Southwest and Airtran

[meanstreak]

The last class has 4 ex-military and 3 civilian. I think they are changing the way they do their hiring. I heard they have been having trouble with some of the new upgrades because most were hired pre-Sept 11 with little or no Captain time and they are busting their upgrades. I heard 7 out of 7 busted recently sending everyone back to FO status for another 6 months. If this scenario is true it would explain why they are over staffed on FO's now. Experience and a great attitude will get you hired, assuming you get a call for an interview. The last I heard was over 7000 application's on file with 90% or higher getting an interview off a recommendation. Good luck!

 

[Swerpipe]

Airtran will not hire 135 folks

I heard an Airtran representative say pretty recently that they will only consider Part 121 PIC turbine or military equivalent but not Part 135 PIC turbine time. It doesn't matter whether it's King Air, Gv, Global Express PIC time they will not even consider you.
It really sucks for Part 135 drivers but it is what it is. In other words if your experience is to wear many hats like ramp agent, flight attendant, flight dispatcher, pilot, customer representative, aircraft janitor while interacting one one one with passengers then Airtran is not interested in you. My recommendation?: if you are a 135 driver go with an airline that is interested in you as a pilot, leader and human being. It will have a much richer and diverse pilot culture. (i.e. SWA, AWA, ATA, JetBlue, etc...)
Ha Ha....

 

[Bugs]

Im 50 years young. ExEAL 84/89,ExSun Country 90/03.
In the pool @ SWA.


BUGS

 

[FLB717]

Meansteak,
I give you an "A" for effort but a "D-" on info. The last class had 3 of 7 Millitary (sounds rather Star Trek) Many FOs have busted the upgrade but it is far from 7 of 7 (more Star Trek). A bust is a 12 mo seatlock as FO. As far as a more diverse background with looking for mostly 121 PIC ok that maybe true to some point but last I checked not many have hired as of late so we can get what we want, may not please all but that is how HR works good or bad. I would think that with some 121 or lot of 135 heavy copr time a good candidate would still get called but you would needed a recomendation from a current AAI driver.

 

[LearLove]

No matter what.....

I'm sure they (Airtran - like most other airlines) hire from a combination of backgrounds. One type may stick out alittle more than another but generally somebody with:

1. Turbine PIC (121 or Mil in Airtrans current case) a hefty amount of it.

2. a type or 2

3. somewhere in the nieghborhood of 5000 plus hours (why this, it shows many seasons (winter/summer) of flying experiance)

4. a clean record

5. 4 year degree

and

6. the coveted internal pilot recommendation

has the best chance of getting a shot at Airtran in this current environment. Now 100% of the selectees may not be this but I bet it comes pretty close.

Remember, guys in the end, it's your quals and who you know that get you in the interview door - It's your attitude and perforamnce in the interview that gets you the job. And in the end the success not only in the interview but in a career doesn't depend on your background or experiance or weather you went to and Ivy school or not - In the end it comes down to the person and nothing else.

P.S. About the 135 thing, I agree it stinks for thoes guys, many have experiance that par with everyone else, but the ball is in Airtrans court and I guess they can make whatever rules they want.

 

[Obi-Wan]

The reason I'm asking is that I am a 1900 Capt now but have the opportunity to go fly a heavier jet Ac as PIC overseas. What I was trying to find out is that pound for pound would the jet PIC be more valuable or the 1900PIC. Afterall the 1900 is a light AC and easy to fly and has very simple systems.

 

[temcgrew]

121 pic or military equivalent?

what the heck is that supposed to mean? If anything is the "equivalent" of 121 wouldn't 135 be closer than military?
The only reason I can see for that is that some military guy is in the hiring department. I don't see any comparison to a military background and an airline.

If I was flying a single engine fighter, single pilot ops, AirTran compares that to Passenger ops in a crew situation. I am only a 135 captain so I don't have what they want!!

 

[flx757]

Obi-Wan,

I would think that turbine PIC time is turbine PIC time. At AirTran, I don't believe they would favor one over the other, and would think the same would be true at SWA.

The only exception I can think of would be jetBlue, in that they have as part of their stated minimums 1000 hours (either PIC or SIC) in aircraft with a MTOW in excess of 20000 lbs.


UEJ500,

I agree wholeheartedly, and have let my strong feelings on this subject be known time and again. Unfortunately, those that are making these decisions feel otherwise.

 

[Torpid]

for what its worth...

Had a SWA jumpseater who recently flew with a training Captain who told him:
1. SWA is going to look heavily at 121 time and
2. they are going to look to see if you have reached the highest flying position at your company.

I know its second hand info but it seems pretty logical to me.

 

[cactuspilot]

At least 4 A&W escapees in the last 2 classes...