One factor that I think has not been given enough attention in this thread is schedule. Unless you intentionally manipulate your schedule for any of various reasons, which is easy to do, most SWA lines (even reserve) are AM or PM schedules that don't switch back and forth mid-trip or mid-month from AM to PM. jetBlue schedules, on the other hand, seem to do this very frequently, especially when you consider the amount of redeyes they do (compared to SWA's nearly zero redeyes).
Think about it... after a redeye your choices are: get minimum rest ("day sleep") and then have a short duty period in the evening, or have a 24 hour layover to work the originator a day later (and lose productivity on the layover). Either way, it results in a shift in your body clock that becomes a cumulative fatigue factor. At other airlines I've done this once or twice a month, and even that often was too much for me to do for the rest of my life (but everyone's got different priorities). It does affect commutability, though, but I live in base...
Also, SWA lines (including reserve) are generally built to work the same days of the week all month long... something I've never experienced at any airline without significant seniority. This month, as a very junior FO, I bid a PM reserve line (coulda held an AM hard line) that works Sunday through Tuesday and sometimes Wednesday. ALL MONTH! Now I can start to have a "normal" life and schedule things on certain days of the week (sailing lessons, guitar lessons, or perhaps that auto repair college course?).
And, yes, 15 reserve days max a month is a nice bonus.
Fly safe ya'll,
-Alkie
<heavy irony, if you didn't get it>
