New SWA Pilot Contract?

[nimtz]

BTW,

Does this contract offer any enhancements to retirement? In the long run that's the real advantage of getting on a major airline seniority list. Ironic that most of the koolaid drinkers that find this contract acceptable don't even work for SW. I think the SW guys that have replied are exactly right, don't take the first offer.

 

[NEO]

Shag,
Good points. Could you explain this a little more:

"this offer gives us 7.6 percent raise this year. It gives us a 4% raise next year. We were already going to get 3% this year and 3% next year, in our current contract. So it is really a 3.6% and 1% raise over the next 2 years from what we had."



Are you assuming SWA will not make a profit this year? If they do make a profit, then the pay increase for 03 will actually be anywhere from 4% to 7.6%.


According to the current contract by 03, SWA pilots will see a 6% raise. (3% in 02 and 3% in 03)

The new proposal will give SWA pilots a 15.2% by 03 (7.6% in 02 and 7.6% in 03). Of course the raise in 03 hinges on how profitable SWA is.

That means SWA pilots would see a 9.2% increase over the current contract by 03


That is a little more than your 4.6% increase estimate

I guess it all depends on if you think SWA will be profitable or not.

 

[jball2]

There is a lot more to this than pay rates!

Understand it all so you can make an INFORMED decision!

 

[shagadelic]

Good Points Neo...

However, just being profitable is not enough to justify getting the extra cash. It's profit MARGIN that counts. I'm not a CPA, but did look at it, and realized it would take me quite a while to understand it!!

Yes we will be profitable; will the profit margin be good enough, I don't know. Please note, by the end of this contract offer, the total percentage raises will be the same. The difference is, do we get a bit more cash earlier with a good profit margin, or do we get it later if profit margin sucks. For instance, if profitibility is good, the last two years we get only 4.5 and 1.6 % respectively. Obviously the earlier you get the raise the better, but in 2006 we'll still be lagging industry average and only seeing a 1.6% raise.

If the stock options kick a$$, that will help, but we can't keep growing like we have. In the early 90's we had around 100 planes. Now we have around 360 (not sure exact numbers). So we'd need over 1000 planes to see the same percentage growth over the next 10 years. Can we do it? I doubt it.

I was erring to the lower end of the pay scales to make a point. You are correct, we will see a higher percentage by the end of 03 if we are very profitable. But we will still be VERY far behind industry average. I just got a package from the company today in the mail telling how great this offer is and how we would show great leadership within the employee groups by signing it. That alone makes me HIGHLY suspect. My thought is, they can tell the other employee groups, "See the pilots don't need to be paid industry average, why should you?" In addition, it has been said that the pilots have never turned down a first offer. That alone is bad negotiating...Glad I don't buy a car that way.

We have NO leverage right now. We are going to the company with our hat in hand begging for change. We can open the negotiations correctly September 2003, just over a year away. Why be impatient now and vote in garbage??

The biggest determining factor of whether this passes hinges on the SWAPA BOD vote in June. If they vote thumbs up, or no recommendation, I think it will pass. If they vote thumbs down, it probably won't. I have faith in this board, if they think this is worth it, based on the money, options, and "Super-mediation" language, then I will consider changing my vote. If they give no recommendation, or give it a "NO" recommendation, then I will definitely vote no.