SWA Interview plans for January

[Swerpipe]

Given the projected 3 classes for January has anyone heard anything or gotten calls for January interviews at SWA. Any HPA students out there with fresh Intel? Chase?

 

[P3 Tweek]

'05 SWA interview calls

Yea Chase! Come on - give it up man. We all need a little Christmas good cheer intel from SWA.


Tweek

PS. I've heard nothing either...hangin there Swerpipe! I've got a hunch that '05 is your year...

 

[chase]

What pressure!!!!

I've heard there will be 3 weeks of interviews in Jan, probably starting around 10 Jan...in the past the numbers have been around 140+ folks per month but I believe that number I believe maybe increasing due to several factors but don't bet the house on it.

More importantly though I believe there will be some important & significant announcements within the next few weeks that will make everyone who is attempting to get to Southwest very happy. I've postulated in the past & heard from others that SWA's leadership has many irons in the fire when it comes to probably increasing our expected growth pattern next year from 12% to something more aggressive.

As the ATA bankruptcy issue finalizes & other items become clearer I think, as Gary Kelly has said in previous webcasts, the initial plans for the next 12-18 months will be spelled out more clearly. Many options have been looked at & many of them have been speculated across the web. Well the new year is here & a play has to be called. I believe the leadership is calling the play & now we're about to execute.

Gary Kelly has said productivity is one of the key ingredients to our future success. One can increase productivity by decreasing employees resulting in fewer folks per airplane...we've done that by attrition & early separation programs. Southwest could fly its airplanes more & we have done that recently with a more productive schedule re-write. Pilots could fly more & reduce the number of new hires...current ratio of pilots to airplanes is 10.6 to 1...the goal is to get that to 10 pilots per airplane but that will take time as current pilots will need to increase their flying from 64 hrs to 70 hrs per pilot.

The last way to make this happen is to add more airplanes...things that have been speculated on here & other places....more airplanes above what have already been announced could increase productivity & still permit new hires. I expect that path to occur shortly as the new year comes around & other carriers (Indy, USAir, UAL, DAL) start to cut back. Again the ramblings are exactly that but if you're thinking you won't be called for an interview for several months down the road at the current rate...well, that could bite you so be careful & be ready.

No official word on # of classes for next year since I think things are still fluid....remember there is a lot of sim availability in the 1Q at Mecca so we'll see what happens. I believe Santa may come early!! good luck to all,

 

[P3 Tweek]

Thanks Chase

Your encouraging words have warmed my heart with a little extra anticipation for our interview opportunities next year. I'll just guess that `Swerpipe' is feeling about as good as I am right now also.

Tweek

 

[BeanFighter]

Groovy Day!

KEEP THE FAITH!!! I just got the call from Kim for a JAN 10 interview!!
Thanks to all for the encouragement and support.

 

[SWA GUY]

That's it!!!! No more rumors until AFTER the merger!!!

HC

 

[RJones]

What merger?

 

[a320drivr]

I applied 10 days ago and got called tonight for a January interview. You can guess who I currently work for and I have no idea what to do. If I was offered a job at some point do I leave where I am now with a seniority level in the top 200?

 

[airbus_jas]

It all depends on where you work now. Tha would make a huge difference.

Where is that? Or should I ask are your A-320 engines GE CFM-56 or the V-2500?

 

[BobbyB]

BEANFIGHTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Your patience is admirable! I am so glad the wait has paid off!