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SWA or DAL
- Thread starter ACL65PILOT
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- Watchers 80
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ACL65PILOT
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Bobby Orr 4
Just happy to be here.
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Disregard him. Every airline has their 10% of jahgoffs. He is one of ours. Good luck with the interview at SWA. I would take SWA but I am biased. I have friends at DAL who have been through a lot in the last 6 years but still like their jobs.
You can easily make $55000 first yeat at SWA as well and do part of the flying out of Dallas. Line holder in Dallas as FO is 1 year + 9 months. RSV in Dallas in about 10 months from DOH.
Good luck.
He's just cranky from spending a winter in Detroit.
Last edited:
DrunkIrishman
Cocaine is a helluva drug
- Joined
- Nov 27, 2002
- Posts
- 519
In my humble opinion...
I think you are into the minutia of the choices when your focus should be further away. Making comparisons of these two airlines is quite difficult because they have different missions. SWA flies domestic versus DAL flies both. There is a good reason for this (Government). You will make enough money to retire at either airline as long as you make good financial decisions along the way. A retirement and top pay are ways to augment less than stellar financial planning, so I don't believe they should be used in the go/no-go decision unless your broker is E.F. Nutton.
As far as bases and markets to make a decision...YIKES! I would never make a decision on where to go based on where a US carrier flies today. The only exception to this rule is if you are moving to where the carrier is based. In other words, ATL-DAL and DALLAS-SWA. Any other cities can be changed dramatically in five years time. Moving a corporate headquaters is much more costly in many cases. Of course, this too is not a hard rule.
The seniority issue is the one thing that I believe is overlooked and yet the most important. As you said, you would be in the top 1/3 at DAL but only the middle at SWA at retirement. Seniority is the one thing that you cannot control except when making this exact choice on where to go.
In conclusion, I would choose DAL because of senority and the opportunity to fly both domestically and internationally. The pay and benefits are not great, but I can make good financial decisions on my own to take care of myself.
Good luck
P.S. If you don't intend to take the job at SWA, then I agree you should not waste their time or your future bridge.
I think you are into the minutia of the choices when your focus should be further away. Making comparisons of these two airlines is quite difficult because they have different missions. SWA flies domestic versus DAL flies both. There is a good reason for this (Government). You will make enough money to retire at either airline as long as you make good financial decisions along the way. A retirement and top pay are ways to augment less than stellar financial planning, so I don't believe they should be used in the go/no-go decision unless your broker is E.F. Nutton.
As far as bases and markets to make a decision...YIKES! I would never make a decision on where to go based on where a US carrier flies today. The only exception to this rule is if you are moving to where the carrier is based. In other words, ATL-DAL and DALLAS-SWA. Any other cities can be changed dramatically in five years time. Moving a corporate headquaters is much more costly in many cases. Of course, this too is not a hard rule.
The seniority issue is the one thing that I believe is overlooked and yet the most important. As you said, you would be in the top 1/3 at DAL but only the middle at SWA at retirement. Seniority is the one thing that you cannot control except when making this exact choice on where to go.
In conclusion, I would choose DAL because of senority and the opportunity to fly both domestically and internationally. The pay and benefits are not great, but I can make good financial decisions on my own to take care of myself.
Good luck
P.S. If you don't intend to take the job at SWA, then I agree you should not waste their time or your future bridge.
Pat Fabin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 26, 2005
- Posts
- 252
I've been here at DAL since 2000, furloughed for 3. I've seen the company at its best, its worst, and right now we're somewhere in the middle. I truly believe there is a bright future for our new hires. BUT, a good friend of mine from the regionals is now a Captain at SWA...hired in 1999.
There is no doubt there is a ton of stability at SWA, but nobody can predict the future. You've done your own seniority analysis and I think that's a pretty good excercise in forecasting your future lifestyle. I will retire (God willing) at just under 30 on the seniority list here. If we never buy another jet, I'll be a 777 captain for 8-9 years, and an 767 captain for 10 before that. Sounds similar to where you are at. Heck, even if you decide INTL is not for you, you'll decide that at a young age and can hang out as a super-senior narrowbody captain.
Right now upgrade here is 10 years (NYC MD88). IF we get the mystical growth airplanes we keep hearing about, that will come down a bit. If it doesn't, upgrade will increase to probably 15 years. But if you have a 30+ year career ahead of you, who cares...after a while you'll still be making over 100k, flying your choice of planes, bases, and having a nice life.
I'm junior and really enjoy my life here at Delta. People are fun to fly with, the planes and mx. are great, the operation is generally well-run, etc. BUT, why not take the SWA interview and check them out too... at least when you finally make a decision you can feel like you left no stone uncovered.
Good luck!
There is no doubt there is a ton of stability at SWA, but nobody can predict the future. You've done your own seniority analysis and I think that's a pretty good excercise in forecasting your future lifestyle. I will retire (God willing) at just under 30 on the seniority list here. If we never buy another jet, I'll be a 777 captain for 8-9 years, and an 767 captain for 10 before that. Sounds similar to where you are at. Heck, even if you decide INTL is not for you, you'll decide that at a young age and can hang out as a super-senior narrowbody captain.
Right now upgrade here is 10 years (NYC MD88). IF we get the mystical growth airplanes we keep hearing about, that will come down a bit. If it doesn't, upgrade will increase to probably 15 years. But if you have a 30+ year career ahead of you, who cares...after a while you'll still be making over 100k, flying your choice of planes, bases, and having a nice life.
I'm junior and really enjoy my life here at Delta. People are fun to fly with, the planes and mx. are great, the operation is generally well-run, etc. BUT, why not take the SWA interview and check them out too... at least when you finally make a decision you can feel like you left no stone uncovered.
Good luck!
Look at your avatar and reread this post. There is your answer. Please don't waste an interview slot at SWA if this is how you really feel.
capt. megadeth
Metal Momma!
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2003
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- 2,898
720persecond
Well-known member
- Joined
- Sep 19, 2004
- Posts
- 147
He's brainwashed....he can't help it.
What's up Mega ? How's ONT treating you ?
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