I've stated this before- DOH gives every AT pilot a 300 Swapa pilot cushion from the snapshot bc we hired through OCT '08 whereas AT stopped hiring in April '08. Think that's right?
And DOH doesn't address the fact that if pursuing both airlines at the same time - the SWA job takes on average 3-5 years longer to attain than the AT one- it's simply more competitive bc of the pay, culture, bases etc- leading to the age disparity.
Here's my example- it would not be relevant but for the fact that it's fairly common:
its just my experience- but I've run into a lot of my 70-90,000#'s who've had similar experiences- I turned down AT in 2003 after an Air Inc conference where I spoke to both swa and AT (and Amer West and UPS and Fedex ...etc) I didn't do the interview with AT bc of a conflict and in large part bc of the advice a SWA Capt recruiter gave me to stay at my regional and pad my PIC time- I had about 1500 PT121 TPIC over 3 types at that point- a direct quote "I don't think sitting in the right seat of a larger plane is going to help you much. We always value PIC and leadership roles over the right seat in any aircraft. We hire captains and leaders." He then went on to look at my resume and stated that competitive TPIC mins for civilians are usually higher than what I had, even though I had the mins. So I stayed at my regional. Now I'd already been at a commuter and a legacy before, so I was itching like crazy to get back to Boeing sized jets- but I didn't- I padded my 121TPIC time slugging it out in the ever increasing outsourced world of legacy route structures that I used to fly big jets to. And it worked- I got the job I really wanted in 2007, 3 and a half years after I'd have been in class at AT had I passed their interview. And I passed on the first try. So many of our best pilots have had to interview 2 and 3 times to get on. it's not just civilian pilots- I've flown with several military pilots who have interviewed 2 or more times. The record I've seen is 4. And usually a year before a subsequent interview is offered.
Are those years relevant to a seniority discussion?
Obviously, I feel like they are. SWA set up a process where they could differentiate between those who wanted a job and those who REALLY want to fly for swa.
I just don't see them telling us many times a year how special we are, bragging about how difficult it is to get hired by swa- and then doing a 180 and saying "just kidding" we're integrating you by DOH.
It simply will not happen on even terms.
It's not a 2nd class citizen thing- it's a required humility, a Luke 14:10 thing, a servant mentality when you join this family-
You just don't show up with the lack of perspective ALPA has shown.
SWA buying you is very very good- you don't negotiate on a hard line in this scenario.
JMO-
Y'all are free to do as you will.