After almost a week of self-imposed exile to take a camping vacation with the family to the Texas Hill Country, I'm back.
I've sat back and read all of the posts here. I want to vomit.
The incorrect facts being slung around here astound me.
First, SWA was third in line to take over ATA assets. We'd all been better off if the AWA deal came through. (They were the second offer. It was way better than Airtran's.) Many believe that SWA was responsible for the failure of that deal. No one really knows. Also heard that Dougie didn't want the B737's and as a result Boeing was the first to pull their financing. Domino effect.
Second, John Denison was the CFO of SWA back in the 1980's. I believe he was instrumental in Gary Kelly's rise. He came into ATA as CEO and reorganized. He built nothing. We pulled out of every city that competed with SWA. After 30+ years of flying to Florida, we pulled completely out. We served MCO, PIE, SRQ, RSW, FLL and MIA. He appointed his successor, Subodh Karnik, ex-DAL, as the new CEO in Dec. of 2006, and retired to a BOD job of ATA. He remains the COB of GAL, and after SK's departure last week is back in charge of ATA's day-to-day ops. Time and time again, we've been told that the "codeshare" and the military flying is our future focus. SK built nothing, failed and was "resigned." Numerous other managers and employees were escorted out, including our COO, Gary Elmer. (Thank God.)
SWA still pulls a lot of strings around here. When ATA Holdings changed names to Global Aero Logistics and bought World Holdings, Herb Kelleher was instrumental in that transaction. This from a retired AF general on the World Holdings BOD.
Third, there are just under 200 pilots on the B737's (12 of them) and a similar number on the B757's (10 of them). Nearly all but he delusional think that the WB's are not part of any deal. No one at ATA is suggesting DOH or any variation of such. Allegeny/Mowhawk and the Bond/McGaskill amendments along with the Nicolli (sp) rendering of the USAir case pretty much have set a standard and precedence. Any relative integration formula won't hurt upgrades much. Which leads me to.....
Fourth. The real hope for SWA to remain profitable is revenue growth. GK has said it over and over the last year or two. He's the reason SWA remains where it is. Not the SWA employees. He's the one with the drive an vision to push for new horizons. He's a leader. Pretty good for a bean-counter. Let's face it. With SWA's high costs, even with the fuel hedges continued success, there isn't much hope for expansion in the "48" to bring significant revenue enhancement. While there is some potential there, and will be growth there, the real money is outside the "48." Grow revenue without great increases in expense. An ATA acquisition does this on the cheap.
Fifth. The "preferential interviews" mentioned above expired in April of 2005. Forty to 50 were interviewed less than a dozen were hired. Many have been hired since then, a couple are in the pool now, but lots more were rejected. On a related note, SWA has been hiring many of our most experienced FA's as supervisors to same. These had the int'l experience to help with the transition to that type of flying.
Sixth. I personally have given up over $250,000 in income since 2004. At tenth year pay, I presently make less than a SWA 2nd year FO who has less than half my experience, and I ain't all that experienced comparatively speaking. SWA employees have been enjoying profit-sharing partially derived from the ATA codeshare. No profit at ATA. The rapid growth at SWA over the last 3-4 years largely has been at MDW, MCO and LAS. These were significant ATA cities. So, you can see that without ATA's competition, if you want to call it that, SWA has prospered, particularly in MDW. The SWA pilots and other employees have already prospered in the deal.
In conclusion. Everyone's sh!t stinks. No one is the superior aviator by virtue of their uniform styles and paychecks. I've sat on many different jumpseats at many different airlines. Flown with many different aviators and every company has a similar amount of morons flying the line every day. This includes but is not limited to ATA and SWA. If we're going to demand and expect
respect for the profession, we
d@mned well better act like it. I've seen more unprofessionalism, as well an ignorance, on this site than I care to think about. It makes me sick.
If this deal should come to pass, ATA brings airplanes, not just pilots. Surprise, but there are many ATA pilots that don't want to work for SWA and may not stick around. So the upgrade time may not be effected very much if at all. It brings tremendous opportunity for all. It brings fear to many others. I've heard such comments from AAL and DAL pilots.
Good luck.
