Southwest hiring question

[bgaviator]

I've noticed Southwest having a lot more postings for dispatchers and assistant dispatchers over the last few months....if there's anyone who works at the company with some inside knowledge, is this a trend that's going to keep happening over the next couple of years? Are a lot of people retiring? I'm not in a position to apply now as my wife and I are about to have a baby and are going to stay close to home for at least a year or two, but it's something I'd like to keep in mind once I'm ready to move on. Any information would be appreciated.

 

[SKC]

Attrition is virtually non-existent, so new openings are totally due to growth. Growth right now is thanks to other carriers' reductions in many markets. That can only go so far.

I haven't been here that long but I can't imagine them continuing to hire 20+ per year for long unless the stock gets back to $25+ (quite a few senior guys that would probably sell and retire if that happened).

 

[bcp7]

They have posted for Assistant Dispatcher again today.

 

[SKC]

Yeah the current class had 3 people not show, so the next will likely be larger than planned.

 

[bcp7]

That's baffling to me. I think SWA has to be one of the best dispatch gigs out there right now, a profitable airline with a very nice pay scale, plus travel benefits. IMO, the only comparable jobs would be with UPS or FedEx.

I'd have to stretch the budget a bit to make it until I got to the dx pay, but I would damn sure show up for class.

 

[SKC]

For clarification I believe the company knew about them prior to the start date, so it wasn't like they just skipped out at the last minute.

I won't bad mouth anyone for not taking a job (because there are certainly valid reasons), but make sure you can take the job before accepting an offer. Southwest only allows you to interview/apply for the same position once per year so two or three people that just missed out on offers this time can't even apply for the next class this fall.

[/public service announcement]

 

[bgaviator]

Is this going to be a trend with Southwest to have postings on the outside, or do you believe it will go back to being only insiders that will have access to the opportunities? It's definitely a place I want to consider in another 2 years once I have some more experience and I'm ready to move again....moving 4 times in a 5 year period is no fun.

 

[SKC]

The reason they started taking externals was because they weren't getting as many internals with experience as they used to. In the past you'd have a plethora of internals with past experience, well that kind of dried up. There are plenty of internals with the desire and the want-to, but just lacking experience.

So, I'm guessing they will continue to list openings externally.

 

[knowone]

Whats the starting pay for Southwest Dispatcher? Can you jump right in to dispatching or do you have to be an assistant dispatcher with them first?

 

[bcp7]

I was told at my phone interview that everyone starts at the assistant rate, and you are paid that rate until qualified as a dispatcher AND there is an opening.

According to the WDFF wiki, starting pay is about 34k, that seems about right from my phone interview, but they pay a license premium and "per diem" which gets it up to about 38K equiv to start.

First year dx pay is about 45,5, which I am making at my current employer. But no travel bennies, and there is no pay scale, they say a 3% raise is average. The SW scale improves much faster than that.

Ballpark numbers as I am not sure how old the WDFF wiki numbers are.

 

[SKC]

Yes, you MUST go in as an asst. before you can upgrade to dispatcher, regardless of past experience.

bcp's numbers are pretty close. The "equiv to start" number is a little high but everything else is close.