My entire outlook on SWA has changed.

[GFunk20]

We had 7000 apps on file in just a few days. One less certainly won't hurt.

 

[Full of LUV]

We had 7000 apps on file in just a few days. One less certainly won't hurt.

Alrighty then.... I guess arrogance is bliss as well! Remember, every airline that has been top in pay in the past is no longer top....ie you only are until you aren't.

I hope it works out for you GFunk20, but to say that excessive arrogance, even on a webboard, isn't disheartening to the future of the SWAPA group is missing the longer range picture.

 

[FlyinGuy]

I cannot believe the posts I read on this website coming from SWA pilots. I seriously thought you guys were a pretty cool pilot group, but judging form the posts here, you are a pretentious group of jerks that think you are the best and nobody can tell you different.

Many people say that SWA is the best place to work for, but I seriously have my doubts about how nice it actually is after reading the posts here. You may make a lot of money for a 737, but all of you representing SWA on this board are really making SWA look bad. Just my opinion of course.

This is not meant to be flamebait, and I am in no way affiliated with Air Tran. I just wanted you all to know what your bickering looks like to the outsider. I am not saying the General or anyone else is any better, I am just saying before these past months since the merger, I held your pilot group in high esteem, and now I don't.

I really wasted my time reading this thread.....

If you are serious, then I am really concerned with your reasoning skills.

 

[chase]

The culture of SWA is not fully represented by 20-30 posters (including myself) on here;

1. believe your eyes and ears when you jumpseat on SWA....are you treated better than other airlines or your own? When you travel with your family are the agents generally accommodating (bad experiences can occur even at SWA occasionally) and helpful?

2. When you fly on SWA are the customers treated with respect generally and are the employees genuine toward them?

3. Ask yourself this question, "how many pieces of clothing do most airline pilots own that have their airline's name on it?" It may sound like a stupid question but most SWA employees will say quite a few; most others I've spoken with have zero or 1 or 2 at the most; it merely illustrates the amount of pride one has in one's place of work.

4. Does management take care (definition varies I know) of its employees financially and their families?

5. Speak to the employees and get an idea of how management has gone out of its way to help them personally and compare to your own experience or those at other airlines.

6. Ask the employees if they "enjoy coming to work" and their fellow employees.

7. Do you see employee groups working together for the most part?

8. Are the SWA the most productive pilots in the industry? This illustrates work ethic and desire that has been a trademark for SWA since its inception.

None of the above by themselves are singularly unique to SWA; however, they are unique as a whole in that I believe they all apply 95% of the time to our operations.

All of the above and much more requires significant homework and more than merely reading the ramblings of a few posters on an anonymous forum.

If you chose your future spouse by just reading their rants on match.com or marryme.com then you may find that you might be surprised by how far off your expectations are for that person. Forums are one dimensional only and anonymous forums are even less illustrative of the real persons and create false impressions IMHO.

If you don't wish to apply or have a low opinion of SWA after doing all of the above, then we aren't who we say we are.

I suspect that if you do your homework, the answers will be shockingly clear why our little airline has as much pride as it does; that may seem over the top or hokey to some but that is OK, different strokes as the saying goes.

Have a good Labor Day weekend, cheers,

One Happy and proud SWA employee & pilot

 

[texman]

Well said Chase! This is why we are prideful not arrogant. Just protecting our own first.

 

[On Your Six]

The culture of SWA is not fully represented by 20-30 posters (including myself) on here;

1. believe your eyes and ears when you jumpseat on SWA....are you treated better than other airlines or your own? When you travel with your family are the agents generally accommodating (bad experiences can occur even at SWA occasionally) and helpful?

2. When you fly on SWA are the customers treated with respect generally and are the employees genuine toward them?

3. Ask yourself this question, "how many pieces of clothing do most airline pilots own that have their airline's name on it?" It may sound like a stupid question but most SWA employees will say quite a few; most others I've spoken with have zero or 1 or 2 at the most; it merely illustrates the amount
pride one has in one's place of work.

4. Does management take care (definition varies I know) of its employees financially and their families?

5. Speak to the employees and get an idea of how management has gone out of its way to help them personally and compare to your own experience or those at other airlines.

6. Ask the employees if they "enjoy coming to work" and their fellow employees.

7. Do you see employee groups working together for the most part?

8. Are the SWA the most productive pilots in the industry? This illustrates work ethic and desire that has been a trademark for SWA since its inception.

None of the above by themselves are singularly unique to SWA; however, they are unique as a whole in that I believe they all apply 95% of the time to our operations.

All of the above and much more requires significant homework and more than merely reading the ramblings of a few posters on an anonymous forum.

If you chose your future spouse by just reading their rants on match.com or marryme.com then you may find that you might be surprised by how far off your expectations are for that person. Forums are one dimensional only and

Lll anonymous forums are even less illustrative of the real persons and create false impressions IMHO.

If you don't wish to apply or have a low opinion of SWA after doing all of the above, then we aren't who we say we are.

I suspect that if you do your homework, the answers will be shockingly clear why our little airline has as much pride as it does; that may seem over the top
or hokey to some but that is OK, different strokes as the saying goes.

Have a good Labor Day weekend, cheers,

One Happy and proud SWA employee & pilot

Nah, not buying it Chase. Most of your guys seem like cocky jerks. This whole AT deal could have been treated so much better by showing some respect for your new brethren, instead you used money to try to lure away common decency and QOL, and you got CAUGHT! You could have used the ONLY successful method used so far (joint contract first) but NO!!!! Cocky a-holes! You made a deal with the Devil, and he now lives in Texas. You deserve the carnage YOU created. What goes around comes around.


No soup for you!



OYS

 

[redflyer65]

Excellent post Chase. Really helps explain what a great company SW is.

RF

 

[bri5150]

Chase,

Thank you for taking the time to write that post. Very well thought out and not pretentious at all. I just had this naive thought that everything was rainbows and butterflies at SWA, but I guess there are some at every airline. It's unfortunate that there are some very vocal pilots from SWA on this board that bring down the image of your airline.

I also would have thought there would have been a more positive reaction to the AirTran pilots. "Welcome aboard. This is a great airline and you will be very happy here. Let's get this done so we can grow this thing" was more of what I was expecting than arguing over and over about how good SWA is and how the AirTran guys don't belong.

 

[redflyer65]

(joint contract first)


OYS

Are you really that dense? We (SWAPA) already had a contract....in case you didn't know, this wasn't an ALPA-ALPA merger. But that doesn't fit into to your agenda.

Clueless.

And Godspeed....you'll need it.

RF

 

[On Your Six]

Excellent post Chase. Really helps explain what a great company SW is.

RF

It's great you guys think so much of yourselves. Pssssst. You are paid well to fly old planes to OKC.


Godspeed!


OYS

 

[redflyer65]

It's great you guys think so much of yourselves. Pssssst. You are paid well to fly old planes to OKC.


Godspeed!


OYS

Sorry you seem to be so jealous. I suggest you get over it.

One thing for sure, I and most others will be very glad that you may have to stop posting the same old crap everyday about how AAI needs arbitration. Thank God.

 

[On Your Six]

Are you really that dense? We (SWAPA) already had a contract....in case you didn't know, this wasn't an ALPA-ALPA merger. But that doesn't fit into to your agenda.

Clueless.

And Godspeed....you'll need it.

RF

So did DL I believe, but NWA was brought up to those rates, plus a bit more. That probably helped unify the group before the SLI, which you now will never do. Where were you? Oh yeah, the La Quinta in ELP. Enjoy USair 2.

Talk about clueless. Enjoy that quesadilla at the bar! And my progression at my airline looks great. Yours, mmmm, not so much anymore.


Godspeed!


OYS

 

[On Your Six]

Sorry you seem to be so jealous. I suggest you get over it.

One thing for sure, I and most others will be very glad that you may have to stop posting the same old crap everyday about how AAI needs arbitration. Thank God.

Not jealous at all, just observant. When it is over, you will be posting a lot on how you just got a poop sandwich in arbitration. I can't wait! Popcorn ready.


Godspeed!


OYS

 

[chase]

Texman,

Thanks.

I recently moved into a house where my wife's sister and husband lives on one side; on the other side is a very nice couple with two kids but not related.

I speak to my non-relative neighbors when we cross paths; I agreed to share the cost of building a fence. We talked about drainage issues and found compromises. I don't like the fact their light shines at night occasionally on to my property but I live with it. It violates the HOA rules but I don't want to make a fuss about it; I want good neighbors. They have a dog but has no access to my yard, I'm sure he would like new areas to explore.

My brother-in-law and I share fences and have a gate that allows their dog to run freely from yard to yard. He does his business in my yard at times and my sister-in-law gets mad at the dog but hey, their family so no big deal. If he had a light shining in my yard, he'd shut it down at the first hint of it bothering me. We share tools and freely swap many things (not wives!). We help each other out quite a bit and wouldn't hesitate to make personal sacrifices to make things better for the other.

There are some things I would do for one neighbor that I wouldn't do for the other. Why? Because it is family? Does that make me a bad person?

I wouldn't expect my non-family neighbor to demand of me or even ask me to do for them some things but in most cases I would probably help them; up to the point that it would hurt my own family or family members.

If my non-family neighbors were to somehow by marriage become "family" of course things would change. We all do things for family that we don't do for non-family members.

It isn't because we're bad people or are prideful that "my family" is better than "your family"...it is how things are and probably should be.

The analogy can be shot down I realize; no one asked the AAI pilots if they wanted this marriage.

None of the SWA employees did either.

That being said, I still treat AAI employees like my non-family neighbors (respectfully but with the understanding there are limits)

Don't take the following as a negative ..I will treat AAI employees as equal family members once they have their SWA IDs....not because they have earned it they had no choice in the matter) but because they are now my co-workers and I will go to war for them and with the same vigor I defend my current fellow employees.

I've never been through a merger and never worked at another airline.

I don't know what is deemed "acceptable behavior during a merger is".

I don't buy into having others, particularly those persons who work at airlines who have little positive to say about their own airline to attempt to turn the tables and bash my own airline for behavior that doesn't meet some preconceived idea of "acceptable airline merger behavior".

They can post and rant if they wish but if we don't apologize it isn't because we're arrogant, it is because we simply disagree.

And while there are no doubt posters that are over the top on both sides, I won't apologize for being very prideful but humble for the airline I work for. I don't make apologies for the CEO when he is doing what he thinks is best for the entire company and its culture.

I hope we see the AAI pilots on our seniority list sooner rather than later and with the same attitudes that has made AAI a successful airline. I suspect their professionalism and positive attitude will be displayed more often than cyncism over any dislikes they may have toward the SLI or its process. That is my hope anyway.

sorry for the length....too much free time in the airport waiting for a redeye!!

 

[Juniority]

I think most of the angst and lashing out isn't really "about you" or "against you" Airtran guys in much the same way that most teenagers really don't "wish their parents were dead."

Back in the 80s and early 90s the Southwest guys used to get a lot of hatred from guys in the majors for Deregulation, as if it was Southwest's idea.

It's not the Airtran guys fault but they represent the death of "organic growth." You can feel it happening. First Southwest buys you and then it will be Jet Blue or Alaska. Sure, to the stockholders that's growth but to the Southwest pilot it means forever or never upgrades.

The only other reason for hating on the Airtran guys is having to read/hear "money is temorary, seniority is forever" over, and over, and over, and over, and over....

 

[CaptWidgeon]

Nah, not buying it Chase. Most of your guys seem like cocky jerks. This whole AT deal could have been treated so much better by showing some respect for your new brethren, instead you used money to try to lure away common decency and QOL, and you got CAUGHT! You could have used the ONLY successful method used so far (joint contract first) but NO!!!! Cocky a-holes! You made a deal with the Devil, and he now lives in Texas. You deserve the carnage YOU created. What goes around comes around.


No soup for you!



OYS

#2 Delta

Satisfaction rating: 56/100 Complaints include additional costs for food, beverages and baggage fees. The airline collected more than $952 million in baggage fees from flyers in 2010, almost twice as much as any other airline carrier.
Since acquiring Northwest airlines in 2008, Delta's consumer satisfaction score has plunged. According to ACSI, a big merger in service companies usually have a negative impact on customer services in the short-term, because of organization issues. Delta's rating dropped another 6 points this year.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/most-hated-companies-america-2011-6?op=1#ixzz1Wx79vnSz

the irony of the most vocal group outside of swa and aai guys/gals who aren't even in this round of the game. cuz in the end, what happens to one will affect us all in one way or another, the question is when.

this is of most hated, not most liked. pot, meet kettle.

 

[On Your Six]

Thanks for that, I guess? We are talking about how you treat your brethren, not about pax complaints we can't control while in cockpit. You may try to help yourselves, but you also only have 15 min until your next leg to LIT. Your group's behavior towards the AT group stinks, and your offer was shot down, even with the money offered. Wake up. Your complaints will skyrocket soon, especially in ATL if you don't treat them right.


OYS

 

[chase]

Chase,

Thank you for taking the time to write that post. Very well thought out and not pretentious at all. I just had this naive thought that everything was rainbows and butterflies at SWA, but I guess there are some at every airline. It's unfortunate that there are some very vocal pilots from SWA on this board that bring down the image of your airline.

I also would have thought there would have been a more positive reaction to the AirTran pilots. "Welcome aboard. This is a great airline and you will be very happy here. Let's get this done so we can grow this thing" was more of what I was expecting than arguing over and over about how good SWA is and how the AirTran guys don't belong.

Thks. SWA isn't perfect; only one place is and it ain't an airline but that's another thread completely.

We have our warts; we've let folks through the front door that we all scratch our head and wonder, WTFO!

We disagree with management on a regular basis; headsets, scope, Section 6 negotiations, grievances, punishments...we're no different than other airlines but that shouldn't be a surprise. It is an airline run by people who are human and make mistakes.

And, when they advertised for "Pilot Hiring", some of us believe it really meant "Airline CEO/pilot hiring" even if we were barely off probation or have been here 30 yrs.

It is also naive for the passenger to believe that every landing is going to be a greaser. We've all landed a rough one now and then but that doesn't make all SWA pilots unsafe.

I believe as the dust settles and our pilots interact with AAI pilots and employees, we will find we have more in common than differences. I also believe that the intangibles that are hard for AAI pilots to understand will become a part of the fabric that will make their landing at SWA more comfortable than the approach to landing. It won't be just the 5th and the 20th but the peace of mind they will have that is truly rare in the airline business....priceless.

Many on this forum have befriended AAI pilots they have never met or have only met through FI. Others have continued relationships from past experiences. I know of AAI pilots who have had access to SWA pilot's schedule to see for themselves the ease in how trips can be moved around, traded, efficiencies can be improved, health benefit packages emailed to them showing the "real differences" and much more.

Maybe we haven't been doing cartwheels and shooting firecrackers but lets face it, when we move a lot of cheese, there is a certain level of resistance and natural suspicion, even with the biggest koolaid drinkers.

One last point, you will see a lot of high fiving between former AAI employees and SWA employees when SWA starts kicking Delta's ass in Atlanta:beer: we'll all be toasting GK for leading us to more profits and growth...yea baby!!!

(Couldn't resist sending one toward OYS ....my bet, if you wish to take it OYS is you will wear a "one luv" lanyard for a month if it doesn't go to arbitration and I will wear a Delta lanyard and hat if it does for a month...how about taking that bet dude!! )

 

[On Your Six]

Chase,

Can I wear a "Won LUV" lanyard? Treat those AT pilots nicely, and you may have a chance at competing in ATL, a small chance.

Godspeed!

OYS

 

[Full of LUV]

I think most of the angst and lashing out isn't really "about you" or "against you" Airtran guys in much the same way that most teenagers really don't "wish their parents were dead."

Back in the 80s and early 90s the Southwest guys used to get a lot of hatred from guys in the majors for Deregulation, as if it was Southwest's idea.

It's not the Airtran guys fault but they represent the death of "organic growth." You can feel it happening. First Southwest buys you and then it will be Jet Blue or Alaska. Sure, to the stockholders that's growth but to the Southwest pilot it means forever or never upgrades.

The only other reason for hating on the Airtran guys is having to read/hear "money is temorary, seniority is forever" over, and over, and over, and over, and over....

The reason SWA pilots caught sh##%#t during the 80's and 90's is because they agreed to fly mainline size planes for below mainline salries, NO pension, no retiree medical, and wanting to raise retirement to age 65....