Southwest looking to contain costs - article

[Ty Webb]

27, your primary airplane, the 717 was sold to DL, you had 50ish 737s, and you had orders, as did SWA, SWA also had 10 times the number of 737s AT had....the deal netted very few seats....but it did net 1700 FAT...this is not a who was better than who, you came from a smaller airline and the majority of the seats went elsewhere...

Yep. And you're sitting in one of them right now. Happy Oakland.

 

[Tripower455]

It's equally disturbing how much crappier SWA has turned out to be.

Sadly, it's really gotten a lot worse, starting, more or less around the time of the AT purchase. Still better than any other airline job I've had, by a large margin, but IMHO, we're messing it up by the numbers, operationally. It's only a matter of time before it catches up with us.

For those who got to experience the good old days. I'm jealous.

It was a great ride while it lasted.

 

[Nindiri]

The story of my life, always just a little too late to the party.

 

[Tripower455]

The story of my life, always just a little too late to the party.

Some of us still try to keep the "spirit" alive..... but it's getting harder to do every day.

 

[redflyer65]

Their descriptions of life prior to the acquisition jibed with just about every other AT pilot I know or spoke to prior to it. The vast majority of the folks I ran into on the prison bus, in airports, on layovers, as well as several friends who work there felt the same way. I guess I just encountered the minority opinion..........

No you didn't find the minority opinion about AirTran. The bad management, combined with a completely dysfunctional union and low wages and work rules (airport reserve anyone?) had plenty of pilots looking to go elsewhere. But to hear it now, it was the best airline to work for in the industry! Give me a break. There are plenty of good AAI people that should have been at SW to begin with, and there is another faction that would have never even gotten a call for an interview at SW (or any other major for that matter). Not a slam on those good guys at AirTran, but just a comment on the corporate/pilot hiring practices at AirTran over a number of years.

 

[Ty Webb]

Well, they hired you, and a handful of other real doorknobs, too...Get down off your your soapbox before you fall and hurt yourself..

 

[Tripower455]

Well, they hired you, and some other real doorknobs, so it couldn't have been that hard.... Just saying.

LOL... I was thinking the same thing. Not about Redflyer, but our 10% is well represented in the RSW ranks.......

 

[redflyer65]

Well, they hired you, and a handful of other real doorknobs, too...Get down off your your soapbox before you fall and hurt yourself..

Not on a soapbox Ty. And you may be one of the great guys I look forward to flying with, but I know guys that got hired at AirTran after being fired from other 121 carriers and that's a big difference.

 

[madjack]

Ty, your orders won't cover the loss of the 717...350-400 AAI pilots will have global seniority to hold CP at SWA post 1/15, that's 60 aircraft worth of CPs...SWA did not need AAI aircraft orders, we are buying used aircraft and the max...again just how it went down....

 

[Ty Webb]

Not on a soapbox Ty. And you may be one of the great guys I look forward to flying with, but I know guys that got hired at AirTran after being fired from other 121 carriers and that's a big difference.

I appreciate you taking the high road, Red, but I do not personally know anyone here who was fired from another carrier... not to say it didn't happen before 9/11 but I sure doubt it after that.... I upgraded in 2004 and flew with furloughed major pilots, retired milspec and RJ Capts.... plus the rare Corp. Or Frac Capt.