SWA DB Results

[flyboysgal]

gawrsh!

WORST part is, I can NEVER tell him how popular he is... HE WILL shoot me for hanging out here!

Teach HIM to learn the computer... he he he!
.....never mind, he would probably be over at those OTHER boards....
Thanks gang. I KNEW I liked those pilot types!!!!

 

[OPIE01]

More good words, but not a lot of # crunching. But that is OK.

PTinbound, did you get hired?

I have a Type, had it since June 2000, I got it 18 months early to show SWA I want to work there. I interviewed on 4 Feb and hope to meet a 13 Mar DB. There were 4 or 5 others that day who didn't have type and only applied a month or 2 before me, But I did apply 3 Sept 01 and got caught up in that.

As far as applying before you get the type then getting the type.
2 buddies of mine applied Oct last year, got thier type early Jan 02 at Higher Power. Both Faxed over copies of the Type to SWA the day they got it. One got called the next day for an Interveiw in Feb and the other got a call 2 days later. What they were told was that if you sent an app without a type, your clock starts. If you go get your Type and submit it, then they look at your app as if you had the Type the whole time. So you would move ahead of someone who had a type that applied after you.

Like I said before, I told the Boys at Base X to get the type. But they wanted to see the odds before they spend the Bucks. But I have seen 3 or 4 Jan interviewees without types get hired now. With only a 33% select rate of which at least 4 didn't have the type it is up to them to do the gambling. I wonder how many of the 66% that didn't get hired did or did not have a type rating.

Can anyone please give some #s as to what the 66% percent did or didn't have. Again if the odds are 66-33 whether you have a Type or not, then the only difference would be how long are you willing to wait for to get to the Interview to find out if you make the cut. If the odds are the same for both Typed and Non-typed of getting hired, then they are wondering why get the type if they still have 8 months left before they can get out. And if they get hired they are $8K ahead, and if they don't get hired they are still $8K ahead of the rest of the 66% that didn't make the cut that had thier type.

From what I am hearing from you all, if SWA calls you for an interview, they like what they see on paper, type or no type. If they like you at the interview and you make the cut at the DB, Then the only difference is 1st: the extra wait for the Interview without a type, and 2nd: the extra wait in the Hire pool for a class date as you wait to get your type. And if you aren't one of the fortunate 33%. You will still have to wait for the majical 2 year point to reapply, which would be the same date for someone who did or did not have a type.

Does this clear up the mud water I stirred.

 

[KingAirGuy]

Here's my 7.3 cents on the type rating:

No matter who you are in this post Sept. 11th world, you are absolutely insane to NOT get the type.

I would have to disagree completely. It will make your interview sooner perhaps, but it is in no way an assurance of an offer. Its a crap shoot. I seriously considered paying the money and just getting it. Then reality sank in. Ok SWA for what ever reason didn't select me (I think it may have been the parsley stuck to my front tooth or the toilet paper on my shoe, but who knows?). Now I am a stud with a 737 Type no time in the aircraft and $8000.00 less cash. I can wait the extra 2 or 4 months for an interview, KNOW that I have a job then spend the money. Sorry just too much competition out there to risk that kind of money for me. That's my 10 cents worth (I had 10 cents and not 7.3 cause I haven't bought my type yet! Good luck to all of you. Paperwork to SWA November 2001. No interview yet!

 

[InHot]

KingAirGuy: I'm not so sure

SENIORITY IS EVERYTHING

Write that down and memorize it. If you're going to an airline pilot that will be your mantra.

That, to me is the most more important consideration regarding getting a type for SWA.

I have friends (wihtout types) who submitted apps in Jul and Aug of 2001 and they are still waiting to be called for interviews!

Would you rather get to the movie theatre early and get a good seat, or be the last one in and have to sit behind a post for the movie?

If SWA stops hiring do you want to be the junior FO at OAK for three years?

Bottom line: the type gets your foot in the door quicker and that can make a big difference in the quality of your airline life (or perhaps whether or not you have an airline life). Personal choice I guess.

BTW KingAirgGuy: Are you eligible for VA benefits? That's how I got my type. I think it was $3000.00 out of my pocket.

Good Luck however you choose to do it!

 

[KingAirGuy]

Re: KingAirGuy: I'm not so sure

SENIORITY IS EVERYTHING

BTW KingAirgGuy: Are you eligible for VA benefits? That's how I got my type. I think it was $3000.00 out of my pocket.

Good Luck however you choose to do it!

No GI Bill for me. I was an ultra VEAP who chose end of enlistment pay and stayed 20 and never contributed a dime. So I'm a nothing for help kind of guy.

I know the deal on seniority and still its a crap shoot to me. I'm a bit conserative. If I'm even going to get an offer it will be in the next 2 months. So running out and getting a type right now is just not worth it to me.

 

[vx9.tc]

I was hired without the type in Dec 00, but times are drastically different post 9/11. Another point to consider may be making good impressions on the folks you meet at type rating schools like K&S, Higher Power. IMHO these companies and surely some of the other 737 schools have direct communication with valuable SWA contacts. K&S is owned by a SWA Capt, uses SWA pilots to instruct and uses SWA folks for the check rides. Higher Power has SWA hiring folks visit the class.

Are there any folks out there that benefited as a direct result of being at the type school? For instance, LOR or told to call someone in hiring about an interview.

I wouldn't want to risk the money either, but things just aren't the same as they were a year ago. Maybe someone's personal experience regarding this topic will help others out there who are on the fence (getting or not getting typed).

Good Luck to all,
TC

 

[PTinbound]

I think I'll still stand by the type. One guy mentioned that at 3k a month and the possible 3 months (VERY conservative) difference in a class date, that would be 9 grand and the type would pay for itself. I agree, and I'll see that 9 grand and raise you some.
Let's logic that if you get hired 3 months earlier you will also upgrade three months earlier, and you will be a senior captain topping the pay charts for three more months at the end of your career. In '04, a captain at the 12 year pay scale will make $138.64. Work a day extra and easily credit 100 TFP's (trips for pay, a trip is about 52-54 minutes). That's $13,864 a month for 3 months = $41,592 return on my investment of $2,952 (GI bill paid exactly 60% of the $7380). Not bad. Now let me carry my flawed logic one step farther and make another conservative assumption: After '04, let's say that the pilots agree to a 24 year contract with a 2.9% pay raise every year (sure....). When I get my last pay raise in 2028 before I retire the following year, I'll be making $275.33 an hour. Now, that $2952 I invested in June of 2001 will get me another $82,599 in 2028. Not too bad.

Next: I got my 1000 PIC and applied on Sept 24, 2001 (looks like I picked the wrong week to get 1000 PIC!). As I mentioned, I went out and got the type the previous June, before I had the PIC time and before the attacks. Why? Because I've known since about 1993 that I've wanted to work for the best company in the world. I never even applied at another major. I figured I really wanted to be here, and even if I didn't get it (yes, Opie, I did get the call - I only fear that InHot will be senior to me so he'll have to buy lunch in DAL at least I knew before God and man that I gave it my best. And even if I would have gone into retirement driving a Saab 340 around the great lakes all winter, at least I would always know I could fly a 737.
And Kingair Guy, you mentioned the risk and the competion. My thoughts, especially with the competition now, I sure wouldn't want to risk a 6 million dollar interview without the type. That's a bigger risk in my book. But then again, I'm a little nuts. My peers at my current regional thought I was insane last summer going to get the type in hopes of getting an interview. Most were senior to me, had more time, and had already applied to SWA and all the other majors. Guess what? They are still waiting. I don't personally know of anyone who applied after Sept 11th without the type who has interviewed yet. Those are my 7.3 thoughts.

 

[flyboysgal]

as was pointed out to me

If you have a few chickens the eggs don't have to be all in the same basket. (well, something like that)
The type is a tool to do the job. In this day of paying for all of your own training, there ARE a lot of guys walking around waiting for the interview holding on to the type and never get more than the .5 hour check ride real time. I think it is like Vegas. The high rollers are also the high riskers.
There are a lot of really nice mutual funds the average citizen can invest in until the market improves.

The $3-9,000 for the type is REAL money. If you, the wife, the family you can hit up, the loan you gotta have etc. all have it to sit on, GET IT. If you are doing it because you need a job... get ANY job and get a little flush. There are lost of guys who have gone through the SWA ringer three times... that is 6 years. Bet you could be paying all your bills and out of debt by that time.
Everyone here proves it works both ways. SINCE many (especially military) have been given the 6 months, stall if you have not got it to lose.

AS A SPOUSE..... what could be up to half a years salary going out without a sure fire salary coming in is not going to make anyone happy if all you are doing is counting the weeks before the unemployment runs out. There are a lot of guys here with letters and numbers of types doing what the NEED to do, not necessarily what the WANT to do.

 

[OPIE01]

Actually it is around $4000 out of pocket, with hotel and food and transportation. The VA picked up $4400 of the $7320 to Higher Power and I dished out $4000.

I am glad I did mine 18 months ago so I have recovered from the fork out.

 

[w8n4swa]

KingAirGuy,

Buying your type rating without having the interview scheduled says alot about what type of person you are. Southwest is looking for the Go-Getter types and this will carry alot of weight at your interview....

 

[KingAirGuy]

VA and Voc Rehab

KingAirGuy,

Did you get any VA disability when you retired? I think 20% (I had 30%) is required for Voc Rehab training under VA part 30 benefits. That's how I got my type and VA paid for the whole thing plus a subsistence allowance.

Just got back from the VA yesterday. I'm a lucky 30% winner! I'm waiting for the voc rehab paperwork to appear. That looks like how I'll fund my type if I need one. I'll wait for the call before I use it for the 737. Who knows, they may not even offer me a job, then I suppose I'll get a G-5 type! LOL..

Jim, would you mind PMing me about what you had to do to get them to Voc Rehab you to Higher Power?