SWA interviews

[Pig]

From the info/conjecture on here it looks like SWA wil likely start interviewing again in March. There has been talk of a competitive selection process for interviews now. Does anyone (Chase, MLB, Albie) have any info on how this will work yet?

Also, in the past, how many guys did they interview a month? How much notice did you get? Did they do all the interviews for a particuilar group throughout the month or in just a few days? I know it's 6 months before the first interview invitations will go out but I'd like to get a feel for how fast they'll get through the 800 in they typed stack.

 

[AlbieF15]

I am 100% totally out of my element discussing SWA. I know some really nice folks there but have no "ins" as some do.

Chase is the man for gouge...as is Rob "Mozam" Beeks.

Mozam is THE man for SWA preps. Don't know his numbers but plenty on the boards do.

Fly safe, work hard, and good luck.

 

[Swerpipe]

RWB Consulting

Pig,

RWB Consulting
Cave Creek, Arizona
(480)575-9310
Rob "Mozam" Beeks

-March seems to be a conservative date for interviews based on the current info.
-January is probably more likely based on my assumption that once they start bringing folks for classes they will start interviewing. Besides, they will probably sqeeze in a class or two at the end of the year
-This assumes that Southwest will not take action regarding American pulling out of STL and I think the chances of that are zero. Any increase in the number of aircraft to do this will result in more pilots required
-Unless you work for the People Department, it's probably hard to determine where in the 800 apps you will fall in
-Prepare as if the interview would occur in Nov/Dec and you will have nothing to regret in case everything is accelerated...

 

[enigma]

Re: RWB Consulting

Pig,

-This assumes that Southwest will not take action regarding American pulling out of STL and I think the chances of that are zero.

SWerpipe,

I was talking to mid senior Captain today about Lambert. He seems to think that SWA would like to increase STL flying, but also thinks that the ball is in the airports court. If the airport authority attempts to increase airport usage fees in order to offset lost AA fees, he thinks that SWA may even cut STL flights and increase Kansas City flights.

My friend is not management, but he did stay in a Holiday Inn last night, NOT. It was probably a doubletree or better.

regards,
enigma

 

[Swerpipe]

Interesting

I heard something to that effect also. SWA has reduced flights at STL after 9/11 so they may be playing hardball or maybe it is not as attractive as it looks. Still, 200 flights a day less is very significant. Time will tell...

 

[MLBWINGBORN]

Hmm..

I went through STL the other day and talked with a couple of the ground ops folks..They said that they are already noticing an increase in loads there..They thought it was due to the schedule changes AA has already made..

One of the things that makes me wonder about STL and weither or not its really all that attractive is the fact that when the weather is down its pretty much a very busy airport with one runway..
Its the only airport we currently serve that you have to call ahead for a release every time you go there..Its been my personal experience of having delays going into or out of STL about 50% of the time..Thats not SWAs style to be heavly envolved in an airport thats so delay prone..I could be wrong though..

A 200 flight per day reduction out of one city is HUGE..You have to ask yourself how this is possible..If the airport was already way over capacity then it really isnt that big of a deal..

Herb has said that STL is very attractive...The question is how so?

I guess if we picked up service that we know we can make profitable and leave the rest alone then more power to us..If we have to cut some deal with the airport for landing fees or a certain amount of flights in order to get the gates we need to make it work..We may well just say no thank you..

If you are going to have several airlines increasing service to equal about 200 flights a day then the conjestion and delays arnt really going to go away..

Thankfully the folks that have to make that decision are alot smarter than me..

If it were me...I would keep out of STL unless we got major concessions from the airport that would make it alot more attractive..

Hold on..The phones ringing..Maybe its Herb calling..I think he wants to know what i think of STL..

Well.....OK...But it could happen..Maybe...

Mike

 

[Pig]

Thansks for the replies. I was hoping for earlier interviews but wanted to refrain from being too optimistic. Do the earlier classes and interviews depend on STL expansion beyond that currently planned, requiring more planes then currently on order though? If so, can SWA get them? Or can they increase the utilization of the ones they have/delay retirements?

 

[737dude]

Heard at the Kool-Aid stand

Here's a very educated estimate of what's gonna happen-in the beginning of '04. This info has been substantiated by three different Chief pilots and by mine and other pilots' observations.
Age 60 retirements--143--add to that any early or med, retirements; but to be conservative stick with the knowns.
A/C deliveries: 42
-200 retirements 17--takes the total number of -200s left at the end of '04 to 4 (21 left at the end of '03)
net 25 blurple -700s with winglets!!
each A/C equals 10.67 pilots=267 dudes/dudettes

Total at this point needed is 410. !!!!!MINIMUM!!!!

Classes to start 5 Jan and should run 20 folks thru every two weeks.
Approx. 21 classes takes it until the end of Sept.

--Boeing is rumored to be slashing prices to SWA on all the deferrals from AA, DAL, UAL, and CAL. (Like 50 additional fire sale -700s.) Only time will tell if Gary Kelly can swing the deal.
--Training center was asked for max output numbers for next year. The company needed to know if 1000 was possible--training center said no unless we start in Oct. With a Jan. start then 800 is the number. Again the rumors are flying about.

2005 and '06 looking at 500+ each year.

Unverified number in pool--212. Don't know the number that have hung their spurs in another's pilot lounge or decided to stay with Uncle Sam for a while longer. So there will be at least 200 people from new interviews needed fairly quickly--ie by May. It takes a good 5-6 weeks to run all the paper work under the old system.

Old system?? That means there must be a new system....The Company is looking into creating an all electronic data base to free up some of the labor intensive duties that the old system required. Don't have the specs yet--they may have all those currently in the interview pool resubmit to get the data base up to speed and current--preference will probably be given to the old heads that were just on the verge of being called prior to the interviews being stopped. The company is also seriously considering prioritizing who is called first by type vs no type then by experience factors--pic time, recency of experience, etc. No details yet.
They are also planning on speeding the process to the decision committee, and the committee schedule itself. In the past they needed to fly into town not only the interviewers, but also 10 or so Chief Pilots at great expense and time consumption. Estimates in the past said that each interview cost the company around $3000.00 to accomplish. Rumor is that in the future the Chiefs will choose the new hires via a teleconference with each person's info being seen by each Chief via internet. We'll see...

Things it seems are starting to happen in rapid fashion. Look for a new base to be named in the Spring--at least one if not two new cities. Where is anyone's guess.

So to the poolies, enjoy you last hoildays off for a while, and get ready for Dallas. For those waiting for the interview call--get ALL your paperwork in order--don't leave anything to chance--there are too many people in the flying community out of work these days that probably never thought they would be--the stakes have gone up considerably. You basically have one shot at it--take your best one!!! Best of Luck......

 

[Pig]

Well now that's more like the info we all want to hear! I do remember hearing at HPA from the SWA PD reps that they were supposed to be able to handle up to 3 new classes a month on a surge basis with the new sims they bought, although it would cut into upgrade an other training when they did do it. But theoritically possible.

 

[sloopoke1]

737Dude YOU ROCK!!!! I think I speak for all us poolies, this is very good news especially as we are all hoping for some classes this year. I am at the bottom of the pool, and hoping for a GREEN BEER in DALLAS on ST Pats day. Hopefully others will get the ultimate X-mas gift from LL.

 

[tmstewar2]

SWA Interview Schedule

SWA "old" interview schedule was 3 weeks out of the month - 4 days a week with 6 interviews per team with 2 -3 teams per day. So if you do the math: They could handle up to 215 interviews in a month. Take into account last minute reschedules, no-shows, etc. They probably only saw 150 a month.

 

[Pig]

Does anyone know if Rob beeks has been activated and deployed? I've written him an e-mail but he hasn't returned to me yet after 2 weeks. He's been good about getting back to me in the past but now this time.

 

[SWAnnabee]

Competitive Interview

The company is also seriously considering prioritizing who is called first by type vs no type then by experience factors--pic time, recency of experience, etc. No details yet.

What would be considered "competitive" as far as PIC, PIC Turbine, TT, etc. If they go to a competitive system then, does that mean that a guy who gets his app in early, with the type, but barely meets the minimums will constantly be getting passed over for interview by others with more hours who apply later. I always thought that SWA put a little more emphasis on fairness to those wanting to interview. This was one of the things that set them apart from others in this business. Any thoughts on this?

 

[Snoopy58]

boz,

In the absence of all empirical data for the "new" system and the lack of a People Department rep who posts here, I'm afraid we're all speculating. That said, I'll offer my personal speculations:

I don't think SWA sees the 10,000 hour pilot as necessarily "better" than the 3000 hour military guy. More experienced, yes. Not necessarily a "better" fit, though. The guy with a zillion hours at "brand X" may be more entrenched, less trainable, and less adaptable to the SWA mentality than the younger guy coming out of the military. "Hire for attitude, train for skills, and you have 5+ years in the right seat to gain experiencec." (Yeah, sweeping generality there, and plenty of exceptions.) I think the guys with years at Brank X are going to have a hard time with the question, implied if not stated, "so, if you luv Southwest so much, how come you didn't apply here back when you were starting in the airline business? Do you really want to be HERE, or are you only applying here because you need the job?"

While there will be plenty of guys with good answers to that question, I think that the P.D. will also keep a steady flow of 10-year military guys in to the interviews, if for no other reason than the fact that such pilots bring a good balance to the newhire classes and to the pilot force. Them, along with some number of military retirees, and corporate guys, and 135/121 commuters, and some number of ex-121 majors. Strength in diversity, so to speak.

While there may have been times where some carriers decided that they only wanted XYZ type of pilot & everybody else was pretty well chopped liver, I don't think that the P.D. has gone that route at Southwest, and I don't think that that's in the offing.

So, bottom line, the mainstream 10-year military guy with normal career progression & experience will continue to be competitive at SWA, just like he always has been.

Just my personal opinion, but I'll stand by it.

hope that helps,

Snoopy

 

[Falconjet]

Fairness

Fairness isn't necessarily this issue. A company in business to make money flying aircraft around the country is going to hire the best pilolts it can identify, by what ever means they think is the best. If you meet their mins and have the type, apply. Delta's pool used to be first in, best qualified out. Who's to say who is best qualified? The company doing the hiring. Staying the course and getting in early is probably worth something, but it probably won't get you in ahead of more qualified applicants. Keep the faith, and keep building that time.

 

[Snoopy58]

Falconjet,

I agree that "fairness" per se doesn't drive everything in a hiring process. Southwest DOES pride itself on treating people well, including applicants as well as employees, so that will limit the "arbitrary & capricious" application of policies, but the rules are still the rules.

However, my point is that in choosing the best qualified applicants, I'm not sure that the guy with 10,000 hours and 10 years at "Brand X" is more qualified to be a newhire at Southwest than the guy with 3000 hours in military jets. More experience in -121 ops, when it potentially comes with a long history of "at Brand X, we did things like...," doesn't necessarily make for "best candidate." Besides, it would seriously skew the demographics of the pilot force to only hire 45 year old furloughees for the next couple of years!

I'm not suggesting that furloughees, or any other group, will be excluded from the new hiring process; only that mid-career military guys who would've been competitive before will probably continue to be competitive, and that the presence of lots of 10,000 hour -121 furloughees in the applicant pool shouldn't cause military pilots with 3000 hours to lose hope of being hired.

 

[Falconjet]

We are in serious agreement!

Snoop: I hear you and I vehemently agree with you. I was directing my comments to Boz because he seems worried that he will lose his space in line to a better qualified candidate.

Southwest is as fair a company as there is out there and they seem to treat their employees (and perspective employees) as well as any airline, but EVERYBODY is going to say that they always wanted to fly for them, so they have to go by the quals that they deem important, not just who applied first.

Applying first is great, but with the number of qualified pilots out there I don't think they will stick with a first in-first to be interviewed mentality.

We are all just speculating, of course, only the PD folks know how they will fill their interview slots. Most airlines like to have a variety of experience groups in their new hire classes and I'm sure that a reasonable percentage of them will be ex-military pilots.

In the meantime SWannabes should be focusing on getting the type and getting as much quality time that they can, not worrying about whether the process will be fair when it opens up again. The good folks at SW will implement a system that meets their needs and will no doubt be as fair and reasonable as can be.

I wish Boz the best of luck and hope he gets to feel the Luv soon!

 

[SWAnnabee]

Appreciate the responses

Thank for the replies. I WILL keep the press on to join the ranks of LUV. I have made my decision on where I want to be. The wife is behind this all the way too. Hope everyone out there gets to where they want to go.