Southwest Airlines Pilot Open House

[Coool Hand Luke]

Satpak,

You are correct, there are folks without types that have been called....it is obviously causing confusion so disregard all of my previous comments.......they are calling folks with & without types, in the past, present & future....that should settle the masses....was just trying to put out "what I heard" about future calls (June & beyond), not what had been done this month or last 90 days...I've been wrong before & probably will be shown to be this time also....back to other matters.

You can get interviewed and hired without the type. However, you wont be put in the training/IOE pool until you get typed...so it's still on your dime.

 

[filejw]

Chase . One mistake . The original 30 or so from Purdue Airlines had no type. It was a requirement shortly after the start up..

 

["GO AROUND"]

I'm calling in all the favors I can right now to get an interview. No Type. Will try my hardest to get there on the tenth to grip and grin. We'll see

 

[NEDude]

I know the type/no-type thing has been clarified. Just FYI, I interviewed this past week and 4 of the 17 did not have types.

Also heard from several people, both current SWA employees and others, that they are running very low on people with types. Was also told at the interview the pool is running very dry and they want to fill it back up. I spoke with one guy yesterday who got the call to continue in April, and just got the call for a june class date. He said less than three months from interview to class date. Seems to be a big change from the days of six months or longer from interview to class.

One thing a guy from my interview class said was that he was told (I don't know by whom) that guys with the types may not have to wait a year for a second interview because they are running so low on typed applicants. Don't know if it is true or not.

Anyway, I hope this all bodes well for all of us who have interviewed recently. It was a great experience just to interview. Very different interview experience than I have ever experienced, flying job or not. They take very good care of you and make you feel welcome. You feel like for that day, you are a part of the SWA family. It's a nice feeling.

 

[canyonblue]

737 Type...............................................$ 7500.00

New Flight Case......................................$ 150.00

Crash pad..............................................$ 165.00

Actually enjoying being at work...................Priceless

Southwest, official airline of the place that everyone is actually happy to go to fly and makes the Kool-aid Man look like an evil villain.

 

[chase]

Chase . One mistake . The original 30 or so from Purdue Airlines had no type. It was a requirement shortly after the start up..

Filejw,

Thanks for the correction....I was under the impression those individuals had their types since they all had come from a carrier that had been flying the 737....hmmm...thanks for the education and clarification...I'll ask some of the senior folks what their memory banks say...from the looks of your experience level though you probably know some of this history far better than I...we're all fortunate those guys took a chance & moved south to fly with a little 3 airplane outfit....this is a message I received from one of the original Purdue pilots who came to SWA but subsequently left for Delta...a good man and great pilot according to the pilots who knew him at SWA for the 2.5 years he was here...his perspective in his own words in 2004...it was priceless so I held on to it:

Thanks for answering my questions re you in the forum. However, I'm NOT looking for a job at SWA...already had one. I came from Purdue Airlines to SWA in 1971 with the first ever pilots and left in 1973 to go to Delta where I just retired early in Sept/2003. I'd be #1 now that Pratt retired. I saw Pratt & Sprague recently...two of the greatest guys around.
I've followed SWA's fortunes over the years because I've got a real soft spot for the company and all the great people I left there. It was a very hard decision to leave but seemed like the best thing at the time ( it wasn't). Not ONE day of my 30+ years at Delta ever measured up to my days at SWA in terms of the people and common sense of purpose I experienced at SWA. I hope you guys don't lose that as a function of scale and industry circumstances...these are trying times.
Keep posting so I'll know how things are going. I'd hate to be looking for a career position these days...I don't think I could even get a job sweeping out the hangar !!!

These are tough times but all of us at SWAPA owe these gentlemen & our other retirees an awful lot for their hard work. Our best shot at the future & continuing to stay healthy as airline is to give to the next generation of pilots as good an airline as has been given to us. Thanks for reminding me what a great group of guys these early pilots were!!!

 

[filejw]

Chase....Pretty sure Prudue flew DC 9's and I'm not trying to be a wise ass just trying to emphasize to that guy that you folks are not PFT.

 

[chase]

Understand completely....no harm, no foul...the PFT discussion goes on with or without SWA....something about seenig the forest for the trees comes to mind when this topic & SWA comes up...thanks for the clarification though to those casual readers who don't understand the debate (not sure there should be one but oh well...)

 

[scoreboard]

You can get interviewed and hired without the type. However, you wont be put in the training/IOE pool until you get typed...so it's still on your dime.

Which also makes it NOT PFT. If you paid SWA, it would be PFT, whats so hard about seeing the difference?

 

[Tomct]

Question? Would it be better to get the type from H-power or K&S? I want to go to the Best one for the job opportunity! Thanks for the reply's!!
Fly Safe!

 

[chase]

Chase....Pretty sure Prudue flew DC 9's and I'm not trying to be a wise ass just trying to emphasize to that guy that you folks are not PFT.

filejw,

"you da man!!" award winner...taught me something new today...check with one of the original folks (the guy I quoted from above), Purdue Airlines had been flying for 25 years until it went bankrupt in '69....flying DC-9-32s...had other planes previous to that. The pilots chosen (all but 2 from the original Purdue) were provided types by Southwest & this was the norm until '73 when Lamar Muse got tired of having pilots leaving and made the type requirement a part of the application process. It played well for having fully qualified folks already type rated & saved the Company money....a good deal that has lasted through current day. I'll dig some more for other opposing views but thought it merited passing on to you....always learning something new about this place.

 

[Tejas-Jet]

Question? Would it be better to get the type from H-power or K&S? I want to go to the Best one for the job opportunity! Thanks for the reply's!!
Fly Safe!

Doesn't matter....all that matters is that you have "B737" on your certificate. Nobody cares where you got the type, or how you got it....i.e., bought, through another 737 operator or flying T-43's for Uncle Sam.

Tejas

 

[Dennis Miller]

All airlines have a certain requirement for employment. For SWA it would be a 737 Type, for United in the past it was a vagina. The type would probably cost less to acquire.

 

[ReverseSensing]

The type would probably cost less to acquire.

But makes for less interesting cocktail party banter.

 

[canyonblue737]

I too interviewed with out the type. Got the call this week to continue on in the hiring process. Told I have 6 months to get my type, already knew that. They made it sound that the sooner I get it the sooner I will get a class.

When you get a class is based on one of two events with the key event being the one that occurs LATER...

1) Date of interview
2) Date of type rating

For the majority of people hired when they go to class is based on when they interviewed, but for the small minority that still need to get a type you won't be eligable to enter the pool until it is done, something which costs you seniority every single day you don't have it. for someone with a conditional "your hired" from SWA but without the type i recommend you go get it... TOMMOROW.

 

[canyonblue737]

They have called folks recently, but the folks they are "currently" called (I've been told) only have types....again my information is not directly from the PD folks but from what I've heard. Hope I didn't confuse folks,

while your info is usually spot on chase on this one you are wrong. i have had friends interviewing in every single month we have interviewed for the 2/3rds of a year, including this month. they have all confirmed folks interviewing without the type.

what i will agree with 150% is that it is a *incredibly* low number and having a type will likely up your chance at an interview by literally 50 times or more... i also think that they are calling so very few without types because like you said they have a real need to fill classes, remain very selective about who they hire and it is their airline after all.

 

[Tomct]

Thanks Tejas, I am trying to get it scheduled at this moment!!
Fly Safe and I hope to see you out there!

 

[SWA/FO]

it was a vagina. The type would probably cost less to acquire.

Never caught this on HBO? You leaving the good stuff out?

 

[chase]

while your info is usually spot on chase on this one you are wrong. i have had friends interviewing in every single month we have interviewed for the 2/3rds of a year, including this month. they have all confirmed folks interviewing without the type.

what i will agree with 150% is that it is a *incredibly* low number and having a type will likely up your chance at an interview by literally 50 times or more... i also think that they are calling so very few without types because like you said they have a real need to fill classes, remain very selective about who they hire and it is their airline after all.

Folks without types have been called for quite sometime...again as I said several times I was told that "SWA is only 'currently' (very recent decision as in June interviews or possibly those who were being called after xx date for June) calling those with types"....the source was reliable and while there are folks as we both know who have interviewed recently & even this month & maybe even next month (since the calls for those folks went out earlier this month) may have folks with types....the likelihood & the capability to shorten up the time from interview to class date can be greatly shortened by calling just those with types....that appears to be what is happening....is it a big deal & will last long? I doubt it....maybe they have already changed their mind and aren't doing....very likely also....the reality is having a type or not having a type is a discriminator as you said....I wouldn't stop considering SWA if I didn't have a type but would re-think whether it is worth the expenditure to resolve the issue you illustrated...any type of delay in showing up for class, i.e. getting the type after interviewing, can have consequences on the seniority number. Again just what I heard....no way to disprove the statement until one looks back at the months of June or July or longer (doubtful) to see if there were any folks without types who got interviewed...looking at May or earlier won't prove or disprove the rumor.....probably shouldn't have even mentioned since the message has been so blurred to so many....my apolgies.:crying:

 

[Dumb Pilot]

Why do you folks think that I am Bashing in any way shape or form? Maybe PFT has a negative connotation that I didn't mean (Or that I am not aware of), for some reason I think that you folks think Gulfstream or Riddle 350 hour guys when I say PFT. If this offended you all, I'm sorry. I honestly didn't mean it that way.
All I was saying is that to opt for the employment at SWA you have to "invest" at no time I meant any disrespect.
In my particular case, I'm done investing in aviation (Even if the end result would be well worth it, and in this particular case IT IS) therefore I think it is not for me. Or I'm not for SWA rather because even this earlier statement offended one of you guys.
Please accept my apologies. I didn't realize that I was going to be insulted because I feel that after so many years I'm done putting into this joke of a career.

 

[captain caveman]

I have to plug PanAm

I've gotta say, the PanAm 737 type is being offered at a special $5500. You get more sim time than HPA and you do it all on the -200 advanced. It includes breakfast, hotel and autothrottles. 'Best deal out there.

 

[Dangerkitty]

I've gotta say, the PanAm 737 type is being offered at a special $5500. You get more sim time than HPA and you do it all on the -200 advanced. It includes breakfast, hotel and autothrottles. 'Best deal out there.

If you want it HPA has a sim in the -300 at no extra cost.

There is no such thing as a -200 advanced. The -200's are just old. No advancing those dinosaurs. Autothrottles? SWA doesn't even have em, so why would you want em?

 

[YellowLab]

Hey Chase, Had several friends Feb, Mar, and April DB's all hired without the type rating. All regional pilot guys.

Hope this helps.

 

[Benhuntn]

SWA is PFT...now you tell me? I'm submitting my letter of resignation just as soon as I reach 60 or 65. I gotta side with dum-bass on this one. No money or fun work place is worth PFT. By the way I had a horse, led him to the trough but he wouldn't drink.

He's mounted over the barn door now.

 

[chase]

Yellow lab,

I too know of folks without types who have gotten the call....just goes to show there are plenty of folks without types that make the cut once given the chance. Hope they enjoy it at shan-gra-la.

 

[Resume Writer]

They have called folks recently, but the folks they are "currently" called (I've been told) only have types....again my information is not directly from the PD folks but from what I've heard. Hope I didn't confuse folks,

I have had four interview preps in the past few weeks that have not had the type.

 

[Mugs]

If you want it HPA has a sim in the -300 at no extra cost.

There is no such thing as a -200 advanced. The -200's are just old. No advancing those dinosaurs. Autothrottles? SWA doesn't even have em, so why would you want em?

737-200 Basic = JT8-7 (14K thrust) --probably none left in U.S.

737-200 Advanced = JT8-9 (14.5K) or JT8-17 (16K).

The original Frontier had an all 737-200 Advanced fleet. The Basic models were a struggle in DEN, so they really needed the Advanced model. The -17 Advanced model was a nice performer. There may have been -15 engines out there too, but I am not sure who had them. The Basic models were manufactured mostly in the late '60s. The Advanced from the mid 70s to early 80s.

 

[wrobocop]

For those who interviewed and didn't have the type, did they ask you why you don't have it yet? And if so, what was your answer?

 

[Tejas-Jet]

All airlines have a certain requirement for employment. For SWA it would be a 737 Type, for United in the past it was a vagina.

Soooo....what you're telling us is that at one time, UAL had class after class after class after class after class after class...of nothing but women????

Sooooo....how-come I don't see so many of them out at the airports and the hotels?

Tejas

 

[Tejas-Jet]

If you want it HPA has a sim in the -300 at no extra cost.

There is no such thing as a -200 advanced. The -200's are just old. No advancing those dinosaurs. Autothrottles? SWA doesn't even have em, so why would you want em?

Just get the type....doesn't matter if it has A/T, Auto land, V-NAV, or workable autrobrakes.....It's not like anyone is going from type school to SWA New Hire class in the span of a weeks time.

Do it how they want you to at type school....do it how sWA wants you to do it when you get to SWA.....simple

Tejas