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B-737 Type for SWA

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Old Crow

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 6, 2001
Posts
166
I'm sure that this has been discussed a time or two, so please forgive me.

When and If SWA gives me the Conditional offer, go get your type, what did all of you do at your current jobs?CIV pilots.

How long is the school for the type?

Did you quit, take a leave, vacation?

I don't want to quit my current job until I've got the type and SWA says to come and start work.

What does SWA benefit from requiring the type? I believe that you still have to go to school when you're hired right?

I wish all of you the best of luck!
 
SWA needing type

Old Crow,

I'm military so I can't answer the vacation question, but the benefit to SWA for requiring the type is a shorter (read: cheaper) training program for new hires as required by the FAA.

Slug
 
Figure 2 1/2 weeks for the type rating, including travel time. Fairly intense, very little "fun" involved (but some).

Supposedly SWA gets some kind of insurance cost benefit from having two theoretically "captain-qualified" guys in the cockpit instead of one. They can also probably streamline their own training courses for F/O and Captain a little since they're not teaching the plane from scratch.

The civilian guys in my class were all "on vacation" from their jobs. I got the impression that some of their bosses were aware of what they were doing, and some weren't.

Quitting your job would not be a good option in my opinion--the period of time between your interview/type and actual class date is too unpredictable--anywhere from 2-9 months. A long time to not fly and then have to "shine" in a course to keep your new job. Also a long time to eat hot dogs and Froot Loops.
 
Hey OldCrow,

It's pretty much all been said already. I did my type at Aeroservice in Miami (on a scale of one to ten, Aeroservice was almost an eight.) It took 15 days (I had my new ticket on the 17th day.) Aeroservice also offers a four-week course. Since I am domiciled in South Florida, I originally was going to trade/give away days that conflicted with the "15 day" training window. I ended up taking a leave (my airline was grateful-- they didn't have to pay me...) The other guys were furloughees and vacationeers. Like XHercDriver said, I wasn't fun--except for flying the sim, just intense. If you do a 15 day course, study your tail off ahead of time, and there should be no suprises.

Cheers!
 
Hello everyone. I'm almost finished with my type through HPA. Higher Power Aviation in in Dallas and they run an excellent school. The process has been 13 days total and I have had great instructors. The staff at HPA has taken very good care of all of us in my class. Type ride on Sunday. Wish me luck!

I highly this school!

J3
 
737 Type

J3CubCapt is right. Higher Power Aviation (HPA) in Dallas is great. SWA has a representative (sometimes Jennifer and/or Lindsey) show up during the first week of most every class to find out who are SWA pre-hires and also to put in a pitch for students to apply to SWA. They put out great information about the airline and answer questions that do not leave them in a legal bind if they fail to come true. I think SWA really likes the quality of trained pilots that come out of HPA.

HPA also has the capability to split your 737 training into two separate weeks. We had a fellow classmate working for EJA seven-on-seven off so he took his ground school week one, went back to work for a week and then did the sim training and check ride the third week. Great school, great helpful people.

:)
 
Last edited:
HPA

Hello Aviators!

J3CubCapt and I were in the same class at Higher Power Aviation. It's an excellent school and I give it a 10. It requires that you complete a minimum of 60 hours of home study prior to your attendance in class. I studied about 80 hours and still thought the course was pretty intense. The first week is academics and the second week are the sims. Their instructors are excellent and prepare you well for the oral exams as well as the simulator checkride. The staff completes all the paperwork correctly for the FAA so you don't have to worry about anything but studying. I started class on November 26 and had my type rating on December 8. Best wishes to all and Happy Holidays.
 
A little additional info on HPA perhaps not generally known...

HPA teaches primarily the 737-200 (the one with the skinny engines) which SWA has some of, but it's not the primary plane you'll probably fly with SWA. HPA also occasionally has to send a few students down to Houston to use Flight Safety or Continental sims, which are 737-300, which is the most numerous SWA type (turbofans). HPA will pay the added cost of going to Houston.

So, you can "pre-volunteer" for the Houston slots if they have to send anyone down there, and you'll get to learn the -300, which has some significant differences. (Not that this will probably matter once you start actual SWA training, but it's an option...) I ended up doing the -300 course when one of the students in the class ahead of me needed some extra sim time, and I felt like I got a little early exposure to some of the systems I wouldn't have seen in the -200.

If you're doing your type without being called for an interview yet, I'd definitely go with HPA. You'll get some "face time" with the People Dept folks that I don't think you'll get elsewhere.
 
I too went to HPA,
I felt the academics were outstanding for the most part. They have an AAL Sim instructor that taught the majority of our classes and he was great. There were a few other instructors that did the job, but without the motivation and knowledge that Lynn (sp?) had. The sim training is not quite as standardized as what I have had drilled into my pea brain in the Air Force for the last 20 years but is still OK. I do believe that HPA is in bed with SWA. The People Dept sends someone to brief every class on their application process and answer questions. If SWA is in your sights, fork out the bucks for the type (as tough as it is) which shows your commitment to them and I believe it will get you the interview, assuming you meet the mins.
Good luck.
Boots
 

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