"My friend I've "been there got the t-shirt." I left F9 and am now a captain at SWA. I made my comment because I really do like the scrappy attitude.
I will also say that you have your work cut out for you. I specifically asked upper management if F9 was a target. The response was " I just don't see where there is room in Denver for 3 airlines." Look at our October and November schedule ramp up in Denver and tell me what you think that implies.
I mean no ill will to your pilot group. I absolutely loved my time and if you had ever read my previous postings on F9 you would see that I have the upmost respect for Sam Addams and his legacy but it's not Sams airline anymore.
Gup"
What an arrogant, pompass statement....we should all leave F9 and go and become a Capt. at SWA. Or we all should've followed your footsteps. Do us all a favor and go back to the SWA threads and leave us alone with the "Airline that is no longer Sam's". What kind of statement was that. I DID go back and read your posts and came to the conclusion that you should go back to "upper management" and ask them for the Lotto numbers for Saturday.
Maybe you could find another venue to focus your time on instead of the flightinfo F9 board.
I can't sit idle any longer. Please don't condescend to F9. Frankly we don't need it to feel ok about our jobs. We're doing just fine in Denver and will continue to do so. BTW, SWA is losing $20M a year in DEN using a model of doing business that they've never used before. Interesting to say the least.
But it appears that a big vat of the same kool-aid that was served to UAL 14 years ago regarding F9 in DEN is being proffered to the ranks of SWA. One paramount difference glares though; F9 was here before SWA.
And...none of us believes that you left F9 for SWA because it is no longer "Sam's airline". You went for greener grass. I hope you truly found it. But don't kid us, or yourself for that matter.
We've been duped by a few fence-jumpers lately who were'nt as sincere as I hope your decisions are based on. But the "sorry guys, but management wants to crush you guys" thing is getting rather old... <yawn> Don't reduce it to cutesy terms like 'scrappiness' - for it is based on much more than that. If you were at all invested here you understand that.
You can just feel the throng of local SWA pilots wringing their hands with a twinkle in their eye as they dream about a new DEN base, devoid of the "little thorn in their side" known as F9...
An unusually high percentage of individuals at this company truly cherish the opportunity to go to work each day and feel strongly so thereabout, that they will do damn near anything to keep that spirit alive. I am one of those individuals; and I have the privilege of working among them. We have pride; we have an awesome team; we have a superior product; we care about one another and in turn - our customers... and that my friends is a powerful recipe for what is known in our industry as a commodity. The local community embraces that fact; not because we throw money at corporate entities with flashy sponsorship offers and silly 'ding' commercials aimed at the wal-mart-style clientele, but a true-to-heart, 'we believed in this town when nobody else did, embracing approach to taking care of our own - from company - to employee - to customer - to community style of doing business. We will not engage in a race to the bottom for greed's sake or any other. We believe in a more professional and realistic, responsible way of doing business which allows for fair, profitable pricing, restoring respect and value to air travel, and genuinely caring for our customers.
I know SWA has a reputation for partying, schmoozing the FAA, and generally creating a 'fun' culture, and I respect many aspects of that. What I will not stand for, however as a peer in this business is the condescending tone that seems so rampant lately. Please, if you can't respectfully acknowledge us as a professional, viable competitor and a native of DEN and CO in general, don't say anything at all. We are proud to employ 4,000 individuals in the Front Range area. We have taken great care of those folks and our passengers. We know your market cap; we know who you are; but don't insult us. We're happy for our own reasons, but we're not ignorant. We don't need your premature/undue sympathy...
Best of luck to you and I hope we mutually enjoy success and fair winds wherever our compasses take us.
M3