Next SWA Class Beer Pool!

[tredding@swa]

Love the Spirit...

Keep those guesses comin' in everyone!!!

We may be here a bit longer... but the case of cool ones will help keep our hopes high whilst paddling around the ol' cement pond until Uncle Herb and friends decide they just can't live without us!!!!

Have a great week - keep the positive vibes coming in!!!

Regards - Tred

 

[b747dogg]

hey tredding@swa, ill cover your case if your guess comes true. somebody has to step up and do it! have fun.

 

[tredding@swa]

thankyouverymuch!

Thianks dogg.... mighty fine of you to offer!!! I certainly HOPE that my guess wins!!! Sooner the better for sure!

Have a great day all - Tredd

 

[SentryIP]

Revised WAG

OK...Since the rules say only one date, I'll go for October 24th.

 

[Aplus9]

Class of 4 on the 14th of October 02 for sure.

First full size class on the 6th of Jan 03.


Bass Ale , Please.

 

[pegasus]

March 14th 2003. (is that the ides of march?)

Speckled hen or Bishops' Tipple, thank you

 

[shagadelic]

I hesitate to write this, but think folks want to hear the latest no matter what that may be. Please realize, I have had Chief Pilots tell me to my face "no more cities this year" and two weeks later they announce West Palm Beach. But today in EPT, Tony Dorsch said alot of the military leave guys were coming back from the desert and they were going to try to take the 8 planes next year with no new pilots.

I doubt very seriously they can do this, but our bookings for the 4th quarter are abysmal. I think it all hinges on whether people come back. Some of our tickets, when adjusted for inflation, are the cheapest in our history...(about the same as 8 bucks when we were selling 13 dollar seats). We are basically bribing people to fly. They are stressing to everyone to save money. The department heads are having to rewrite budgets, and cut costs. I may even have to slow down (except for that commuter flight at the end of my trip!!)

He did say long term plans were still on track, but in the short term it doesn't look good. Having said that, I like Feb 11; they'll start getting some bookings for spring and start feeling better about our position, and it will give time for other guys to cut more capacity.

Good luck, and my I be dead wrong!

 

[Slug]

Ouch

That's painful, but very similar to what I heard. Through a 2 friend chain from the HOU Chief Pilot, there could be as few as 1 class for all of 2003. It sucks, and I hope it isn't so, but.....

On another related note....Any of you part time reservists have an additional job at home? And if you do what is it? I'm still looking.


Slug

 

[Coach]

Shag - I think everyone appreciates hearing the latest, but the latest is like a dagger to the heart. I (or should I say my family) am already on the reserve floatation device(read $savings). Don't know if any other poolies floating near the top are really in a catch-22 situation where no one will hire you because you're in the SWA hiring pool and they only want guys who can give guaranteed payback. I can't figure out this "pilots returning from the desert". I mean how many could there possibly be? If they plan to absorb 8 jets worth from the desert returnees isn't that 80+ pilots? Lets see, first it was the never-ending stop loss list, now the infinite pilots in the desert list. And there are over 300 poolies? My first question to Herb and gang, if I ever get to Dallas will be "why did u ever bring so many in the pool and why couldn't you have been upfront with us and told us how many were in the pool?" If I would have known about all these never-ending lists I might have made some different decisions. Oh well, you try to make the best decisions you can with the information available, sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. Upsides are plenty of family time, don't have to go fight another war and the honey-do list is nonexistent; the downside -- no money.

 

[shagadelic]

I'm not sure how many guys are in the desert, but you're right, it's probably not 80. However, the summer before last, we were flying our a$$ off, JA rates were through the roof, etc. etc. They have some degree of latitude with how much they make us fly.

However, we also are having close to 100 retirements next year, so I really think we will have to run classes.

I talked to the EPT instructor, and he confirmed what I had been hearing. There are about 62 instructors now in the schoolhouse. All of them running around doing nothing. So when you say "Why did we hire so many guys" I would say the plan was not for you to sit in the pool for so long. It's obvious they WERE going to bring guys in much faster. But things have changed quite a bit with the traveling public. Or maybe a better way to phrase is that SWA's forecast for the public's travel did not bear out.

We simply need the economy to start chugging along again and we'll grow massively.