Is the Southwest pay/contract sustainable at current market?

[XR650R]

All will be solved when SWA starts charging for bags. Bags fly free is on its way out the door.

True statement. As soon as our infamous IT dept actually develops a system where it's even possible to charge for bags!! I hear early 2014.

 

[igneousy2]

Gen, you've posted several times how having a single fleet type is SOO detrimental to a career. You somehow seem to imply that Delta is sooo much better because of all the different fleet types which causes soo much more pilot hiring. I see a lot of training cycles but aside from that it's all the same isn't it. A 747 CA at Delta retires...one pilot is hired as DC9-FO->737FO->767FO->777FO->747FO->DC9CA->737CA->767CA->777CA->747CA.

737CA retires at SWA new hire 737FO->737CA.

At the end of the day, you still have only one new Captain and one new hire First Officer under either scenario. What am I missing?

 

[BR715]

Lear,
Has something changed? Is everyone rebidding or something? I think your talking about guys who bid 73 back to the dark ages FO.

 

[canyonblue]

The general is right SWA has some serious issues to solve.

I agree! You will find plenty of SWA pilots who will agree with you that we haven't made some very good decisions in recent years.

 

[jonjuan]

All will be solved when SWA starts charging for bags. Bags fly free is on its way out the door.

The flip side of that is that they'll lose market share if they do that as has been stated by management all along.

 

[jonjuan]

Gen, you've posted several times how having a single fleet type is SOO detrimental to a career. You somehow seem to imply that Delta is sooo much better because of all the different fleet types which causes soo much more pilot hiring. I see a lot of training cycles but aside from that it's all the same isn't it. A 747 CA at Delta retires...one pilot is hired as DC9-FO->737FO->767FO->777FO->747FO->DC9CA->737CA->767CA->777CA->747CA.

737CA retires at SWA new hire 737FO->737CA.

At the end of the day, you still have only one new Captain and one new hire First Officer under either scenario. What am I missing?

I think she may have been implying that with many more people in training and not out on the line flying, manning will need to be greater than the leaner approach of SWA.

 

[Cruncher]

...lose market share...

:uzi: Maybe this will help us "shrink" to profitability! uke:

 

[GhettoBeechjet]

:uzi: Maybe this will help us "shrink" to profitability! uke:

Ding Ding Ding we have a winner. Watch for new phrases from management such as fleet count rationalization. We will be 70 airframes smaller and 1100 pilots overmanned. I suspect that GL is right and we will lose a significant number of pilots to DL.

 

[Ty Webb]

Ding Ding Ding we have a winner. Watch for new phrases from management such as fleet count rationalization. We will be 70 airframes smaller and 1100 pilots overmanned. I suspect that GL is right and we will lose a significant number of pilots to DL.

Both your reasoning and your math don't make any sense. Care to elaborate?

 

[wood pecker]

That 3 days for bid is for the Jan class I think or is it Jan and Feb?