Latest from SWA??......2/12/02

[LearAv8r]

Hey everybody in the pool!!!!!!!:


I talked to JM today and I was told that I "might" make the June class. She said that they have planned for classes thru the end of April and was waiting for flight operations to give them the OK for classes after that. She also said that things were changing on a daily basis but could not give me more specifics as to when I might get called. (stop/loss etc...)

I know that I am towards the bottom of the pool list but had high hopes of getting in by April. Hopefully things will go faster than expected!!!!!!



My arms are getting tired with fingers crossed.......gotta tread tread tread.....



LearAv8r-

 

[ivauir]

Lear's SWA date

My "algorythm" predicts a 9 May class for you bud - stop loss still in effect. June is not what you want to hear, but pretty much in line with what she'd tell a person going in May! I've heard a rumor that the stop loss faction of the poolies is "substantial" - so my guess is 2 classes worth - which would put you in June afterall.
BTW she won't get even that specific with me "definatly not by April", "sometime after April" and "early summer/late spring" are very popular phrases. What is she telling everyone else?

 

[RightBettor]

Here's what I keep hearing.

Just spoke with JM yesterday... she says "probably won't get you in by April." Of course, this is not what I had hoped to hear, but it is consistent with everything she has said up to this point. I understand there are some possible legal ramifications in providing "false hopes" to anyone waiting.

I am guessing this is like going to a restaurant. The hostess says, "It'll be about a 20 to 30 minutes before a table is ready." Then, ten minutes later the little pager starts buzzing and flashing. "Your table is ready, follow me."

So any guesses for when my table will be ready?

RightBettor
(type/pool date: Nov 6, 2001)

 

[LearAv8r]

Is that a table in smoking or non-smoking section?

Any section would do I guess.

Another thing that JM said was that they have increased class size from 20 to 24 (old news) but she thought that they were going to go back to 20 per class, although she didn't say when. I thought that was kind of interesting.

She didn't really have to much info (not too surprised) about what was going to happen with hiring down the road. I guess since 9/11 everything can change in a minute.

Probably a good poker player too, keeping the cards close to the vest......


LearAv8r-

 

[xhercdriver]

Well, there are enough data points on the list now, I think, to do a little forecasting based on a "status quo" situation where they are conducting continous classes.

Virtually everyone on the list with a class date is in the seventh or eighth class following the later of his/her interview or type rating dates. The "seven-class rule" also works for the few guys I know the dates for who got into the October classes as well, although I think it could also be faster pre-911.

So if you know the dates of the classes, you should be able to predict within about one class or so when you will go. It may be possible for one or two people to "move up in the flow" if the rumors of "secret factors" are true, but it's unlikely that very many folks could "jump ahead" of you--in fact, there isn't a single example of it to be seen on the list (although a couple of folks appear to have "jumped back," probably due to unavailability).

The stop-loss thing is hard to quantify, but at one point about a month ago I was told somewhat definitely "First April class with stop loss, second April class without," which would indicate that the number of stop-loss affected guys in the entire first quarter's pool group is only 20-25 or so. What the number is for the first six months of 2002 is is anyone's guess, but since there were two months with almost no interviews at the end of 2001, I'd guess you'd see no more than 2 classes worth of stop-loss guys who would actually be available and typed by summer.

So your ballpark window is 7-10 classes after your type/interview if they run 2 classes per month. There are some posts around by guys who've seen "official" company class date lists in crew lounges showing 2 classes/month through August, with 3 classes in one or two of those months. I think the People Dept is only allowed to work one quarter ahead though.

Of course, this all assumes nothing changes Six months ago I was going in November. A month ago I was going in April. Now I'm going in two weeks

 

[ATA75Pilot]

Just got back from the interview today.

Per Bob Dombrowski (Asst. Chief Pilot)....

Classes of 24 are too big and going back to 20.

Possible third class to be held in March. Still waiting to make that decision.

 

[InHot]

Classs siz

Hey ATA,

Thanks for the info. I had read about the class size in a previous post. However in that post there was no explanation given for the reduction in class size.

Of course I imagined the worst and was concerned about a revision to the apparent growth going on at SWA.

I nterviewed 7 Jan. Finally inside a week for the decision board! It feels like it's been years.

Good luck with the process.

 

[ATA75Pilot]

As far as explanations of class size reduction (it was 26 down to 20 - wrong number in my previous post).

Capt. Dombrowski siad it was just too big a class size for them to handle. It had nothing to do with a slowing down in growth. Hence the thoughts of a 3rd. class in March.

Good Luck on your board....at least you don't have to wait 4-6 weeks like me....talk about forever!

 

[chase]

Some info from the chief pilot officer.

Over 250 pilots meeting the 20 Feb DB. Currently the number of folks recommended by the interview is slightly less than half of all folks who interviewed. That is slightly less than the normal number that are recommended. Don't have an explanation. Also don't know if interview folks recommend don't hire if that is definite. I know this will send ripples galore through the Feb 20 DB folks, my apologies. I debated on whether to post this or not but everyone out there needs to know the odds going in. I wish everyone good luck. If you're not selected please don't give up on SWA. I know in the past folks have gotten some feedback on why they weren't selected (in general terms). Calling Dumbo is one way. If someone within the company recommended you & you still didn't get selected the better way would be for your contact to speak to his/her CP at their base. Again, good luck to all.

 

[falcon20]

For all those who will not be selected,

 

[vx9.tc]

Just saw the class list for the 14 Feb class. 24 new pilots and 2 instructors.

 

[chase]

Info on class reduction size & why....1/4 of an inch!! Sometimes inches do matter.

Was told by CP the -300 Texas sim had a new visual put in it but for the same guys who did the Hubble satelite did the installation & the result is the visual was off by 1/4 of inch & had to be de-certified resulting in a shortage of sims. This result has cause an unexpected backup & the initial fix was to cut the class size in Feb but it was too late. Classes that weren't full yet, those in March are being cut back to 20 to lessen the load. An extra class in March or another class down the road will make up for the temporary reduction. Sim should be back up in less than a month.

Other news. In reference to my other comment above about those who aren't recommended by the interview team for hiring. Those packages are still reviewed by the DB. The interview recommendation can be overturned for reasons that may probably include a combination of the following factors; letters of recommendation--quality & quantity, comments made to DB reps about candidates (other than LORs, verbal recommendations), amount of flying time & quality of it, other outside factors. Since you won't know if you were recommended or not it become a moot point but just so folks don't think it is hopeless if the interview is tubed there is an out. Also packages that are turned down early in the day are often looked at later in the day when some perspective to who has & hasn't been chosen can be reviewed. This prevents someone who might get through the process later in the day beating out someone who got turned down earlier in the day when everyone was fresher...more time to think about someone. As my source said, we won't to hire everyone!

Advanced bookings look good. Lots of FOs are going through upgrade that aren't even capable of holding a Capt line or Lance Capt line. My opinion, the company is preparing for a surge in demand for Capts & will have them ready when we expand later this year in a rapid fashion. Having ready made Capts around is required before FOs.

Decision Boards will increase from 1 in Feb to at least 2 in March & maybe even 3. This will speed the notification process up tremendously & lessen the load for DB reps so they don't have to look at nearly 300 applicants as they are in Feb.

Hang in there. Good luck to all.

chase

 

[ivauir]

Extra March Class

Anyone heard any rumors of when the added March class might be, any guesses as to when they'll go official?

 

[InHot]

Decision Boards

Decision Boards will increase from 1 in Feb to at least 2 in March & maybe even 3. This will speed the notification process up tremendously & lessen the load for DB reps so they don't have to look at nearly 300 applicants as they are in Feb.

Now, THAT is a great idea. For all of you who have previously, and those of us who are currently counting the time to the decision board you know how long this process seems when it lasts 6-8 weeks. It's inhumane.

Any reduction in the time the process takes will be welcome. If I were asked to write an after action report on the process (from my perspective) this would be my number 1 issue.

Feb 20th is finally just around the corner. Almost time to hide my mailbox so I don't get any unwanted mail next week!

Good luck to all!

 

[JayhawkDude]

Okay, if I interviewed on 2/12/02 and they're adding extra DBs, anyone's guess which one I might meet? I'll worry about class dates right after a hear from them!

A dollar to the guy with the right answer...

 

[chase]

I haven't heard of the dates for DB in March (I'm sure folks who are interviewing now are being told when it is) but the timing from a DB to phone call to class is still a sport resembling guessing the next lottery winner. The good news is the waiting will be less to be told one is hired or not hired. I suspect your class date will still be 2-3 months from the DB. Best guess.

 

[rtseatrich]

MARCH DECISION BOARDS 3/13 & 3/26

I inteviewed on Monday 2/18
They told my group 6 - 8 weeks for a final decision.
And that our info would go to either a 3/13 or 3/26 DB.
But there was going to be 2 DB's in March.
They weren't sure which DB would review our info.

Good luck to all

Rich