Southwest trip drop question

[wood pecker]

When pilots say that you can build schedules around commutting or drop portions of trip how easy / hard is that process at SW?

For ex u have to get from ATL to OAK. Is it possile to have / find trips that start out of BHM, or nearby driving places instead of every trip starting out of OAK?

 

[redflyer65]

You might not be able to find too many trips that take you all the way to your destination, but we are allowed to drop any portion of a trip to another pilot.

So if you are trying to go ATL-OAK, you might find something like BHM-PHX, or BHM-LAS. But it's never a given that those legs will be in there, it would be someone trying to drop it.

You can always trade your trips with the company thru a program called ELITT. It's the equivilant of just trading with any open time that they have available.

 

[PCL_128]

Is it possible to just straight drop flying, or do you have to have someone willing to pick it up?

 

[airlinepilot]

You have to trade it on ELITT (against company open trips), or trade it with someone who is looking to trade or you can just put it in give away and someone might pick it up

Is it possible to just straight drop flying, or do you have to have someone willing to pick it up?

 

[slaquer5]

Is it possible to just straight drop flying, or do you have to have someone willing to pick it up?

Yes I drop my whole line every month. Then Pick up when i want to work.

What I do pick up is all at POT ( TIME AND HALF).

I love POT premium open time

 

[Daddy]

Who doesn't love POT?

 

[DonVerita]

Yes I drop my whole line every month. Then Pick up when i want to work.

What I do pick up is all at POT ( TIME AND HALF).

I love POT premium open time

To do what you do, would that mean that someone would have to pick up all those trips you are dropping before you could actually consider them dropped? In other words, you can't just drop them into a big pot and be done with them, can you?

Also, can you explain 2x Junior Available and how it works?

Thanks.

 

[JohnQ]

Yes I drop my whole line every month. Then Pick up when i want to work.

What I do pick up is all at POT ( TIME AND HALF).

I love POT premium open time

Is that a separate pot of time, or do you just submit a request to pick up time, but only if it is available at premium pay?

At DAL for example, there is only one "pot" of open time (though we also have a separate swap board where you can drop, swap, and pick up trips with other pilots). Whether or not there will be premium pay available varies significantly by base and category staffing, which is always a moving target. Some categories may go long stretches without anyone getting a premium pay trip while others would implode if half the pilots out there weren't flying extra due to undermanning--ergo lots of premium pay flying out there.

 

[slaquer5]

I am very poor at writtng so bare with me.

I put my trips in giveaway , where other pilots that a sure thing pick up for the extra flying


I now am off for the month. If i did not pick anything up I would not be getting paid

Our open time closes at 9/1300/1700/ 2100/ then ever hour during the night.


You can bid trips at any base at either POT/ or straight pay.
SWA will give the trip to straight pay bidder first.

I only bid at POT . Right now being summer they are very short and can not get rid of the trips at POT.


There is a lot of money to be made if your willing to spend a little time trading . I like my tme off , but we have fairly junior guys making almost 300 trips a month this summer.

 

[saabcaptain]

Also, can you explain 2x Junior Available and how it works?

Thanks.

2x JA is *involuntary* *day off* flying at double pay. If you pick up POT, it is your choice so 1.5x pay. If you get extended on a day you are already flying it is 1.5x pay. But if you get jetway JA'd at the end of a trip to fly the next day which you are off, it is 2x JA pay.