SWA Poolies

[RedDogC130]

He was a full time CA. At the moment he is a lance but the next phase of the contract (which goes into effect in May) will severely restrict the amount of CA time he can pick up. (This is also going to have an impact on the senior FOs when lancers stop dumping their FO trips)

)

Well at the same time I can't say I feel bad for him...he wants the best of both worlds....pick up CA trips and sit at the top of the VJA list of FOs...

Tough crap...I wish the whole lance program will go away fast. I want my chance of open time...vja...better scheds....maybe he will bid a line that he would not mind flying since he may not want to give it all away anymore... As for the furloughs....I can't see that happening any time soon.....loads are way up march was close to 5% higher than same time last year....we are not hurting for people in the seats...SWA did it right...get rid of the slack in the system so they are ready if and when something needs to be attacked.

We can't be too overmanned when they tried to junior assign me from HOME last week.

 

[MILPILOT17]

Well at the same time I can't say I feel bad for him...he wants the best of both worlds....pick up CA trips and sit at the top of the VJA list of FOs...

Tough crap...I wish the whole lance program will go away fast. I want my chance of open time...vja...better scheds....maybe he will bid a line that he would not mind flying since he may not want to give it all away anymore... As for the furloughs....I can't see that happening any time soon.....loads are way up march was close to 5% higher than same time last year....we are not hurting for people in the seats...SWA did it right...get rid of the slack in the system so they are ready if and when something needs to be attacked.

We can't be too overmanned when they tried to junior assign me from HOME last week.

I've been called at home no less than 10 times in the last three weeks for JA. Just the facts? Furlough, HA!

 

[Tripower455]

Mid level Capt, and they called me at home on Sat for JA. We are not furloughing any time soon.....

 

[jonjuan]

Mid level Capt, and they called me at home on Sat for JA. We are not furloughing any time soon.....

Doesn't mean squat. Just wait....

 

[maxblast72]

The monthly guarantee "truing(?)" ended in February. Someone is giving you old info. Line gaurantees are back to almost normal now. I'm in the camp that does NOT think we will hire here, but I have heard the re-interview scenario floating around in recent weeks. Just curious. And for the record, my understanding is it is not a full interview, but rather just a quick catching up session to make sure the candidates don't have any fresh DUI's, failed check rides, etc...

Just curious, Southwest just announced their March and Q1 traffic numbers and capacity measured in term of ASMs was down 6.4% in Q1 2010 versus Q1 2009. Doesn't that mean everyone is flying a little less than you guys used to?

Does that mean Southwest will have to increase flying (in terms of ASMs) 5 or 6 percent before additional pilots would be required (assuming Southwest management would like to crank back up employee utilization to pre-schedule optimization levels)? Is Gary Kelly still telling Wall St. or employees that Southwest capacity will still be flat for 2010?

 

[ableone]

Well at the same time I can't say I feel bad for him...he wants the best of both worlds....pick up CA trips and sit at the top of the VJA list of FOs...

Tough crap...I wish the whole lance program will go away fast. I want my chance of open time...vja...better scheds....maybe he will bid a line that he would not mind flying since he may not want to give it all away anymore... As for the furloughs....I can't see that happening any time soon.....loads are way up march was close to 5% higher than same time last year....we are not hurting for people in the seats...SWA did it right...get rid of the slack in the system so they are ready if and when something needs to be attacked.

We can't be too overmanned when they tried to junior assign me from HOME last week.

The death of the lance program is going to have a definite impact on the FO corps. The lances will no longer be dumping good FO trips, they will instead be picking them up. This effect will cascade down through the FO ranks. FOs who hate the lance program are short sighted. (Because the downgraded captains will still be lancing until May the FOs have not yet felt the effects of the downgrading. That will soon change.)

His information is that nothing will happen during the summer flying season but as SW has announced they will shrink 3% this year the fall will bring furloughs as the company does not want to pay the true up again.

To clarify he is considering taking an NG position in China, I am the one ( not a WN pilot ) who is considering a bus job. He has run the numbers and there is no way he can make the same money he did last year.

He figures he will need to stay away for 981 days.

 

[SO CAL]

For what it is worth just got back from training and spoke with the girls in the PD and they said that there is a good chance of classes at the end of the year. They are going to be doing the re-interview again to make sure there is no DUI's failed checkrides and that the poolies are current. This information is one week old. Good luck!

 

[Quiet Flight]

My thoughts are in blue.

The death of the lance program is going to have a definite marginal impact on the FO corps. The lances will no longer be dumping good FO trips yes they will. maybe not as many, but they will still drop trips in order to free themselves up for 9 DP's of captain flying, they will instead be picking them up. Uh...what? Why would a capt qual F/O choose to fly all of his trips in the right seat when he still has the ability to fly as many as 9 days in the left seat?? This effect will cascade down through the FO ranks. A little bit, but not that much. I've blocked an avg 90 plus hrs with 15 days off per month for the first 4 months of 2010. All LBB overnights of course. We may not be flying as much but it sure as hell feels like we are...


He figures he will need to stay away for 981 days. He could just retire and stay in China forever.

Good info SOCAL. Hopefully we start growing soon.

 

[DeucesWild]

Have you ever noticed that the best place to work today, is not necessarily the best place to work tomorrow? Hopefully Southwest does not become part of this list.

1) Braniff
2) PanAm
3) Eastern
4) TWA
5) United
6) Southwest

Rise and Fall of the Greats.

 

[Bigoober]

....or you could just start off working at one of the bad places and find out that it didn't get any better after 30 years.

You do have a valid point though, Deuces, and one that I think about every once in awhile.