SWA, Airline of the year

[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.

 

[Flopgut]

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

No dude. You're confused. You're much more likely to be hired at SWA if you've got Alaska on your resume instead of United. It's the whole Pacific NW thing. SWA doesn't mind if you act like you're out of an episode of Portlandia. In fact they LUV it! Plaid wearing sh!thead coffee house misanthropes are more welcome at SWA than you average united type

 

[HowardBorden]

SWA doesn't mind if you act like you're out of an episode of Portlandia. In fact they LUV it! Plaid wearing sh!thead coffee house misanthropes are more welcome at SWA than you average united type

Absolute proof positive that Flopgut is completely delusional about all things Southwest. Stick to analyzing something where you might actually have some insight rather than something that it is quite clear you know nothing about.

 

[Flopgut]

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

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Absolute proof positive that Flopgut is completely delusional about all things Southwest. Stick to analyzing something where you might actually have some insight rather than something that it is quite clear you know nothing about.

Howie look at what this guy is asking here, and in his other thread. He wants to know if screwing over UAL would look better on his SWA app than screwing over Alaska. What a great airline applicant! My post was sort of an exaggeration because I would rather he not screw UAL. We have enough problems. Sorry if the exact comments hit a little too close to home for you

 

[redflyer65]

How do you read such things in his post. You jump to a lot of conclusions easily Flop.

 

[Flopgut]

Read what things into it!? Between the two threads here's what we know: Upgrade not important, Prefers no international flying, DEN or SEA, wants to fly for SWA. Wants to know if screwing UAL or Alaska helps him more. Great guy... Again, where's he want to work? (And Howie thinks I'm disparaging SWA pilot candidates:/)

 

[poor2thecore]

How is that a bad thing? These boards are full of people that left one airline for another. SWA isnt hiring right now, but why turn down a major offer just to wait for your number one choice that may never call? It's not screwing over an airline-- it's having the flexibility (finally) to make important career choices.

 

[Flopgut]

Hey it's all good. Hope you end up where you want to be. You're sitting in a heck of a spot and most guys I know would grab one right now and be real happy. You're immediately interested in moving on, and that's a little weird. If your desire to fly for SWA transcends a 20 year upgrade, and the possibility of a great Alaska or United career, then more power to you. My advice: keep the letters/emails and all that. Pull it out in 30 years and see how you decision went.

 

[HowardBorden]

Howie look at what this guy is asking here, and in his other thread. He wants to know if screwing over UAL would look better on his SWA app than screwing over Alaska. What a great airline applicant! My post was sort of an exaggeration because I would rather he not screw UAL. We have enough problems. Sorry if the exact comments hit a little too close to home for you

I commented on your thought that:

"SWA doesn't mind if you act like you're out of an episode of Portlandia. In fact they LUV it! Plaid wearing sh!thead coffee house misanthropes are more welcome at SWA than you average united type"

That's the reason I directly quoted that portion in my response. It shows how completely off base you are about ALL things Southwest! It points out how completely clueless you are in your beliefs about SWA. Specifically your thought that SWA prefers to hire misanthropes. Do you know the definition of that word? The truth is that a misanthrope is the antithesis of the type of person SWA would prefer to hire, showing how little you understand about the airline.

 

[Flopgut]

Do you know the definition of that word? The truth is that a misanthrope is the antithesis of the type of person SWA would prefer to hire, showing how little you understand about the airline.

Hmmmm. I don't know Howie... I don't think I'm far off really. It's basically someone who doesn't like people, but that's not adverse to having friends, sound right? I think you all do a good job of liking each other. (You also do a good job of capitalizing the word "people") But "people" outside SWA? Not so much. (They're just lowercase p "people") What's "warrior spirit" about? Warrior? Who are you at war with? Gmafb.

A good example of what kind of corporate citizen SWA has been is Houston. Your company's contributions/support/involvement have been near zero and you've used Hobby since day one. Behavior that suggests you are not a company of misanthropes is kind of lacking outside your own small group.

 

[FurloughedAgain]

That's a pretty broad brush, don't you think?