SWA pool decision

[LiveFreeorDie]

Shootr-

NOTHING in life is certain-

Just make the best desicion for you and your family and DON'T second guess yourself latter. No one can predict the future. My only advise is to look in on your kids each night before you go to sleep. You never know if you'll be around to enjoy them another day. So who gives a Rats A$$ if one guy is more or less junior to you, or if in the end you made the right decision. Just do your best and try to enjoy life while you can. Atleast we still HAVE choices, eh?

Cheers

 

[Gumbydammit]

Good choice, dude...it's not like you'll be losing widebody time down the road or losing money that could be in an A or B fund...

 

[flint4xx]

Fresh from my chief pilot's lips: A minimum of 200 new hires in 2003, starting in January.

 

[RightBettor]

Flint4xx:

Now that's more like it! Let's hope that chief pilot doesn't moonlight as a politician inside the "beltway." We all know what it means when those guys' lips are moving.

Cheers,
RightBettor

 

[Snoopy58]

Shootr,

Good call taking the year with the Reserves. The latest word I heard last trip was that it will take all of '03 and a good part of '04 to bring the current poolies on board. That jives well with the 360 number and the "200 in '03" comment above, also. In the best possible case (i.e. most rapid hiring), not being available until Dec '03 might cost you a couple of classes. In a more middle of the road case, you probably lose nothing. If hiring goes slow, same deal. Reading just the initial post, it looked like a clear answer. If you were 100 higher in the pool, then it would be an entirely different situation.

For those who are interested, the "...and a good part of '04" comment came from an FO whose buddy did pilot interviews; seems the FO I chatted with and his buddy were shooting the breeze with some folks in the People Department and that factoid came up. So, yeah, this is 4th hand info, take it for what it's worth. But I have no reason to doubt its accuracy.

All the best to all the poolies!

Snoopy

 

[Aplus9]

Shootr,

Did you ever call LL? What did she say your options were?

I talked to her a couple of months ago about staying/extending on active duty. Basically, she was clear about the fact that if I decided to take another assignment (2-3 yr committment)....I would have to go through the whole hiring process again (loose spot in pool). This of course assuming that SWA was actively trainning new hires during that time. It had to do with being too much time elapsing between my original board date and my "potential" new availabilty date. They would have to have me start over. One year extension seemed to be no big deal to her, and seemed workable. So it sounds like you would be alright in your situation. LL emphasized the importance of updating the "availabilty date" so that you don't get a call for SWA training and then have to turn it down because you are not available. I guess you only get a chance to turn down one call, then you have to go on the next offer of training; turn that down, and you start the hiring process all over.

Mind you, this is what I interpreted from my phone call. You should call her yourself. Oh by the way, take my unofficial SWA pool position and multiply it by 1.47 (?) and I am number 300 and something in the pool. So, I won't know whether you stay in or get out of the pool. Heck, I can't even see from here.

Aplus9

 

[shootr]

Yes, I did call LL. She was very nice about it and told me the 1 year would be no big deal. I'm currently #151 on our unofficial pool list and she said I wouldn't start until August '03 or later. They're still not sure how long this hiring cycle will even last. She told me I'll keep my position in the pool, they'll call me when they get to my name just in case I can separate from the Navy (it won't count as turning a class down since I'm giving them a new availability date now), and then I'll stay at the top of the list until my availability date comes up which will put me in the very next class.

Good Luck,
shootr

 

[UGApilotDAWG]

shootr-
I am #150 in our pool right in front of you , but like said above, there are a lot more people apparantly swimming in SWA's pool. She told me I was "on the bubble" in 6 months from January so your August estimate is probably pretty accurate. Let's hope we both make it soon!

Les