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!! )