ALA, JBU, SWA pilots:

[Melon]

Can you guys give me an example of trip pairings please? I know there are several types, 2, 3, 4 days etc. I am mainly interested in what a commuter would expect, so probably 4 days.

Thanks!

 

[Melon]

please?

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

Lots and lots of 3 days. Many lines have 4 day pairings. A few 4 days in ELITT and trip trade. There are also some 1 and 2 day pairings, but not many. There are a few 1 day O+B's and 2 days in open time.

You can get AM or PM. AM's start 0500-0900 and end 1230-1630. PM's start 1230-1630 and end 2030-0030. Line density averages 6.5-8 trips per day. (A trip is equal to about 1.15 hrs). There are some very late/early charters but haven't done any of those.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

From what I hear, SWA is somewhat different than 5 years ago. The average leg length has been steadily increasing and, thus, the line density has been improving. Hours flown per pilot has decreased, but I think that is partly due to the older guys having more vacation and choosing to fly less.

There are rigs, 5 TFPs per day and average 6.5 TFP/per day over a pairing. When they were instituted (or improved) I heard scheduling stepped up to the plate and packed the lines with more flying. Average days off in Feb go from mostly 17/16 to very few lines with 15/14.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

And another thing


With 3 classes in Nov and 2 in Dec the first bid for Feb domiciles put guys who started in the first class in Nov into every domicile except Dallas.

So if you get 4 classes behind you, Chicago, Baltimore, Houston, Phoenix and even Orlando may not be out of reach. I think the kicker was a few senior FO's moving to Chicago to upgrade to Lance Captain sooner.

With 1 or 2 classes behind you, Midway and Baltimore are within reach. Oakland seems to be the perenial starter base, unless your first bid coincides with gates opening up at Midway or Baltimore.

 

[Alcatraz]

SWA Domiciles for Junior FOs

In the February 06 vacancy bid I had two classes below me bidding (I think), which is about 40 something pilots junior to me. I bid for MDW, BWI, MCO, and others in that order, and I somehow ended up with MCO.

I think most of the very junior classes ended up in OAK.

But there's hope... another vacancy bid will be effective March 1...

 

[JB Bus Drvr]

Melon, check your PM.

 

[Melon]

Thanx.

 

[tailhookah]

With preferential bid you can pretty much build or rebuild your schedule on most months... I like to work 3-4 day high time trips. With the preferential bid you can request overnights in certain cities or commutable trips etc. Then when your schedule comes out you can reorganize it by swapping trips w/ other more appealing or productive. Or you can drop trips, w/ pay (if you have the vacation/sick time built up) or w/out pay. As long as you stay at 70 hours or above... the minimum. Or if you are not a commuter you can build a bunch of 1 day turns together... whatever you want. Most of the trips are 2-5 days. Most are pretty good for productivity...

Tail

 

[luv2fly]

Hookah,

A bunch of the things you mention as a part of PBS, trading/dropping trips, picking trips with certain layovers, dense pairings. . . etc. are not exclusive to PBS. Here at SWA we can do the same thing without PBS. Which carrier do you fly for? By the tone of your post PBS at your place isn't that bad???

Just curious, if you want to drop a trip without pay and it keeps you above 70 hours, is it guaranteed to drop or does it depend on some type of company net hour count or reserve coverage?