Delta Hiring SWA pilots?

[Pogue Mahone]

Yes, if your senior to me that would be an excellent idea. Because we all know that basing your decisions on what is happening right this second is the best way to go. Never mind the last 15 years of bad management or furloughs or across the board concessions. Lets just look at right now a company that has come out of bankruptcy shedding all its massive debt and not having to pay its creditors. Low oil prices, high baggage fees. Because this is how it will be forever and ever.:nuts:

One of the better posts ever.

 

[Max_Motoring]

Yes a class of 18 and only 8 showed up. Previous class had a guy leave the end of the third week for Delta but he lived on the east coast.

 

[bafanguy]

Yes a class of 18 and only 8 showed up.

It's a new world, I guess. Did that event cause a stir ? Anyone in management concerned about people no-showing ?

 

[Bake]

Hey guys and gals, I was not lobbing a bomb so much as I was venting about how atrocious the mood here is at SWA. I have had some serious issues with a chief pilot, training, SWAPA,and really SWA is just not that much fun anymore. Maybe the General is correct. Mix it up a bit and fly different aircraft, bigger or smaller, see different things, and just explore the aviation world for all it's worth.

Reality is I'm starting my 3rd year as a capt and RIGHT NOW no other job matches the income or the flexibility and that is just a fact. Hopefully, that will change and we will see some big contracts out of the other carriers. I'm supporting you guys. Thanks for the intelligent answers and the brainstorming of this thread. It wasn't for naught.

Bake

 

[tankerhead]

Very nice and humble post, Bake.

Others should emulate.

 

[ATRCAPT]

Well, for what it's worth...

Regarding the new-hire no-shows: I just came from the training center (PC yesterday) and was told the reason two classes only had 8 people was because they only wanted two classes of 8. There have been a small handful of folks leave for other airlines, but not the number some would have you believe.

Bake, I get your frustration with SWA right now, but please be careful about looking for greener pastures. Third year SWA capt. is a pretty f-ing good place to be! I'm right on the cusp of moving to left seat myself. I know the company has changed for the worse and SWAPA has proved worthless of late, but things can easily take a sh!t anywhere. I would hate to see you give up your left seat and get stuck as a FO somewhere else.

I've said it before, 2015 is going to be a very pivotal year here at SWA. Stay tuned...

 

[humveedriver]

Bake, working at a small airline will always be way more fun. SWA had a long and good run at being the "fun" airline, but it grew up. Here's an option that includes a left seat.

http://easternairlines.aero/career-opportunities.html

 

[General Lee]

Hey guys and gals, I was not lobbing a bomb so much as I was venting about how atrocious the mood here is at SWA. I have had some serious issues with a chief pilot, training, SWAPA,and really SWA is just not that much fun anymore. Maybe the General is correct. Mix it up a bit and fly different aircraft, bigger or smaller, see different things, and just explore the aviation world for all it's worth.

Reality is I'm starting my 3rd year as a capt and RIGHT NOW no other job matches the income or the flexibility and that is just a fact. Hopefully, that will change and we will see some big contracts out of the other carriers. I'm supporting you guys. Thanks for the intelligent answers and the brainstorming of this thread. It wasn't for naught.

Bake

Notice my initial response was not in jest. Obviously you are doing well monetarily right now, but maybe that isn't enough. If you do want to make a change, make sure you can afford it first, and then look at the 3 legacies. All 3 of them would hire you in a heartbeat. Getting on early would allow you to take advantage of fast upward movement, getting the QOL back sooner. It would take awhile to get the money back, but all 3 are getting more stable and have new contracts coming up, meaning better new hire pay. Huge classes means shorter times on reserve, and huge retirement numbers means more variety in long haul Widebody or domestic on various fleets.

It would be a big move, but it could be the right one for you. Good luck.



Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[HowardBorden]

No matter how disgruntled one becomes, it all boils down to how much greener could other pastures be?

To start over at Delta would be close to a $1 million hit in one decade. Just out of curiosity I crunched some numbers. A new hire at Delta starting in the smallest equipment and moving up to the next largest every 2 years, assuming a 6 year upgrade into the smallest equipment then moving up again every 2 years would bring in $1,053,000 in the first 10 years at minimum guarantee. The same 10 years as a Captain at SWA would net $2,021,760 in salary at minimum guarantee. Of course these Delta numbers are completely arbitrary, and could be way off base considering what equipment is flown for how long and when upgrade actually materializes, but I was just trying to shoot for a ballpark number for comparison.

Not to mention you'd be starting over at the bottom on reserve working holidays and weekends all over again instead of building on the current seniority already attained at the current airline. To each his own I guess, but it just seems as it would be so incredibly counter productive. How long would it take to break even monetarily is an impossible question to answer because of all the intangibles, but one would need to be extremely unhappy at the current gig in order to even consider the move. Every individuals has different needs and desires, so go figure.

 

[Bigoober]

Well, for what it's worth...

Regarding the new-hire no-shows: I just came from the training center (PC yesterday) and was told the reason two classes only had 8 people was because they only wanted two classes of 8. There have been a small handful of folks leave for other airlines, but not the number some would have you believe.

Bake, I get your frustration with SWA right now, but please be careful about looking for greener pastures. Third year SWA capt. is a pretty f-ing good place to be! I'm right on the cusp of moving to left seat myself. I know the company has changed for the worse and SWAPA has proved worthless of late, but things can easily take a sh!t anywhere. I would hate to see you give up your left seat and get stuck as a FO somewhere else.

I've said it before, 2015 is going to be a very pivotal year here at SWA. Stay tuned...

Probably need a few "new" aircraft for pivotal. More seats ain't gonna cut it.