SWA Commute

[Swass]

I was curious if anyone from SWA commutes from Wichita? Is it even possible or just a big waste of time? The reason I ask is that I am stuck here for family reasons and can't move. How about other carriers, can you live where you want if you don't mind the commute? Thanks for the info.

 

[SWAlifter]

There are several SWA pilots living in Wichita. They said the commute to MDW used to be easy (on Airtran, who just discontinued service). Now they drive to MCI, which I guess is 3 hrs away for a 1 hour flight to MDW. They say it's not too bad, since there are about 15 SWA MCI-MDW flights a day.

 

[Hayden]

The short answer is yes. However, it does have its drawbacks. Most commutable lines at Southwest support the AM schedule. This means you must travel the day before which adds an additional day away from home each week. There are a number of ways to travel; it is very easy on Southwest Aircraft due to the availability of one or two jump seats up front. Offline is a little trickier. Commuter Airlines seem to work rather well and usually have seats available. The rules vary from carrier to carrier, so you will need to do a little research. I have commuted the entire time I've been at Southwest, and have never had a problem getting to work, although loads are heavier in the summer and planning becomes more important. One great aspect of commuting at Southwest is the flexibility you have to give away/trade/pickup trips. This allows you to group trips together allowing you to create a schedule with much less travel time. Currently we have a large number of pilots living in Alaska, Hawaii and even a couple living abroad. Hope this helps.

Hayden

 

[learherkjay]

Adding to that question. Do any of you know of SWA guys who commute out of Colorado? What would be the best hub of SWA's to go for if you decided to live in Colorado Springs, and is it "doable" without being gone all month?

 

[sideshow]

How many jumpseaters does SWA take and what are the general procedures?
How hard is it to go from Norfolk VA to Baltimore?
Thanks

 

[SWAlifter]

Both of the above commutes are "doable". I guess in today's market if you're fortunate enough to have a job, you can make the commute work. There are several guys who live in Colorado. Most of them commute to non-stop to Midway or Phoenix out of Denver on Frontier. SWA has a multiple jumpseat agreement with them, which means we will take an unlimited amount of jumpseaters from Frontier, and vice-versa, so long as there are empty seats in the back (hopefully the cockpit JS will open up soon). As a backup, O'Hare is just down the road from MDW.

The commute out of Norfolk to BWI is obviously easy since SWA has 7 non-stops a day between the cities.

As far as the # of JS SWA will take. It's "officially" two offline JS, except for Frontier and America West, which we have multiple JS agreements with (I wish more airlines would have this). Unofficially if we have plenty of seats in the back, well the Captain has a lot of say.

 

[learherkjay]

Thanks for the info, unfortunately Colorado is starting to look like a dead spot for aviation (besides Frontier). Any rumor on whether SWA is looking to go in to CO?

 

[shagadelic]

I commute out of Colorado Springs and it has been relatively easy. I have been driving to Denver (I live on north side of the springs) and taking Frontier or ATA. Out of Chicago, there are several lines which are fully commutable on both ends. In march, I have to be at work by 1630C so I take a 10:45 in the morning which gives me one backup flight. I get back to MDW the third day by 2145 which allows me to catch the ATA 22:21 flight home.

America West has put some 737 service back in to Colorado Springs to Phoenix so I will be going back to Phoenix to try that commute for a while. Phoenix, however, does not have many lines fully commutable because the latest flight home is 2130. They have one or two that's fully commutable, but most lines are partially commutable. But the hotel situation is great, 35 a night at the Best Western. I personally am sick of crash pads in Chicago, so this will be a welcome change.

ATA, Frontier, and America West is hardly like flying off-line. They all are extremely good to us, and once we get back in the cockpit jumpseat (this summer, I've heard is the target), then it will be pretty much the same as flying SWA. Hope that helps.

 

[learherkjay]

shagadelic,
Thanks for the info. To be able to do that commute and not have to burn an extra day sounds like a good deal to me. I take it you have to use the crash pad on the AM line, but still - not bad. Thanks again!

 

[shagadelic]

Lear,
I don't ever fly AM lines...I like to wake up when my body says wake up, not when a clock does!!

The only time I go to the crash pad is when I get to Chicago after the 22:21 ATA flight to Denver has left. I ALWAYS commute up the first day. Same in PHX, I just won't be able to catch the last flight there as often.

Hope that helps.

 

[Alaskaairlines]

I have a friend who is a SWA B737 Capt, he lives a couple miles from where I am at - Wasilla, Alaska.

He also mentioned there is actually a SWA pilot who lives in Homer, Alaska! Can you beleive that? I mean the commute would be something like this:

An Era Twin Otter flight to ANC, then AS down to SEA then AS or WN down to PHX.

What do you guys have to say about that?

 

[SWA GUY]

Well....I'd say he should change bases from PHX to OAK....

 

[Alaskaairlines]

Well he is 3 years from retiring and he spend a lot of time down in PHX, so I guess that works good for him.

 

[Delurry]

International js

I just wounder if somebody has info about international js to europe particularly. Is it a problem to js on delta, united etc.

Thanks