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SWA class dates and info..

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MLBWINGBORN

Freedom Fighter
Joined
Nov 27, 2001
Posts
476
Hey guys and gals..

Man..Does it feel a little cold in here or what?Brrrrrr!!

Anyway..For all of you in the pool i want to say hang in there ..Your time is coming soon..I swear...

Heres a little good news/bad news kinda thing so hang with me here..

Per the training dept the manning numbers are being reviewed as we speak..The last time that happened the flood gates opened shortly after the 4thQ numbers were released..

SOMETHING is going to happen after April 18th..Thats when the 1stQ numbers will be released..

The load factor for March was 70.2%..That was better than both Jan and Feb..Every plane i have flown or ridden in the back of has been full..Ive had to use the jump seat on several occasions to get to work..

The new 700 sim will be up and running on June 25th..The second new sim should be up in the first week in Sept..

A captain upgrade class in training had 4 new instructors going thru with the class..We seem to be hiring a ton of instructors..

The May and June classes have been delayed.The next two class dates are April 25th and August 29th..

Note that knowbody has used the word cancled..

Everyone ive talked with has said that this is normal for the company when it looks like the first quarter numbers are going to be close..Things really pick up after the results are released and they did just that after the 4thQ last year..

Now ...after saying all that im going to add that everywhere i look or go in the system there are major improvements being started or are in progress..
In DAL they are making room for growth as we speak in several areas..
Ive been told that we have picked up ALL the planes from the desert and are going to take somewhere around 22 for the year..

So..Again im going to crawl way out on this here thin,shaking,limb all by myself and say to you all that it will be sooner than they say and much sooner than you think..

And besides..Ive got a bet with a good friend in the pool that he will be in class before the end of May..

And with a case of Negro Modelo hanging in the balance of this here bet there is no way im gonna lose..

Be well yall..

Mike
MLBWINGBORN
 
SWA class dates

Mike: Thanks for the inside info/speculation. Sounds about right to me. If they are hiring instructors, and taking delivery of aircraft someone has to fly them. I hope your drinking that beer SOON!! :D

Eric
Swimmer
 
Just talked to PHX Capt and the word on the line is that Reserved are not being used. That means SWA is spending a whole lotta money on people who aren't flying. They are throwing the word "overstaffed" around a whole lot over there. So I hate to say it but... I dont think the 1st QTR #'s have anything to do with it at this point.
I think the news about classes being "postponed" will ring true until they get things manned the way they want 'em. At least that's what I'm basing my plans on for now.
 
Its true that the reserves are not flying in some bases..

SWA does not make a habit of overstaffing without a plan...And yes..They are "overstaffed"..For the moment..

So..Why would they do that in light of the "soft" first Q..?If they were really worried about the numbers they wouldnt have started hiring like the did in Jan and Feb..Save them the expence of six weeks of pay without getting any return per class..

Im guessing that the first Q can be a little "soft" and not have alot of impact on the long range plans for the year..But if the numbers are really close..Saving a little cash by holding off on a couple of classes can be enough to put them over the top..

The second Q is always much stronger and could support growth as a rule in the past..

We will see soon enough i guess..

Mike
 
I read a lot of speculation about this temporary halt in training and the consensus seems to be that smoke and magic is going on behind the scenes and everything is just peachy. Ol' SWA is getting ready to pull another rabbit out of it's hat. Be patient.

I disagree somewhat. It appears to me that SWA simply overestimated the strength and growth of their market share. I do not question their long term or even short term viability but I think they simply guessed wrong about FY 2002. In order to take advantage of growth that didn't quite sustain itself they stocked up on pilots. Now that the numbers are softer than they first predicted there is a corrective effect taking place and hiring will slow to a crawl temporarily.

SWA is definitely the place to be for the long haul. I wouldn't mind being there myself but, alas, I'm nowhere near competitive yet. IMHO, they just blew the short term forecast. I'm not predicting doom and gloom but for now they appear to be overstaffed and it will take some months of slow or nil hiring to correct that. I don't think that there is some grand secret plan going on behind the scenes that will explain this slowdown. They just goofed a little on their expectations for the near term.

The explanation for new sims and new instructors is that those decisons are usually made months in advance and can't be turned off quickly. They will still need them, but not until they correct the staffing miscue.
 
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