SWA, Airline of the year

[Kharma Police]

Airline of the year, suck it Trebek and General Lee.


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/southwest-airlines-2015-airline-140500693.html

 

[General Lee]

Airline of the year, suck it Trebek and General Lee.


http://finance.yahoo.com/news/southwest-airlines-2015-airline-140500693.html

I wish your CEO treated you like that..... Looks like you are doin the "suckin." (Especially Red). It's time for you guys to get a better contract, with higher wages, a DC type retirement fund that you don't have to fund first before you get a match, INTL override and higher perdiem, etc. Sounds like the LUV is waning..... And add all of that to LBB and MAF layovers, and I bet tons of your bottom guys are looking to get out and find an airline that will have upward movement due to more retirements and better overall pay packages.

Good luck.



Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[jonjuan]

It appears that Delta is ATW Airline of the year.

http://m.atwonline.com/airline-year-winners

 

[Saluki Dawg]

It appears that Delta is ATW Airline of the year.

http://m.atwonline.com/airline-year-winners

2015 Airline of the Year.

 

[HowardBorden]

It appears that Delta is ATW Airline of the year.

http://m.atwonline.com/airline-year-winners

2015 Airline of the Year.

I found that a bit odd as well that they name the winner for next year this year. I guess it explains why glee is green with envy and ranting like a petulant child. SWA stole his Cracker Jack prize.

 

[redflyer65]

I wish your CEO treated you like that..... Looks like you are doin the "suckin." (Especially Red). It's time for you guys to get a better contract, with higher wages, a DC type retirement fund that you don't have to fund first before you get a match, INTL override and higher perdiem, etc. Sounds like the LUV is waning..... And add all of that to LBB and MAF layovers, and I bet tons of your bottom guys are looking to get out and find an airline that will have upward movement due to more retirements and better overall pay packages.

Good luck.



Bye Bye---General Lee

Hey Genny. I was wondering the other day....how much money did you lose when they flushed your pension in '05? That was 9 years that you accumulated wasn't it?

 

[General Lee]

Hey Genny. I was wondering the other day....how much money did you lose when they flushed your pension in '05? That was 9 years that you accumulated wasn't it?

You obviously don't understand what happened to the DL pilots. Yes, pensions were dumped, but the group was also a "creditor" in the reorganization. When Parker at USAir tried to attempt a buyout while DL was in BK, the other major creditors agreed with DL not to allow it, as long as they got more money for each dollar owed. Instead of 10 cents on the dollar, they may have gotten 50 or more cents, all thanks to Parker. So, since the pilot group was also a major creditor, the DL pilots did pretty well. Even guys out on furlough got big bucks (6 figures), but not all in cash. Most of it filled up previous years 401K limits, and then the rest was in cash and then that part taxed.

So, for people at DL for less than a decade, it wasn't too bad. Some Captains got close to $500K, and some of that was taxed. But, about 1000 guys also retired early, increasing seniority for everyone else, increasing current pay due to moving up earlier in the seniority list, as well as in the eventual merger. Instead of being an MD88 Capt had those 1000 guys stayed, now they are 7ER Capts, making more and increasing their DC fund now.

It was bad to lose the pension, but it looks like it has worked out just fine for most that are still flying for the airline. The FNWA pilots still have a frozen pension, and it looks like it's still being funded, (didn't you say otherwise?). $5 Billion in profits per year will help pay for that.

Good try Red.



Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[jackjack]

Glee, to sum up your point, it's okay to throw some under the bus at the expense of others. I hope ur next gen of pilots treats u so well when the day comes, and it will!

 

[humveedriver]

You obviously don't understand what happened to the DL pilots. Yes, pensions were dumped, but the group was also a "creditor" in the reorganization. When Parker at USAir tried to attempt a buyout while DL was in BK, the other major creditors agreed with DL not to allow it, as long as they got more money for each dollar owed. Instead of 10 cents on the dollar, they may have gotten 50 or more cents, all thanks to Parker. So, since the pilot group was also a major creditor, the DL pilots did pretty well. Even guys out on furlough got big bucks (6 figures), but not all in cash. Most of it filled up previous years 401K limits, and then the rest was in cash and then that part taxed.

So, for people at DL for less than a decade, it wasn't too bad. Some Captains got close to $500K, and some of that was taxed. But, about 1000 guys also retired early, increasing seniority for everyone else, increasing current pay due to moving up earlier in the seniority list, as well as in the eventual merger. Instead of being an MD88 Capt had those 1000 guys stayed, now they are 7ER Capts, making more and increasing their DC fund now.

It was bad to lose the pension, but it looks like it has worked out just fine for most that are still flying for the airline. The FNWA pilots still have a frozen pension, and it looks like it's still being funded, (didn't you say otherwise?). $5 Billion in profits per year will help pay for that.

Good try Red.



Bye Bye---General Lee

I was never sure if you were a pilot or just connected to the industry. This post settles it. No way you would go through that experience and then refer to it as an observer. Not once did you say "we".

 

[General Lee]

Glee, to sum up your point, it's okay to throw some under the bus at the expense of others. I hope ur next gen of pilots treats u so well when the day comes, and it will!

Huh? The guys that could retire early did just that. About 1000 left early with lump sums, actually accelerating the BK. Who was left under the bus? The guys that bailed out got money, and the ones that stayed got money, and then age 65 increased their time allowed to recover the rest. Looks like most got what they wanted. But, you don't want to see that.

And thanks to Consolidation, bag fees, change fees, and now lower gas, that day you talk about is getting farther and farther away. Have a great night.



Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[General Lee]

I was never sure if you were a pilot or just connected to the industry. This post settles it. No way you would go through that experience and then refer to it as an observer. Not once did you say "we".

This is an anonymous board, and I did that for a reason.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[B6Driver]

Please stop feeding the troll everyone.

 

[Flopgut]

Hey Genny. I was wondering the other day....how much money did you lose when they flushed your pension in '05? That was 9 years that you accumulated wasn't it?

Hey Red: The other day, I was thinking about your tag line there and the wages/jockstrap comment. I think it's a flawed context/example to begin with, but that aside, is it in anyway something you could apply to yourself? How about a new hire? How about even a majority of SWA pilots over the years? Truth of the matter, it's not. Not even close. Keep sniffing that jockstrap though. We all know you LUV it

 

[slaquer5]

Hey Genny. I was wondering the other day....how much money did you lose when they flushed your pension in '05? That was 9 years that you accumulated wasn't it?

He lost nothing .

I am confused Red . Do you actually think he is a pilot for DAL.


I am also surprised DAL legal has not gone after him .

 

[redflyer65]

Hey Red: The other day, I was thinking about your tag line there and the wages/jockstrap comment. I think it's a flawed context/example to begin with, but that aside, is it in anyway something you could apply to yourself? How about a new hire? How about even a majority of SWA pilots over the years? Truth of the matter, it's not. Not even close. Keep sniffing that jockstrap though. We all know you LUV it

Hey Flop, here's the deal with Genny (if he were really a DL pilot). He claims to be hired in 1996. So let's see the difference if his friend got hired at SW in 1996. The SW guy would have upgraded in a little over 4 years. So to date, over 13 years as a Captain. Just after the SW guy upgraded, Delta started furloughing. Four years later.....bankruptcy with big losses.

The Delta guy would see nothing but furloughs and losses (up until recently), when that 96 SW hire has been making CA wages almost the entire time will getting rewarded with better profit sharing and huge gains in stock options. Even you can see the massive difference in those two career paths, right Flop?

I agree with Humvee and Slaquer though in the end. Conversations like this with Genny just bring his persona out into the daylight so people can see the absurdity and he still doesn't get it.

 

[slaquer5]

Hey Red: The other day, I was thinking about your tag line there and the wages/jockstrap comment. I think it's a flawed context/example to begin with, but that aside, is it in anyway something you could apply to yourself? How about a new hire? How about even a majority of SWA pilots over the years? Truth of the matter, it's not. Not even close. Keep sniffing that jockstrap though. We all know you LUV it

Flop

Red is correct. I. Have always made a lot more then my buddies at the other Airlines . More days off and more pay .

Now looking forward you do have a valid argument . Even then who can foresee the future .

 

[Flopgut]

Flop

Red is correct. I. Have always made a lot more then my buddies at the other Airlines . More days off and more pay .

Now looking forward you do have a valid argument . Even then who can foresee the future .

I'm glad you do well, and I wouldn't want that to change. I have a problem with the word "always". Any one pilot's career is too temporary to give proper context to "always". The best I think we can do is look at how things have been for the entirety of SWA's existence and compare it to Delta (SWA being shorter). That's a fair methodology IMHO since (as we previously mentioned) we're only halfway thru career. That's a pretty good predictor for any prospective new hire, or for you and I guessing about the rest of our careers. Looking at it like that, you got a small number of SWA guys that started early that hit a home run on stock, and that's the only big difference.

 

[redflyer65]

Along with no bankruptcy. Which in itself was worth millions. Not the fault of legacy pilots, but piss poor management at those carriers. The sad part being those managers went off into the sunset doing quite well.

 

[poor2thecore]

Any SWA guys recommend leaving a legacy like United for SWA? For those reasons... primarily stability? Time off? (Arent you're lines more productive?)

 

[redflyer65]

A lot of variables Poor.

The days off here can be good if that's what's important. Pay can be very lucrative if you're willing to work for it. Both really driven by if you live in base. Less pay and less days off if you elect to commute.

Less retirements than most legacies, but the possibility for more growth than those same airlines. Growth is unknown except the fact we only go to a very limited number of close international destinations and the CEO has talked about 50 new cities over the next few years.

Learned today of hiring approx. 300 for 2015 and an estimate of 600 for 2016.

Also...do you live in base now? How long to upgrade there? Would you rather live in a SW base? What does your family think? Plenty of questions would need to be answered before you made a move like that....in either direction.