Southwest Wannabe...

[Bake]

I don't get you guys talking furlough etc. I said we are hiring 120 next year.

 

[SWA Bubba]

That doesn't sound fun. On the flip side, all 3 legacies will be retiring about 15,000 pilots total over the next decade. That means rapid movement upward if you get on within the first couple of years of major hiring. There is a one year seat hold on the initial plane you are awarded at DL, and then you are free to bid bigger, or stay on equipment and get senior. Options are good, and I believe many at certain LCCs will be looking at all 3 legacies for something different with less stagnation. Good luck!


Bye Bye---General Lee

Whew! Thank God we have the village idiot to tell us what might be good or bad!

I'm glad Delta "will be hiring soon." Overall, it's a fine company to work for, with one small drawback--there's a slim chance that you might actually have to fly a pairing with General Lee. It's annoying enough on this board, but can you imagine listening to his droning babble nonstop for hours at a time?

Good luck, someday Delta new hires!

Bubba

 

[SWA Bubba]

I won't take your bet because I think a furlough is more probable than hiring but not a certainty. If we end up 300 pilots overstaffed we probably won't furlough. If we end up 600 pilots overstaffed we probably will. I imagine they will use this as leverage either during sec 6 or to try and get contract concessions after sec 6.

Your depressing life must really suck. And I have to add, thank God that YOU'RE not on any negotiating committee!

You always seem pretty certain, and your every freakin' post insists, that Southwest is gonna furlough at "any instant." Then you always have some sort of stupid math that somehow "proves it." Personally, I say you're full of it, so why don't you put up or shut up. Like I said, the bet is a win-win for you. If we furlough like -you- swear will happen, it's money in your pocket. If we hire first like -I- say, then the money you lose in the bet buys you a great deal of peace of mind, not to mention and more seniority on the list. What have you possibly got to lose?

Hell, I'll offer the same bet to anyone on the board: $1,000 that Southwest hires pilots off the street before it furloughs. How about YOU, General Lee? You've got a big mouth--you want a piece of that action?

Bubba

 

[scoreboardII]

All airlines have hired right up to the day they furloughed.

Hiring 1 or 100 next year won't surprise me, and in the overall scheme, not even a blip, it's the 2015-2020 timeframe I'm watching.

 

[Ty Webb]

Scoreboard-

A year ago, I would have thought you were crazy. After becoming more familiarized with the operation, I think you're exactly right, and so do a lot of others. There are too many people doing too little work for too much money . . . too much sense of entitlement, and too little desire to make things happen on-time.

I spoke with a newly-transitioned CSA (Gate Agent) a few weeks ago, who said, "I can't do anything anymore, except book, re-book, and check bags. If I do anything else, or try to help out, another employee will 'write me up' or file a grievance (for helping!). . . . and now they're paying me $27.00/hr, which is crazy for what I'm doing".

AirTran used to pay these folks about half that much, and they used to do the work of a Gate Agent, an Ops Agent, and, at some smaller stations, they also worked the ramp! These people, many of whom had been here for over a decade, were well-trained, and turned in impressive on-time performace.

Once they transition, they are restricted to doing a fraction of what they were trained to do, and paid twice as much . . . . you don;t have to be an MBA to see where this is going.

 

[Wesb737fo]

In BWI, while waiting to do a BDA turn, I walked up to see if the plane was there. Passing the gate I saw a big bag from Potbellies (our crew meals). I asked the gate agent if the sandwiches were our crew meals and she said yes but she wasn't allowed to give them to us because it had to be an ops agent. Having heard this a lot lately, I just smiled and said o.k. A while later our flight attendants walked up and inquired about the same bag of food. The gate agent told them the same thing she told me. One of them laughed in her face and as they walked away I heard them say " how effed up is this operation ...they can't even hand out a sandwich!" I almost fell over.

 

[SWA Bubba]

In BWI, while waiting to do a BDA turn, I walked up to see if the plane was there. Passing the gate I saw a big bag from Potbellies (our crew meals). I asked the gate agent if the sandwiches were our crew meals and she said yes but she wasn't allowed to give them to us because it had to be an ops agent. Having heard this a lot lately, I just smiled and said o.k. A while later our flight attendants walked up and inquired about the same bag of food. The gate agent told them the same thing she told me. One of them laughed in her face and as they walked away I heard them say " how effed up is this operation ...they can't even hand out a sandwich!" I almost fell over.

Who do you work for that gets you crew meals from Potbellies?

Bubba

 

[waveflyer]

Hey air tran peanut gallery- how on earth has SWA ever made a profit???

Maybe, just maybe - you guys have a LOT to learn about the company that bought you- esp since half the full retard mode started with your purchase.
think about that-

you guys haven't done one thing to make this integration go smoothly- so if things are a bit fubar at the moment - maybe you could ask how you're helping the situation instead of pissing about SLI -
Goes for our side too- we're stuck and all out of a job if we don't figure it out

 

[tankerhead]

Wave,

At each station, AT ops(gate availability, dispatch, turns, baggage handling, etc.) were running more or less perfectly well after the purchase. The wheels come off once the operation is handed over to you guys. It is a tangible, depressing phenomenon that has nothing to do with any SLI bellyaching.

The ops agent/gate agent business is absolutely asinine. Folks are getting written up for "helping". Does that sound like everyone pulling in the same direction? Maybe I'll think twice about running that stroller up the stairs next time.

I was ready to guzzle the kool aid, but I'm starting to think that it's the Jim Jones variety.

 

[texman]

Wave,

At each station, AT ops(gate availability, dispatch, turns, baggage handling, etc.) were running more or less perfectly well after the purchase. The wheels come off once the operation is handed over to you guys. It is a tangible, depressing phenomenon that has nothing to do with any SLI bellyaching.

The ops agent/gate agent business is absolutely asinine. Folks are getting written up for "helping". Does that sound like everyone pulling in the same direction? Maybe I'll think twice about running that stroller up the stairs next time.

I was ready to guzzle the kool aid, but I'm starting to think that it's the Jim Jones variety.

I would love to be written up for helping. I would loved to explain this to my chief pilot.

 

[Ty Webb]

Hey air tran peanut gallery- how on earth has SWA ever made a profit???

Maybe, just maybe - you guys have a LOT to learn about the company that bought you- esp since half the full retard mode started with your purchase.
think about that-

you guys haven't done one thing to make this integration go smoothly- so if things are a bit fubar at the moment - maybe you could ask how you're helping the situation instead of pissing about SLI -
Goes for our side too- we're stuck and all out of a job if we don't figure it out

Wave, you have no idea how funny you sound. You are symptomatic of a larger problem.

Being profitable for 40 years doesn't certify every one of your processes as being beyond reproach. In fact, "40 years of profitability" hides a lot of cancers.

When I see rampers doing a slow shuffle, leaving vehicles in the safety zone, or leaving the water system valve open after filling it, what exactly do I need to learn from that?

When I see it takes three Agents to do the work of one, but still not turning an airplane any faster or more efficiently, what do I need to learn from that?

Oh, and when I see guys turning off the autothrottles, instead of de-selecting speed mode (which would retain the low speed protection feature) . . . well, what am I supposed to learn from that?

Speak to me of such things, Oh Master of the Airways, we, the stupid peanut gallery are standing by to learn.

 

[scoreboardII]

Hey air tran peanut gallery- how on earth has SWA ever made a profit???

Maybe, just maybe - you guys have a LOT to learn about the company that bought you- esp since half the full retard mode started with your purchase.
think about that-

you guys haven't done one thing to make this integration go smoothly- so if things are a bit fubar at the moment - maybe you could ask how you're helping the situation instead of pissing about SLI -
Goes for our side too- we're stuck and all out of a job if we don't figure it out

Wave, the issue is nobody on the line is going to be able to do anything close to "figuring it out". We already have it figured out, it sucks, and nobody on high is listening. It's all on managements head.

Holly crap, am I agreeing with Ty again? I don't often agree with Ty, but when I do, I drink Dos Equis.

 

[Saluki Dawg]

Ty is 1000% spot on! We got on the ground in PHX the other day 25 minutes early and sat for 33 minutes waiting on our gate when the one next to it was open. I had to finally stop arguing with Ops after the fourth or fifth exchange because I knew it would be me and not the Ops Agent that would get the see me letter from the CPO. Ultimately they ended up sending us to a different gate, but only after we were late arriving at the gate.

 

[m80drvr]

Disgruntled FAT employees, if you hate SWA so much PLEASE be your own one man protest and leave. Show management and the RSW pilots that this places sucks so bad that you are taking your 150k salary, more days off and ability to live in 8 domiciles across the country and tell them to shove it. Please be a one man protest. It would be appreciated.

 

[humveedriver]

Disgruntled FAT employees, if you hate SWA so much PLEASE be your own one man protest and leave. Show management and the RSW pilots that this places sucks so bad that you are taking your 150k salary, more days off and ability to live in 8 domiciles across the country and tell them to shove it. Please be a one man protest. It would be appreciated.

It's called constructive criticism. Not being disgruntled. The default positions on both sides have already grown stale. SWA is nice enough to offer a program that if your idea saves the company money, you will be recognized. So thinking outside the proverbial box isn't discouraged.