SWA folks and 737 Typed ones who LUV them

[Double Shot]

What happened to your flow through and not wanting to go to SWA. What Changed?

 

[Mr Hat]

Thanks for all the responses, it sounds like either way I go I will get a great education.

I hope I get hired before you. Mr. Hat, you can be my First Officer anytime!

Its a date Dave!

I too am curious about SWA switching to the -700 for training, I'd rather pay the extra money to keep it as close to SWA training as possible, I'm gonna put myself in debt anyway whats a grand more.
THREAD DRIFT:

What happened to your flow through and not wanting to go to SWA. What Changed?

I NEVER said I didn't want to go to SWA. Since I read "Hard Landings" back when I was a Jr New guy on the BE1900 I was very impressed with the SWA story. Being a Jersey guy, I had never heard of SWA before I was in the industry. I originally came to what was then Continental Express with the intent of flowing through to Continental...however As most know CAL has cancelled the FTA. They claim its because they sold the company off but the truth is that there was no reason to do it other than the fact that they wanted us to renegotiate it. For many years I was very narrow minded in that I was planning to Flow over to CAL but the day I was told "If you don't like it (the cancelling of the FTA) you can leave in fact I'll come over and pack your ******* bags for you" by someone very high up at ExpressJet I made up my mind to go to SWA because I knew I'd never be spoken to like that over there. Ive also since been told that "If you don't want to work for what we want to pay you then quit, I'll hire some other poor silly soul off the street to do it for what you make right now"
Who needs that? I want to work for a company that values its employees efforts. I want my pride back quite frankly. I want to help build an airline not simply punch the clock every day.

I've read "Worst to First" and "Nuts"....they are very similar however there is one very big difference.....SWA actually practices what they preach.

Now, just in case your still an Express or a CAL guy, I will mention that I do still believe that a new FTA needs to be negotiated...otherwise the Express list will stagnate big time, the junior CAL pilots won't have any job security and it will stop any in fighting over who flys the Embraer 170's/190's because management will certainly try to pit us against one another.
THREAD DRIFT OVER

Anyhoo, Back to type ratings and dreaming of the greatest airline in the world. And I already have the leather jacket.....

 

[Varmint]

1. K&S has 737-200 and -300 sims as far as I know. Does anyone know what type Higher Power has? I haven't flown steam gauges in about 7 years....I'm a little nervous.

I have been on the RJ for 5 years and had not flown steam either. Took the $500 discount and flew the -200 SIM at K&S (which has a -300 autopilot in it). No problems whatsoever. Great experience. You should not have a problem.
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2. K&S has Examiners on staff...does Higher Power have their own examiners or do the feds come in and do your check rides?

Don't know
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3. Did you feel prepared for your Entrance Exam, Oral, Check Ride in your experience with K&S/HP?

Prepping for your entrance exam is all you...yes, I felt prepared for that. The oral at K&S was done right after groundschool. Mine was moderated by the FAA while the K&S instructor (Mike) asked the questions. No problems and the FAA seemed very happy with the job K&S has been doing, as was I.

Had no problems with any of the K&S instructors. You may have someone who rubs you wrong, it could happen anywhere. The fact is, you will be well prepared prior to your checkride. ALL of the instructors are TOP notch there.

Just FYI...occasionally the PHX cheif pilots visit the K&S classes. This doesn't occur as regularly as the People Dept visiting HPA in DAL, but I think it would if K&S was also located in DAL (as someone else said in another post).

K&S uses SWA procedures and flows while I believe HPA is Boeing procedures. I could be wrong there about HPA though, but that is what I have heard. As far as using a 737-200 vs a 737-700, I wouldn't worry about that unless you have an extra 5 or 10 grand to shell out just to fly the exact series you would in training at SWA. They are the same airplane and use, for the most part, the same procedures with minor limitations and memory item differences for the -200. Good luck and have fun with the training. I used all my vacation last year to do the type and have no regrets..it was a GREAT experience.

 

[Mr Hat]

I just contacted the people at Higher power, I was quite impressed to say the least. Very friendly and asked a whole bunch of questions just to make sure I actually qualified for SWA beforehand. For others who are also interested, I also contacted the Wells Fargo Career education dept that is listed on HP's site under financing. They have a pretty sweet deal with financing and I was able to borrow not only the price of the type but also the money for the hotel (HP doesn't include hotel, K&S does). Basically you tell them how much you need, which is nice being a poor poor ExpressJet pilot. Repayment is defered for 6 months so I have to get hired before that time ends
They actually made it sound fun, I am looking forward to this....imagine that, actually looking forward to training...eeeewwww~
I think I've completly lost it, must be the Canyon Blue!

 

[johnny taliban]

Being a Jersey guy, I had never heard of SWA before I was in the industry

.


SWA does'nt hire wise guys!

 

[CF34-3B1]

You'll have a great time.

You'll also gain a few pounds, there's so much food lying around.

 

[Mr Hat]

GREAT!! Working for ExpressJet, I ain't eaten a thing in months!!

 

[snoopy_1]

HPA graduate here, great school and the best people in the world there.
You should check this out, http://forums.simflight.com/viewtopic.php?t=34045 it's a free 737-200 instrument panel and plane download for Microsoft Flightsim 2004, the instrument panel is identical to the 737-200 and the autopilot and flight director work exactly like the Level C sim.
http://forums.simflight.com/viewtopic.php?t=34045

 

[canyonblue]

Both HP and K&S are great choices. A plus with HP is you could meet up with Chase, and the man is a class act. And I admit I am not.

 

[johnnyV]

Don't waste your time applying anywhere else. If you're a good guy, then you want to work for Southwest. If you don't want to work for Southwest, then you're not a good guy.

Everyone who reads this is either working for Southwest, or they're wishing they were. I hope I get hired before you. Mr. Hat, you can be my First Officer anytime!

What a Jacka$$