Dublin,
Per your request.
Yr
12........206..........144
11........204..........143
10........201..........141
9.........199...........137
8.........197...........136
7.........195...........132
6.........193...........129
5.........190...........124
4.........188...........108
3.........186...........102
2.........184...........92
1.........181............54
Junior most Capt was hired in Jul '01 as I recall. SWA has downgraded approximately 100 CA's to FOs over the last year, not something SWA has done before but was done to level the manning between the two seats.
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Dear Scope Out RJ,
As to your comments about SWA, certainly your view is one perspective, you certainly don't disguise your bias against SWA's business model but that is OK....others on here cheer for SWA's demise which would result in the demise of fellow pilots.
However, that model has been dissected by more academicians and experts than any other airline; most have found SWA to be both a successful business using either normal business standards or even the unhealthy standards found in the airline industry.
Since you don't list your expert qualifications I'm hesitant to take your opinion as the last word on the subject over the likes of Wall Street experts, airline analysts and objective observers of the industry. Maybe if you would like to share your credentials, I'd reconsider sharing your view of SWA's limitations and injurious business practices to the industry overall and to the ultimate judge of a company's worth, its customers, the American public.
To the 3780+ pilots identified below who are on furlough I would think that if given a choice and the opportunity (I know some of them did apply and for whatever reason weren't selected) to fly at SWA even with "evil" PFT and substandard wages/retirements, you might find their view a little different.
BTW, we have quite a few of these furloughed pilots and the ones I've talked to haven't shown much interest in going back to their old airline. Must be the koolaid (or steady paycheck) or a myriad of other reasons.
I hate to think of anyone losing their job in these tough economic times. Each of those numbers below represent families, children, spouses who have suffered through the harshest of economic troubles....my prayers are with them as I can not imagine their pain as I have never been furloughed.
Bashing fellow pilots who are employed at either SWA or regional (because of a dislike for scope clauses) or legacy carriers (because they have given away flying to regional carriers) says more about those who spout those thoughts than the intended target.
As stated, I have never lived through a furlough and hope never to....one reason why I chose SWA. I realize more and more how fortunate that choice has been. I wish only the best for other airlines in hopes of bringing their furloughed pilots back to work.
Their's enough brutality in this business without pilots attacking the few companies that are providing steady employment to fellow pilots. Just my $.02.
CAL was showing 147 furloughed. (July 26, 2010)
UAL 1437 furloughed (May 2010)
DAL & HAL showing 0 furloughed
US Air 220+ (July '10)
AA 1890 furloughed (Jun '10)
Alaska 93 furloughed (July '10)
All info from airlinepilotcentral.com
Chase,
Great points except that if it weren't for SWAPA carrying the torch for age 65 for all those years and eventually coercing ALPA and the FAA to go along, how many of those above furloughs would have been mitigated, and how many more pilots would have been hired by SWA due to their movement?
BK's, economic factors, scope issues, industry consolidation all contributed to the furloughs, but SWAPA's age 65 initiative couldn't have come to fruition at a worse time to exacerbate it.
You and a few others seem to express dismay for the furloughs, but for most of the senior pilots, it's a "part of the industry that is to be endured".
No doubt that SWAPA spent the better part of the 80's and 90's with substandard pay, no retirement and no medical past retirement, hence their outstanding success at growth.
I give their mgt kudos for fostering a loyal pilot corps despite those factors during those decades, and they earn those kudos by absorbing extra labor during slow periods instead of following most other mgmts down the furlough path.
At first the legacies though they could compete on the backs of regionals and the backs of their labor. Now that SWAPA has drug the rest of the industry down to them or below hem through competition which lead to BK's and consolidation, we'll see how much difference there is going forward.
SWA runs a pretty conservative operation, always have. They leave millions of potential profit behind when things are good, but don't absorb huge losses when things aren't. They continue to set the market for many of the domestic routes, but increasingly the VA's, JB's, AT's of the domestic system will start to become a thorn in their side.
Best of luck to us all........
LUV
