Great News. More Newhires at Southwest

[Monster Buck]

He should be concerned! It will affect him! If the Hawaii thing happens for SWA, it will be just one more market and/or Airline that his airline (assuming he does work for HAL) will have to compete with...SW has it in our contract that we can inter island codeshare, whether we do the flying Inter Island ourselves, or have someone else do it for us, it will affect Dan's airline.

"Walmart" customers have to be able to get to Hawaii as well, it's there "God Given rights", You do have Walmart's in Hawaii right Dan? Not Hating Dan, Just stating the facts. Yes you guys have Big Airplanes and nice features but when it comes down to it, it's all about price! People will buy what's perceived as cheapest, so you'll still get the first class, you'll still get the "long Haul" but it'll be just another Airline in a saturated Market competing for the Tourist Dollars... At least we'll be bringing our customers with us, since apparently we have the "Walmart" flyers!
KBB

Your right about the price. I haven't done a very detailed search since I don't care that much but you guys are not as cheap as you once were. Many times that I have friends that need to go to Florida or the east coast you are one of the most expensive if not middle of the road. I don't worry about any legacy competing with your prices. As you start going long haul international your costs will skyrocket for that segment to be sustained and you wont be selling any cheaper than anyone else. Just another player in a big big game. Welcome but you aren't scaring anyone.

 

[i fly boxes]

Just some quick questions - how senior is MDW and BWI and is it true that you can be kicked out of your base any time there is a vacancy if more senior people decide to bid for it? Also, 15 days off is also for reserves? How many days off would a middle of the pack FO and Senior FO get off? How are the trips built? Is it mostly 1,2,3, or 4 day trips? Last question would be I understand that I would be working weekends and holidays for a long time but with your automated trip trade system, is it possible to steal a weekend or specific day off from time to time?
thanks

 

[Caveman]

I guess this pretty much eliminates any pretense about HPA/SWA relationship. They get briefed before anybody else and they are the official press release for the hiring news.

 

[BUDDHA145]

I heard the same thing, I just don't remember where.............

Hahahaha!!!

 

[airlinepilot]

Save your money

All you need is the type....I used Flight Crew Training in Houston (they were the cheapest at the time). Everyone in my class got hired. HP likes to put forth the idea they give you an advantage but I don't think it really matters. Also after talking with those that went to HP....it sounds like they make you jump through more hoops than other places. At the end of the day all you want is a type!

I guess this pretty much eliminates any pretense about HPA/SWA relationship. They get briefed before anybody else and they are the official press release for the hiring news.

 

[Mickey D]

Just some quick questions - how senior is MDW and BWI and is it true that you can be kicked out of your base any time there is a vacancy if more senior people decide to bid for it? Also, 15 days off is also for reserves? How many days off would a middle of the pack FO and Senior FO get off? How are the trips built? Is it mostly 1,2,3, or 4 day trips? Last question would be I understand that I would be working weekends and holidays for a long time but with your automated trip trade system, is it possible to steal a weekend or specific day off from time to time?
thanks

I can answer some of your questions. Before the latest hiring took place, I had only had two classes of new hires beneath me, and I was pretty much stuck in Oakland. The upside to that was that I got most weekends off, although it meant a reserve schedule. I probably could have gotten off of reserve there, but bid specifically for weekends off. As soon as the hiring started and new classes started coming on the line, I got based at MDW, so for me, as soon as I got about 5 classes below me, I got out of OAK. Had weekends off not been important to me, I could have had LAS or PHX along the way. The majority of trips are 3 and 4 day trips, and reserve blocks (with a few exceptions) are all 3 & 4 days. If you have a non-reserve line and want to trade weekend trips for weekday trips, you can trade with trips the company hasn't covered using what we call ELITT (electronic line improvement trip trade). Weekday trips always go first once they come up, but with patience and time in front of your computer, you can slowly but surely find some trades for yourself.

Another thing you can do is put all of your stuff in give away, and if it goes, you can pick up extra fly or VJA (voluntary junior assign) from the company. You can also possibly find people who want to trade their weekday trip for your trip. Lots of possibilities to get out of weekend flying, but don't expect weekends off until you get a few classes below you in base, and then expect that you will still most likely have to sit reserve if you want weekends off.

The basic order of bases by seniority, from junior to senior is (as of right now): OAK, LAS, PHX, MDW, HOU, BWI, MCO, DAL. In the recent past, BWI was more senior to MCO, but that seems to have changed.

 

[Roomwithaview]

AT/SWA guys and gals

If you wonder why these threads denigrate into a SLI pi%%ing contest then look no further than this:

If they are hired after the announcement of the merger/aquistion, then any newhires will be placed at the bottom of the list. That is exactly what happened supposedly for the DL/NWA merger thanks to the arbitrators. And talk about some stagnation at SWA. With very few scheduled retirements for years, it could be a long wait for a line or weekends/holidays off. But, the pay will be good.

These SWA newhires will be senior to any AirTran/Guadaloupe FO if the lists are integrated. It remains to be seen about the Trannie CAs. With a straight staple, sure the newhires will be senior to all the Trannies.

Sorry, but no one knows how this will go down. Making bold inflammatory statements to make yourself feel good will not change how this deal is done.

Are we going to discuss issues in the realm of reality? Or, are we just going to lob mud at each other knowing we all will get dirty?

 

[Dan Roman]

Exactly! But at least he got to take a shot at WN.

Gup

Not a shot, just an observation. I have nothing but respect for SWA. They are good at what they do.

 

[Kharma Police]

If you wonder why these threads denigrate into a SLI pi%%ing contest then look no further than this:

Sorry, but no one knows how this will go down. Making bold inflammatory statements to make yourself feel good will not change how this deal is done.

Are we going to discuss issues in the realm of reality? Or, are we just going to lob mud at each other knowing we all will get dirty?

That's what I'm saying, haters will always hate! The focus of this thread should be on wishing the best of luck to the upcoming SWA interviewees!

 

[Dan Roman]

He should be concerned! It will affect him! If the Hawaii thing happens for SWA, it will be just one more market and/or Airline that his airline (assuming he does work for HAL) will have to compete with...SW has it in our contract that we can inter island codeshare, whether we do the flying Inter Island ourselves, or have someone else do it for us, it will affect Dan's airline.

"Walmart" customers have to be able to get to Hawaii as well, it's there "God Given rights", You do have Walmart's in Hawaii right Dan? Not Hating Dan, Just stating the facts. Yes you guys have Big Airplanes and nice features but when it comes down to it, it's all about price! People will buy what's perceived as cheapest, so you'll still get the first class, you'll still get the "long Haul" but it'll be just another Airline in a saturated Market competing for the Tourist Dollars... At least we'll be bringing our customers with us, since apparently we have the "Walmart" flyers!
KBB

Not worried at all. I don't subscribe to the "my airline can beat up your airline" mindset. Any posts that may seem that way (see above) are meant to counter that attitude.
As far as Hawaii goes, it's a very big market and will always have a lot of airlines flying there. Hawaiian seems to have no problem filling up any 767's or A330's we fly to the mainland. Hawaiian has a very strong presence in the market and because they are uniquely "Hawaiian" people like to fly on them to start their Hawaii vacation. The seat mile costs on a 767/A330 are quite a bit lower than any 737 that could be used to fly to Hawaii and of course 737's don't have the same passenger appeal on a trans-pac flight. But if you fly to Hawaii I'm sure you will carry a lot of people here which is good for the State, which in turn is good for Hawaiian Air. So no, I'm not to worried. Inter-Island would take a huge investment by SWA to go after a very small profit potential. It's a very complex deal and there is much more to it than you think. Bottom line is you would spend a lot of money chasing a market with very limited potential for you. SWA is way to smart to do that.
Hawaiians latest focus is on Asia. We just started and are carrying high loads with high yields to Japan and Korea. I suspect we will also be adding non stops to the east coast soon.