, a Chief Pilot told me today that they just got notified that the Company is going to hire 100 additional unplanned pilots next month."
 
Does this mean pulling a 100 from the pool or throwing another 100 in?
 
They would come from the pool, but they already have had 2 classes in Apr, apparently 4 in may, and at least one in June (june 4 to be exact).

they will need to interview sometime this summer to keep a healthy pool going. They are going to want to be able to ramp up in a hurry if opportunities arrise. There is approx. a 3 month turn around from interview to class if everything goes as planned. That means they won't let the pool get to shallow.

Good news if you are waiting to interview.
 
Has anyone seen on the FLTOPS.com Job Fair site that Southwest will talk to any 'Commercial Pilot'

I know that their hiring mins are more than that.....so why advertise lower times for people to come to the job fair?

Are they lowering mins? Just asking....

Fire away ;-)
 
Can't find buyers on A/C out of date on AD's? (chill it's a joke)

We did, it was Delta, and the check bounced. (chill it's a joke)
 
They would come from the pool, but they already have had 2 classes in Apr, apparently 4 in may, and at least one in June (june 4 to be exact).

3 classes started in April and looks like 2 scheduled for May so far.
 
we are understaffed...

JAs every weekend in LAS. The money is nice but I prefer to choose to work on my days off. We need more pilots to cover our schedule.
 
The last two months have been really good VJA on the FO side here in Dallas. I also heard [from a reliable nameless source] we were short FO's and the problem would soon be fixed. Looks like that is exactly what they are doing. I wouldn't read too much into it. We all know things in this business change daily. Who knows what will happen.
 
Sorry, Voluntary Junior Available (VJA). As opposed to Junior Available (JA). If you get "JA'd" that means crew scheduling started at the bottom of the seniority list and began calling people who are legal to fly to cover the schedule, sick calls, whatever. If they get a hold of you, it is mandatory to go to work. It pays time and a half.
Now, you can put yourself on the "VJA List" to be called (in seniority order, vice reverse seniority order) if the company has uncovered flying. It also pays time and one half. It can be quite lucrative. If they exhaust the VJA list then they go to the JA list (which is everyone who is legal, starting with the most junior guy/gal on the list)
 
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In some ways, aren't you guys hosing yourselves by signing up for VJA? If you didn't give them this option and didn't answer the phone when they were trying to JA you, wouldn't you increase your seniority since they'd have to hire more FO's?

Just thinking outloud.
 
Thanks for clearing that up. I was planning on a year before I dried off but it sounds like it could be sooner.
 
Yeah, hear that alot from guys at other carriers. It is definitely a consideration. My only answer is it's just not the culture. Personal greed has a positive effect on productivity.

And just thinkin' out loud again....we seem to be hiring more people than most....
 
In some ways, aren't you guys hosing yourselves by signing up for VJA? If you didn't give them this option and didn't answer the phone when they were trying to JA you, wouldn't you increase your seniority since they'd have to hire more FO's?

Not really, they would just start jetway JAing which sucks worse. Besides, we are able to thump the competition in most markets because we run a lean ship. We don't need more pilots per airplane, we need more airplanes.
 
In some ways, aren't you guys hosing yourselves by signing up for VJA? If you didn't give them this option and didn't answer the phone when they were trying to JA you, wouldn't you increase your seniority since they'd have to hire more FO's?

Not really...This deal really works to the benefit of both the company and the pilot.

We are not always short of pilots...but when we are...this makes sense..for those that want to fly a little bit extra...and be paid a little bit extra.

There have been times when I've put my name on the VJA list and heard the sound of <crickets chirping>.

...And like a couple of weeks ago...I put my name on the VJA list...and got the call 30 minutes later.

Sometimes it works....sometimes it doesn't. Lately, it's really been working...for me , anyway.
 
Same thing has been happening to me as a KDAL based F/O. They attempted to call me for JA 5 times last month. This month I have been involuntarily nailed for a JA two day plus they have called me 2 times since that asking if I would VJA. I didn't complain about the invol though, it was a two day that paid 22 and a half.

We need some more F/O's online...bad. If you are in the pool, get ready to dry off, because your phone is going to ring sometime soon.
 

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