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SWA information

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burnsst

New member
Joined
Jun 24, 2005
Posts
3
I am a militray guy looking to depart; hopefully to SWA. Can somebody provide me some information about SWA. You help is greatly appreciated!

How long is SWA training? is it in Dallas?

How is your domiscile selected and when do you find out? I understand you don't have to live there but you would be adding days onto your trips.

What domisciles are the hardest to get? What is the seniority order of these bases?

What is a typical trip for a newbee/days work per month? I understand it depends, but what is typical?

How far in advance do you find out your flight schedule? Can it change after it is posted?

How do reserve lines work? Can a junior guy bid for those?


Sorry for these questions and thank you for any help you can provide.

Have a wonderful Day!!
 
Try using the search button. All of your questions have been answered many times. Just do a little work first.
 
Feel the LUV

I am a militray guy looking to depart; hopefully to SWA. Can somebody provide me some information about SWA. You help is greatly appreciated!

How long is SWA training? is it in Dallas?
About 6 weeks. Yes.

How is your domiscile selected and when do you find out? I understand you don't have to live there but you would be adding days onto your trips.

Needs of the company (sound familiar?) gives spots to fill. Your initial trip with a check airman (evalulator) will be a four day and they try to give you the domiicile that you want for that one. Then you get a "hard line" no sitting reserve (alert) for one month. That doomicile will be at what ever is most junior at the time...basically every pilot at the company lists where they want to go. The company then assigns seats (Captain and FO) and Domiciles (OAK PHX MDW DAL HOU BAL MCO) by senority. At first you won't have any senority so you will go where ever is left over when the senior guys pick (OAK BAL are typical, although MDW has grown so fast it is going pretty junior). The point is - you can't count on any domicile initially - but OAK and BAL are good bets. This is USUALLY short lived (I did one month in OAK and have been at my first choice PHX for over two years). Not only are you on the road longer when you commute, you almost always need to get a hotel (at your own expense), because there are very few lines that are "commutable" on both ends and those lines go senior. This gets VERY painful when sitting reserve.

What domisciles are the hardest to get? What is the seniority order of these bases?

This varies from month to month as the company grows at different rates in different domiciles: a typical order is DAL HOU MCO PHX MDW BAL OAK, but this is not etched in stone. Senior to junior.

What is a typical trip for a newbee/days work per month? I understand it depends, but what is typical?


The WORST schedule in the company (IMHO) is a reserve line. These lines get 15 days off, "hard" lines (ones that are trips, not reserve) have more days off than this (usually). Typically you'll have 3 or 4 day blocks of work followed by 3 or 4 days off.

How far in advance do you find out your flight schedule? Can it change after it is posted?


You get it on the 12th unless you get a "blank" line then the 22rd. A blank line is a line made up of the "table scraps" left over from the biding process (due to vacation, military leave etc).
You can change you schedule a lot if you want, otherwise it won't change very often.

How do reserve lines work? Can a junior guy bid for those?

Bid for them or don't, you'll work them. Like I said 15 days off, you live on the beeper for the other 15 or 16 days. Don't make any tee times, because you will work most if not all of these days. You have to be able to get to the airport in 2 hours after they call you. I did it for almost a year. It wasn't so bad, but holding a line is much better.


Sorry for these questions and thank you for any help you can provide.

I hope this helps, I hope I didn't go too basic.

Have a wonderful Day!!

You too!
 
A bit of thread drift here...

I just wanted to point out the interesting difference between a non-SWA guy (TR4A) and a SWA guy (ivauir). Notice that TR4A goes out of his way to be a tool and do nothing to help the poor guy. However, ivauir goes out of his way to be helpful and use some of the golden rule. Classic demonstration of the attitudes that SWA is looking for in the interview. As for me, I'd rather spend a 4-day trip with a guy like ivauir. Thanks for helping ol' burnsst out!
 
Juvat said:
A bit of thread drift here...

I just wanted to point out the interesting difference between a non-SWA guy (TR4A) and a SWA guy (ivauir). Notice that TR4A goes out of his way to be a tool and do nothing to help the poor guy. However, ivauir goes out of his way to be helpful and use some of the golden rule. Classic demonstration of the attitudes that SWA is looking for in the interview. As for me, I'd rather spend a 4-day trip with a guy like ivauir. Thanks for helping ol' burnsst out!

Sorry Juvat, but a little searching will show that TR4A is a SWA Captain.

ivauir did do a nice job.

Cal
 
ivauir,

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. You are helping me make a big upcoming decision. Stay in the military or get out. Do I get the type rating or not. My military commitment is up in 1 year.

I am leaning towards getting the type rating but don't know if I am very competitive. I have about 2400 Total time but only 285 ME Jet PIC time. The rest of my PIC time is in a single engine Turboprop (T-6). I know alot of T-43 guys have gotten hired in the past, and I meet the minimums, but am I competitive?

I have the 4yr degree plus a masters.
2400 TT
1600 PIC turbine (only 285 in ME jet)

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks guys.
 
Burnsst, you either want SWA or you dont. If you question spending the money on a Type (yes it is not cheap), then maybe you shouldn't apply. If you do good luck.
 
burnsst said:
ivauir,

Thanks for taking the time to answer my questions. You are helping me make a big upcoming decision. Stay in the military or get out. Do I get the type rating or not. My military commitment is up in 1 year.

I am leaning towards getting the type rating but don't know if I am very competitive.

Any help is greatly appreciated! Thanks guys.

I've been in your position. Tough call. I got the type and got an interview two months later. Much earlier than my non-type buds. Most of those buds got the type before the interview as well. But they are all behind me now. They say it doesn't matter in the interview if you have a type but I'm willing to bet it matters at the decision board after the interview.

I say get the type if you want to work for SWA in 1 year or in 10 years.
 
GI Bill?

If you're eligible for GI Bill benefits I wouldn't hesitate to get the type rating. At the very least it will be a way to experience some "airline style" training and procedures. It was an eye opener for me with an all military (especially fighters) background. Not that it's so hard - just VERY different. Good experience to broaden you no matter how you slice it. Whether you end up at SWA or not you'll appreciate the training down the road. 2 centavos deposited.:)

hoya
 
burns,

Yes, get the type rating. Otherwise, you can count on NOT getting an interview. It's as simple as that.

You've got the experience, you just need the type.

My friend just got an interview with only 1780 hours!! That's AFTER adjusting .3 for every sortie! He's was an F-16 and T-38 stud though.

My advice, go get the type ONE YEAR before you can separate/retire. They don't want you applying more than one year from being employable. Then, you can put your app online because you'll get an ATP along with your type (assuming by looking at your bio that you don't already have an ATP). This gets you in the "application queue" as quick as possible.

If you want to fly for SWA, then suck up the two weeks of leave and the $7000 and do the type. Hopefully it's a good investment!
Good luck!!
 

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