Southwest Offers CASH for Pilots to leave!

[jimmykjet]

Why would any leave?

There is no minimum required work month. Work zero and gain five weeks a year. Hmmm figure this out guys...

5 weeks vaca per year with overlap pay =

48 TFP per week x $200 per hour = $9,600

5 weeks = $48,000 per year to not work one day???

5 yrs = $240,000

I'd say they are about $110,000 short!

That does not even include sick time, VJA and training. They could come to work about 12 days a year and easily make over $100,000! And not draw a dollar out of the 401K.

Young guys continue to enhance their careers!!

 

[The Prussian]

Why would any leave?

Three words..."all day Ray"

 

[Dude]

Dave already had his paperwork in and was told to pull it so he could receive the buyout. Unfortunately the company has decided that anyone with previously submitted retirement paperwork would not be eligible for the buyout. Typical BS.

 

[shootr]

1. Why pilots? Because we hired 200 too many because the PD thought we were going to expand...we didn't.

2. Not enough guys take it? We're not overmanned enough for a furlough to make financial sense, if that's what you're getting at. Our lines will be a little lean and there will be less EF/VJA to pick up. Also, you can't compare FO/CA salary for manning problems. If a senior CA leaves, he'll be replaced by a junior CA. The pay differential between a senior and a junior CA at SWA is not that large. Little difference to the company bottom line. The company is not offering early outs as much to save specific salaries, rather it's so we have the right number of pilots.

3. What if too many guys take it and we have to hire? Not gonna happen. IF it did, everybody wins.

4. Age 65? Again, a senior CA is replaced by a junior one. Not that big of a salary difference. A 1 million dollar guy wil get replaced by a 990,000 guy. Now, if a 63 year old calls in sick a great deal more than a 45 year old, that could make a big difference.

Hope this helps,
shootr

PS Already voted No!

 

[PropPiedmont]

If the company was smart they would have included a one time buyout clause in the TA. They could have offerred $300K and got a lot more YES votes to pass the TA.

Of course, they assume it will pass. But, if it doesn't they could have locked it in. Maybe, a new buyout number will come from a renegotiation of the TA, when it hopefully gets rejected.

 

[becket]

I'll say upfront, I'm not trying to flame anyone here, but in the past, at other airlines, a paid early out program preceded furloughs.

I'm NOT saying/wishing any furloughs will actually happen at SWA, I just find this odd...

 

[PropPiedmont]

The last one resulted in zero pilots taking the buyout and zero furloughs.

Hope the zero furlough part stays the same.

 

[Falconjet]

Hey, how about that looming pilot shortage? Thanks again SWAPA, APAAD and ALPA. What a bunch of dumb asses.

FJ

 

[Sandhawk]

Hey, how about that looming pilot shortage? Thanks again SWAPA, APAAD and ALPA. What a bunch of dumb asses.

FJ

I wonder what their stand will be on Age-70 in a few years ???

:smash:

 

[PropPiedmont]

I wonder what their stand will be on Age-70 in a few years ???

:smash:

What do you mean, "...in a few years ???" They're already working on it.

 

[satpak77]

it is interesting to note that this is going into a time frame (2010-2012.....we are basically at 2009.5 right now) where the fuel hedges will be running out, at least at the prices that offered competitive advantage when everybody else was paying 110 a barrel.

 

[jtf]

Are they offering anything other than money- like continued health care until medicare kicks in? A 60 or 61 year old guy could very well spend most of the buyout on family health insurance by the time they are eligible for medicare. The top guys at NetJets don't make anything near what the top guys at WN make, but their buyout is for about twice the money and health care on top of it. I'd think WN could sweeten the deal considerably, save themselves a lot of money down the line, and actually get a reasonable amount of pilots to take it. As it is presented here, I'd have a hard time believing many would take it. At least pilots have been offered something and it may help some enjoy retirement earlier.

 

[Herkdrv]

What do you mean, "...in a few years ???" They're already working on it.

For what its worth SWAPA sent out an email a couple of weeks ago saying they DO NOT support any changes at this time. Of course they might change their minds once the guys get closer to 65 uke:

 

[satpak77]

In my opinion there is a bigger reason behind this and if nobody (well, besides three dudes) takes it, I wonder what is next. Offering "buyouts" to employees is in many cases the pre-furlough phase. Basically SWA has already acknowledged that "we have more bodies than we need". Some posters above have also stated this.

If the buyouts do not work, then what?

 

[TV9Driver]

sooooo.....I won't be getting a class date any time soon?