Morris pilots were all hired and were all stapled to the bottom of the list in (iirc) seniority order per their Morris seniority. They all show up on the SWA list as having the same DOH (that's the tip off that somebody is ex-Morris). The Morris captains were pay-protected, in that their pay rate did not go down from the rate they had at Morris (more than SWA newhire, less than SWA captain), but was static until their payrate on the SWA payscale exceeded it. (Vague recollection from discussions is that this happened around 3rd year FO pay, but I could be wrong.)
For a short time, while the Morris jets were flown by Morris crews under the Morris certificate (but after the whole thing had been bought by SWA), there was a scope-workaround which said essentially "you're all SWA pilots, you're all SWAPA, you're all on the seniority list, and until such time as you're employed at SWA (and flying our jets & procedures under our certificate), you're on leave to go fly at Morris. That way, as the Morris operation drew down, Morris Captains & Morris FO's flew jets with "Morris" painted on the side, but since they were on the SWA seniority list at the time, there was no scope issue of having jets that SWA owned flown by pilots not on the SWA seniority list.
Once the Morris pilots became SWA pilots, however, they were all FO's until they went through captain upgrade.
Would it work the same way now? Hard to say, but my guess is that there would be some changes.
First, the desire to weed out the 10% "bad apples" will be present, not least because that was seen as a serious mistake made during the Morris acquisition. Most of the Morris guys were good people (all of them that I've flown with are, as a matter of fact), but some were simply the wrong fit for SWA. Everything I know about the ATA pilots is that most of them are really great individuals as well, but there are always some troublemakers and SWA will probably want the ability to screen them out.
Second, there is some question of qualifications, in that ATA didn't require 1000 hours turbine PIC nor a 737 type rating. The latter is pretty easy, since everybody who's been flying the 737 for a while can probably get the rating during their initial PC (might require a couple of extra maneuvers FO's don't normally perform, but it won't be much), and SWA typed any Morris guys who came over without the type rating. The fairness issue of the 1000 TPIC is tougher, and it's hard to say how that would play out. I could envision an exception to policy that said we'll interview ATA pilots with as little as ___ TPIC, but guaranteed hiring below our mins is probably a non-starter.
Third, there are pilots at ATA who've been fired from SWA, just as there were at Morris. In the past, they got essentially a "second lease on life" at SWA. Would management consent to doing that again? I don't know.
If SWA doesn't want to hire everyone, what to do with the language that
I could see SWA suggesting that "qualified" means meeting SWA qualifications in terms of hours & type rating & TPIC (and giving preferential interviews to the others down to some slightly lower qualification... maybe). I could also see the "offer" being contingent on the usual litany of things... background checks, drug test, etc, and perhaps adding a couple of other contingencies to the list such as "and pass a screening interview." Or there are probably "lawyerly" ways around that clause, like ATA transferring the jets back to a leasing company or Boeing or somebody, who then leases or sells them to SWA. And, at worst, terminations during the probationary year can't be grieved, although I strongly doubt that SWA would use that as a substitute for finding some way to do some screening interviews.
Of course, all this assumes that the deal for the -800's happens, which looks like a definite possibility but (as of 9 AM today, at least) by no means certain. If it does occur, I certainly wish the ATA guys allthe best & hope we see many of them at SWA shortly afterwards. As for the DFW gates & service... that's a whole 'nother can of worms!
Interesting times.
TC
