12 Jan Class???

[Heat]

Hearing rumblings about a January 12th class... anything to add? My SWA buddies haven't had much to say regarding class information as of late, and can't understand the delay. Reserve callup rates are high, scheduling challenges during the recent California fires, lots of JA, etc. Some I spoke to were concerned that mid-west and east coast winter weather may stretch crew availability pretty tight.

Would luv to hear folks getting the calls before the Xmas holiday.. What a great gift that would be! Besides, I haven't had a whole lotta changes to make to the SWA pool lately!

Wishing you all a great holiday season!

Heat

 

[shootr]

Heat,

Check this thread...

http://forums.flightinfo.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=25371

Many of the names from our list are in the January 12 class. Hopefully bringing it back to the top will help nudge a few to let you know who else has been called. BTW, I'm #57 on our unofficial list and LL told me a few days ago that I'm no more than 4 classes out, possibly 3. Several guys have already deferred class dates for other jobs or military obligations.

Good luck all,
shootr

 

[chase]

Discussion on SWA classes

I'm posting some info on the aircraft delivery schedule for next year for SWA. This partially explains the "current" (this means at this moment in time, anything/everything can/may change at SWA) plan for only 1 class in Jan & more classes in the Mar (hopefully) timeframe.

Delivery -200
Dates # of A/C Ret Actual

JAN 2 -1 388
Feb 1 -2 387
Mar 2 389
Apr 6 -2 393
May 2 -1 394
Jun 8 -2 400
Jul 4 -2 402
Aug 2 -1 403
Sep 4 -1 406
Oct 5 -2 409
Nov 3 -1 411
Dec 3 -2 412

Total 42 -17 412

This list doesn't include the 5 new aircraft announced at the last quarterly financial webcast. Adding those in to the numbers give you a net of 30 aircraft for the year.

When you look at aircraft delivery & retirements the company actually has fewer airplans in Feb than in Jan '04. Having people on the property when you don't need them waste money. The 2nd variable that has been discussed previously is the implentaion of the new checklist for all crews. Training is to begin for all pilots in late 1qt'04 with implementation in 2qt'04. Bringing more new folks in (folks you don't need yet since you have a reduction in aircraft) to train them in the old checklist to turn around & then re-train several months later isn't a good use of time/energy. Delaying future classes after the Jan class for several weeks accomplishes both efficiencies.

Continue to be patient. All of the above is only one FOs opinion & things change overnight so if you get a call in the middle of the night & it says SWA, pick it up!!!! If they decide to go all out (which they have in the past) after Jan to start training, everything is in place to make it happen....that's the beauty of where the company sits right now---it is geared to be a training behemoth...lots of instructors, sim availability, etc.

 

[CoopDog]

Question

Chase,

So if my cypher'n is correct, and they're looking at a net gain of 6 a/c by the end of April, does that equate to approx 3 classes trained and ready to fly by then?

Also, where do the other 5 fall in the schedule? They're still taking 47 in '04, right?

Coop


ps- Heat, hopefully we're going to keep you pretty busy on the pool list updates very soon.

 

[SWAdude]

Coopdog,

They say we are a little overstaffed right now. Like 60 pilots. Which doesn't explain the Jan class so we all expect Feb class or classes and from there on. We also have 5 to 10 retirements a month for at least a few years.

We will see what happens.

SWAdude

 

[chase]

Coop

I updated my orginial post, trying to post charts on here is tough!!

Here is the quote from the 10K listing exactly as it is worded. As you can see the only hint is that the lease aircraft is showing up sometime in '04. At first I thought it meant early '04 but after re-reading it, it could be anytime. As for the other 4, it just says 'o4 sometime.

Also, in October 2003, the Company exercised one Boeing 737-700 option for 2005 delivery and four 2006 options for accelerated delivery to 2004. The Company also entered into an agreement to lease a new Boeing 737-700 beginning in 2004. These changes bring the Company's total firm orders to 46 aircraft for 2004 plus one leased aircraft.

cheers

 

[chase]

Overstaffing

I've heard the same thing. There is also discussion that is on-going that the reserve manning isn't meeting the required contract numbers & that reserve numbers maybe going up. I know there are honest differences on how these numbers are being matched up. It is also thought that this dog has been on a leash for so long & that with new aircraft pending, it is time to unleash it & let it run (my thoughts only).

I visited a res center the other day & they informed me they believed the yields would be up based upon several factors.

A slightly higher percentage of full fare tickets being sold. Less discounting. The traditional pre-holiday big sales that have gone on the in past, well you aren't seeing them this year & that is the first that has happened in a long time according to them.

Direct marketing to spanish speaking demographics is going well. This groups buys on average the highest one way Y fare of any other group. While their sales are small in comparison to all fares, it is growing & along with higher yields from regular customers, this bodes well for us.

New technology to allow us to meet new postal requirements for carrying mail should be implemented soon. This is a money maker for the cargo folks & us. A friend is working this issue & it seems like it is in the final phases of development.

Lower personnel costs. Feb 28, 3 res centers close. 1900 folks will either re-locate to new SWA locations or removed from the payroll (as I have been told, nothing official, anyone choosing to leave SWA received 3 months of severance pay, continued coverage of medical for a period of time & some coverage w/COBRA payments for awhile longer, flt benefits , 1 yr of flying for every 2 yrs of employment). Anyone's guess as to how many will depart the payroll for good but this will lower our ratio of employees to aircraft from its current number of around 86 per airplane. As a side note, several other service related industries have offered the SWA employees who wish to remain where they are jobs. I've been told JBlue, AOL & several other companies. This should ease the pain for some but demonstrates again the value other companies have (even in a soft job market) in well trained & loyal employees like the ones who will reluctantly choose to remain in SLC, DAL, LIT. We will miss them all & wish them all good luck. The other res centers are pleased to welcome any of the newcomers.

We still have $2b in cash with another 1/2 billion on call. Expansion beyond what has been announced is possible but the good thing is we can flex or go with the current plan. To those waiting to come, good luck & for those wishing to interview start getting all your information, previous job addresses, phone numbers, references lined up, the time will come quickly when apps wil be accepted (hopefully 1qt '04) & the race will be on.

That's a little more rambling than you asked for, just trying to put everything in perspective, from my perspective only which is EXTREMELY LIMITED!!! Only one FOs opinion.

 

[CoopDog]

Thanks

Chase,

Your "ramblings" are always welcome (and appreciated). Keep 'em coming.

Whenever you can get the scoop on the additional 5 delivery dates, please let us know. If they're sooner than later, it should make a couple of classes worth of poolies very happy.

Looking forward to '04!

Coop

 

[GEO]

Latest from the luv shack (training dept) as of 5 Dec...1 class starting 12 Jan, no classes in feb due to start of new checklist procedures, 2-24 newbody classes a month starting in march until a least jun/july. Total new-hires projected for year 393...not 392 and not 394 but, you guessed it, 393. All this means squat really since its now 6 Dec, but hopefully it comes to pass.

phx/fo (still ) geo

 

[737tanker]

I talked with my chief pilot last week. He said that there would be a class starting Jan 12th. There would be no classes in Feb due to the number of military pilots who said that they would be returning so they are essentially the Feb classes. Starting in March there would be 2 classes a month, of at least 20 per class, until SWA has hired 400 pilots.

 

[YeOldeProp]

A long time ago there was an thread that covered the basics on the "interview to hire" ratio. Ran a couple of searches for it, but no luck. I believe the ratio was something like 4 folks interviewed for each hired pilot. Various reasons for the other 3 not getting hired---ranging from experience a bit too low to the plain fact that the person wasn't a good fit for the SWA personality.

Any inputs on what statistics the "new interview" might bring about? Should be folks with tons of capability lined up, especially when the computer starts racking and stacking people according to "points" (or whatever the correct term ends up being). That tells me that the ratio might be narrowed down a bit. Admittedly, there are people overly qualified as well as those who've just made the mins (but SWA has shown the mins are as good as anything if the person is the right fit). From the above 2 posts, the numbers may be 1200 interviews in 2004 to get the approximately 400 pilots...then continuing into the next year.

Anyone have a clue what the lovely ladies at Recruiting might be planning?

 

[Swerpipe]

Interview ratio

From what I understand, Southwest does not have any hiring quotas. The ratio has turned out to be about 1 in 4 historically. If you get called by SWA (according to one of the hiring PD ladies), SWA thinks you are good enough for the job. The remaining question is: when they talk to you are you a good fit to the culture and are you "Southwest" Captain material since they are not going to hire career FOs. I don't know why the new system would necessarily change historical statistics so that the ratio would decrease to say 1/3? In other words, how is the new system going to bring pilots to the interview board that are a better fit to Southwest's culture, better attitude or make a better Southwest pilot than the current? I guess I don't see how...I guess I think it'll probably be the same.

 

[YeOldeProp]

Swerpipe...makes good sense. How does the old saying go? "If it ain't broke, don't fix it?". I've heard often over the years that the SWA folks have a pretty good idea that you're wanted if they give you a call. Then, it's up to you to confirm their expectations. Good input on the fact that they're looking for the future Captain in you should they give you the call. Good luck to all waiting for a chance.......

 

[chase]

Coopdog

You asked when I got the update on the 5 additonal aircraft (1 lease, 4 buys) to post it. Here it is:

I posted previously SWA announced 4 a/c buys & 1 additional lease in the last quarterly webcast. This is the updated info on -700 deliveries and -200 retirements.

-700 adds -200 retirements

Jan 2 1
Feb 1 0
Mar 2 0
Apr 6 2
May 2 2
June 9 (yea!) 0
Jul 4 4
Aug 6 2
Sept 4 1
Oct 5 2
Nov 3 1
Dec 3 2

total 47 17

We'll have 5 -200s at the end of '04 if all things remain the same (unlikely).
Expect all -200s to be gone by end of Jan '05. Things change & will continue to so don't go bet the house on this. I've not compared it to the old list, too much work but obviously June is a big month for us. We open up PHL in May. I won't even begin to speculate what this all means but in terms of hiring, combined with the numbers of retirements, the round number of 400 looks pretty good.

Future retirements as of 07-01-2003 seniority list:

2004-80
2005-98
2006-151
2007-151
2008-139
2009-108
2010-141
2011-155
2012-148
2013-103
2014-134
2015-145
2016-169
2017-155
2018-168
2019-180
2020-185

The number of 25+- per year is thrown around a lot when it comes to folks who are medically eliminated combined with early retirements.

Some additional info on what improvements are being made at SWA stations around the system:

This memo is the most recent update of major projects around our system that are either recently completed or to be done in the next 60-90 days. Not all major cities will be shown since some projects’ completion dates occur beyond the next 90 days.

All Cities: The installation of boarding pass readers is complete. Modifications of gate striping for winglets has been completed at nearly all stations with the exception of two gates at LAX.

BWI: The taxiway project will be completed December 15th, at which time we will have all 23 gates open. That total will decrease to 21 gates from January 2004 to May 2005 while the Pier A/B project is under construction. Our expanded T-point is now in operation.

CRP: Our move to the new ATO space is delayed to January due to the late completion of work near our new t-point. We have been in the new gates since late 2002.

HOU: The opening of more new gates in the central concourse will take place in late March, 2004. The Hudson News Euro Café (bookstore and coffee shop) opened before Thanksgiving.

MCI: The renovation of our ticket counter, ATO and gates will start in February, resulting in our use of temporary gates for a year (no reduction in gate count). When completed, we will have larger gate areas and fewer security checkpoints.

MDW: Our gate count increased by one to 17 gates on November 19th (two weeks early). The last two gates will become available in June, 2004. Three more lanes were added to the security checkpoint prior to Thanksgiving.

PDX: We are working with Cargo to move into a larger facility that will accommodate the growing traffic that we are experiencing. We now expect to occupy the new space in January, 2004.

SJC: The City has agreed to give us access to more gates effective immediately and additional ticket counter space which will require some conveyor work. That work is expected to start in January, and in the meantime we have added 4 kiosks at the counter and 2 in the bag claim area.

Look forward to seeing the new arrivals in Jan. Make sure you know your SWA trivia!!!! Good luck & happy holidays!

 

[CoopDog]

Thanks Chase

Looks like they're delaying a couple -200 retirements for a few months (from your previous list)....good news.

Also looks like SWA is going to be the customer of the month at Boeing this Summer.

Thanks for all that info brother!

 

[chase]

Makes sense

Announcements of more frequency on some routes.

Four New Roundtrips Added to/from Midwest
Southwest will add one daily nonstop flight each way between the following cities on April 4:
• One between MDW and FLL (for a total of three daily)
• One between MDW and MCO (for a total of three daily)
• One between MDW and CMH (for a total of six daily)
• One between CMH and BWI (for a total of three daily)
This will begin in the spring I believe. This adding of frequency is what really helps the bottom line in my opinion. The infrastructure is there, we're increasing utilization of gates, folks, & providing more frequency for the business traveler which is what they really want. Announcing new cities is nice & when other airlines announce they are opening up places they often don't open up with the frequency that we do & if they don't they don't usually have the luxury of adding more flights in the future at the rate we seem to do. We're often not taking folks from other carriers but merely providing the opportunity for folks who would not have normally flown, given them the ability to fly. have a great weekend.
cheers