Realistically-how long from Private to right seat for Southwest?

[FN FAL]

yea, thats who I currently work for, Fedex as a manager (express). Would love to fly for them, just dont think I can train on the side and still be a manager and go straight into a fedex pilot seat.

Not to change tack, but from what I hear, FedEx likes inside workers.

 

[Going2Baja]

Runninhorn - Go after the Fed-Ex route first! If you have more than a few years with them and a good review this is your goal. Southwest is one heck of a boys club. I had friends at Skywest that went there and they took close to 20 letters of rec to the interview to get in, and they had the type.

The best plan is to stay with business, get your MBA, work your way up in Fed-X, get into the Flt Dept, build time on the side and wait your turn.

As posted earlier, if you go balls out and go Great Lakes, you may look back in a few years, broke, divorced, and still trying to get a better job.

Good luck and keekp your family first!!

Baja.

 

[ultrarunner]

true, but she is the type of person that cant understand that and needs a general time frame. I know I know, but that is just one of her quirks.

I'd say 10 years is realistic. Since you're starting essentially from zero, you're likely 3 to 5 years away from getting a job that would even enable you to build the time SWA requires.

So, you land that job, then build up to the 1000 PIC, etc...

give yourself another 3 to 5 years to do that...

and you're right around 10 years.

Now, while it's "possible" to do it quicker, I'm taking the road that you'll need to build your hours to 'competitive minimums'. NOT published minimums.

And I would expect the competitive pool to remain just that over the years.

Ten years. If it's less, you'll be a hero!

there you go.

 

[budlightyear]

Quit blowing smoke up this guys A$$. Run for your life and don't look back. 13 years from now you could have done so much more with your life then be right seat in a 73, you could be a doctor or a supervisor at mcdonalds. Either way you would be making more money, you would not have to retire at age 60 and the public would think more of you then if you were right seat for an airline in the u.s.

 

[FN FAL]

Quit blowing smoke up this guys A$$. Run for your life and don't look back. 13 years from now you could have done so much more with your life then be right seat in a 73, you could be a doctor or a supervisor at mcdonalds. Either way you would be making more money, you would not have to retire at age 60 and the public would think more of you then if you were right seat for an airline in the u.s.

So this is what it's become, 120k for an education and hope like throwing a dart that you get SWA right seat in 10 years or less...hahahahha. I thought I was insane.

 

[gkrangers]

So this is what it's become, 120k for an education and hope like throwing a dart that you get SWA right seat in 10 years or less...hahahahha. I thought I was insane.

Pathetic right?

Hey, whats your name mean? I saw F.N. F.A.L. on the cover of a manual/book in an Army/Navy store.

 

[Skyboy722]

Runninhorn,
I for one respect and appreciate the fact that you have a goal, but...

Don't be in such a hurry. 3 years or 30, be damn sure to have as much fun as you can along the way. I have been fortunate, and I made it to my dream job, as I'm certain you will, but some of the best times of my life have been getting here. At times along the way I think I was in such a hurry to get that next job I didn't even realize how much fun I was having, returning bottles for ramen and all...

Be sure to keep an open mind along the way. There's lots of different ways to get to where you want to be, instructing is not your only option. (I don't even have a CFI). Make lots of friends and never burn any bridges. Good Luck and HAVE FUN!

 

[joe_pilot]

Pathetic right?

Hey, whats your name mean? I saw F.N. F.A.L. on the cover of a manual/book in an Army/Navy store.

check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FN_FAL

 

[joe_pilot]

I'm not trying to dig on you too hard bra, I know somebody without a degree and minimal times that actually went through the hire process at NWA about 7 years ago. No college, no jet time, some "pic" riding in a B90 King Air and maybe 2,500 total time. His big goof up was the 747 sim ride they gave him...had he told before hand that he was going, I would have told him to get some sim time on the credit card before going. He's a salesman now, filling the soap dispensers on his sales route, taverns, gas stations, stores. He's "harry chapin" flying now.

I think the realistic thing, is to not give the original poster false hope, but not discourage them from following their dream.

To say 3 years is not realistic, though it could be. To say 5 years, is more realistic. Who knows? Like YOU said...your milage could vary.

I'm going to stick with what I said before, if your life long goal is find yourself in the profession of flying aircraft and you find yourself professionally flying aircraft, you're there.

I have several friends at SWA. In fact, one of their long time captains is the reason I struck out for a flying career. We used to work together at a sporting goods store back in the early 1980's. There was a time that I would have tugged on his coat tail for the favor, now I'd just like to hook up with him, grill out and catch up on old times. In fact, I think I might just do that, he was a hell of guy.

Didn't take it bad, I'm definitely not one of those thin-skinned types. Thanks for the clarification, though. Dig the avitar.

Be Cool.

-JP

 

[joe_pilot]

yea, thats who I currently work for, Fedex as a manager (express). Would love to fly for them, just dont think I can train on the side and still be a manager and go straight into a fedex pilot seat.

Probably true. You might look into some sort of extended leave of absence. Considering your reason(s), they might consider it. On the other hand, if you mean it would be a big financial stretch, that's a different story entirely. One that I will share my experiences with if you want.

-JP

 

[FN FAL]

Pathetic right?

Hey, whats your name mean? I saw F.N. F.A.L. on the cover of a manual/book in an Army/Navy store.

It's a Belgian thing, you'd have to hit me in the haid with a crescent wrench to understand...

 

[pilotyip]

Lets see 25,000 new Pvt. pilots per year, SWA hires 500 pilot per year that makes it one chance in 50 that you be successful. Now there are such things as some the 25,000 not finishing through their ATP, some going to work someplace else and not wanting go to SWA. It will have much more to do with your luck and timing than anything to do with your skill, motivation or desire.

 

[MarineGrunt]

Hey, whats your name mean? I saw F.N. F.A.L. on the cover of a manual/book in an Army/Navy store.

FN-FAL

 

[DX Rick]

It depends. Are you Male or Female?
If you're a guy, it can take a while....10-13 yrs like the guys above said.

I know 2 girls who made it in the right seat of a SWA 73 at the age of 24...about 4 yrs after they started their training.

 

[Hawker rider]

I will go out on a limb here with saying this and a lot of people will not like it or will bury their heads in the sand.

If you are a male,26 years or older, married and you will still have to start your flight training, you will NOT make it to a cockpit seat with a major airline. Trying to do so will either cost you your marriage or have you stop short of your goals.

It's a very good thing to be realistic where the future of all the people you love is concerned.

 

[Caveman]

At the risk of drawing the ire of the orange kool-aid club (i prefer Blue myself ), what makes you think SWA will be the place to be in the realistic minimum 7-10 years it will take you to get there? SWA is a fine company to work for, but it wasn't that long ago SWA was considered second tier by most qualified pilots looking for work. DAL, US Air, UAL, CAL and NWA were considered better places to be. How long ago was this? Just prior to 9/11. A good business plan, low wages (by 2001 standards) and luck kept SWA intact. They didn't improve. Everybody else dropped down to below their pay. We can argue all day as to why that happened, but SWA just steadily remained on course while the rest of the industry imploded.

In fact, during the summer of '01 SWAPA was banging the drum for wage parity with UAL and DAL. The 'S' word was being bandied about. All of a sudden 9/11 happens and SWAPA rolls over like a new bride and accepts a 5 or 6 year extension on their old contract. Frankly, that was a good call, especially considering how the industry has been rocked. But SWA and SWAPA were a few months away from a similar situation as the legacy carriers.

My point is that this industry is so fluid and unpredictable as to make any definitive plans beyond a couple of years a waste of effort. I encourage you to go 'balls to the wall' but understand that things change RAPIDLY and in general terms SWA is a fine goal, but realistically just putting yourself in position to be hired by any major airline is probably a smarter move. When you have 5000+ TT and 2000 TPIC if SWA still looks good, go for it. Just keep your options open and have a broader target the farther out you look.

Good luck.

 

[Annie]

SO, I am correct in that I hear you folks saying that: experience and training are accepted and necessary required elements for being the PIC? And, that you all agree these items are expected to be documented legitimately (accurately)? THEN, WHY IN HEAVEN'S NAME, DO YOU NOT EXPECT THE SAME REQUIREMENTS FOR LEADERSHIP ROLES IN OTHER FIELDS? Why do you accept lying on resumes,and short term introductory experiences, as being acceptable qualifications for decision making/leadership" roles in academia, or government?

 

[FN FAL]

At the risk of drawing the ire of the orange kool-aid club (i prefer Blue myself ), what makes you think SWA will be the place to be in the realistic minimum 7-10 years it will take you to get there? SWA is a fine company to work for, but it wasn't that long ago SWA was considered second tier by most qualified pilots looking for work. DAL, US Air, UAL, CAL and NWA were considered better places to be. How long ago was this? Just prior to 9/11. A good business plan, low wages (by 2001 standards) and luck kept SWA intact. They didn't improve. Everybody else dropped down to below their pay. We can argue all day as to why that happened, but SWA just steadily remained on course while the rest of the industry imploded.

In fact, during the summer of '01 SWAPA was banging the drum for wage parity with UAL and DAL. The 'S' word was being bandied about. All of a sudden 9/11 happens and SWAPA rolls over like a new bride and accepts a 5 or 6 year extension on their old contract. Frankly, that was a good call, especially considering how the industry has been rocked. But SWA and SWAPA were a few months away from a similar situation as the legacy carriers.

My point is that this industry is so fluid and unpredictable as to make any definitive plans beyond a couple of years a waste of effort. I encourage you to go 'balls to the wall' but understand that things change RAPIDLY and in general terms SWA is a fine goal, but realistically just putting yourself in position to be hired by any major airline is probably a smarter move. When you have 5000+ TT and 2000 TPIC if SWA still looks good, go for it. Just keep your options open and have a broader target the farther out you look.

Good luck.

Well said.

One other thing to add to that, is that as person matures in this industry, their desires for certain types of employment may change based on opportunities that come thier way.

You can start out aiming for American or Delta and somewhere along the way, find yourself being offered the corporate flight department job of a lifetime. You never know.

A friend of mine flies for a large corporate flight department and that goofball is still airline "curious". He's their Hawker type manager...I'm sure he'd never make up the pay difference at this point in time if he left and went to the airlines.

 

[RUNNINHORN]

Runninhorn - Go after the Fed-Ex route first! If you have more than a few years with them and a good review this is your goal. Southwest is one heck of a boys club. I had friends at Skywest that went there and they took close to 20 letters of rec to the interview to get in, and they had the type.

The best plan is to stay with business, get your MBA, work your way up in Fed-X, get into the Flt Dept, build time on the side and wait your turn.

As posted earlier, if you go balls out and go Great Lakes, you may look back in a few years, broke, divorced, and still trying to get a better job.

Good luck and keekp your family first!!

Baja.

what are some positions in the flight dept? In Memphis?

 

[FR8dognit]

Ok, ok, this is a serious question. If a person was to go balls out training, that already has their private and working on their instrument, "guessing" how long would you say, how many years, could right seat be attained for flying for southwest?

Private 8/31/98
SWA Class 5/10/2006

Did four year degree in the middle of all that.

To achieve your goal just be prepared when opportunities arise. Get the mins and the degree as fast as you can. Hopefully the opportunity will come around.