SWA question

[airplane wizard]

Is Robert "Hoot" Gibson, the Shuttle Astronaut, still a pilot for SWA? Is he a Capt or FO? Did he get hired as a Capt because of his background? Was he typed in the 737 when hired?

Thanks

Brian

 

[Tejas-Jet]

Is Robert "Hoot" Gibson, the Shuttle Astronaut, still a pilot for SWA? Is he a Capt or FO? Did he get hired as a Capt because of his background? Was he typed in the 737 when hired?

"Hoot" Gibson is indeed still a pilot for SWA. He is a Capt. If he had been hired as a Capt because of his background the company would've had a riot on their hands. Short answer=he was hired as an F/O ....and upgraded in seniority order.

And, remember, ALL SWA pilots must have a 737 type to get hired.

Tejas

 

[mach zero]

Is Robert "Hoot" Gibson, the Shuttle Astronaut, still a pilot for SWA? Is he a Capt or FO? Did he get hired as a Capt because of his background? Was he typed in the 737 when hired?

Thanks

Brian

Ever heard of the seniority system?

 

[Falcon Jet 1]

As of yesterday he is still here, saw him in the pilot lounge.

 

[airplane wizard]

Is he still an FO?

 

[canyonblue]

He is a Captain and he retires in November. Too bad, Hoot is a class act.

 

[SWA/FO]

I think he was hired off the street as a Capt. or in his case hired right off the shuttle to the left seat.

 

[K-Mart]

Ask him some questions on here. Not sure what his username is but I'm sure he frequents this board.:laugh:

 

[swaforme]

There are 3 Shuttle pilots at SWA.

 

[737tanker]

Hoot is a class act.

That is correct. I remember seeing an interview that Hoot did with Dan Rather shortly after he was hired at SWA. Dan asked him why with his experience he wasn't a Capt. Hoot replied that airline flying is different than flying for NASA and he needs to learn airline flying.

 

[SWA/FO]

The SWA/FO flew the shuttle a few times. He was one of their best commanders and the folks at NASA were sad to lose him to SWA, but he had to go chase his dreams. The shuttle pays hourly and getting paid by the TFP format is better. Plus the white/black color of the shuttle is ugly not as pretty as a SWA 737.

 

[airplane wizard]

A 737 must seem like an overloaded c-150 on a hot day in COS after flying the shuttle. Which other Astronauts fly for SWA? Are there any astronauts flying for other airlines? Do you ever show your pax a 20 degree glideslope? Or how about a touch&go at the KSC?

 

[airplane wizard]

Maybe SWA could do a "shuttle look a like " livery on one of their planes

 

[TrumanSparks]

Rumor has that during his interview one of the interviewers kidded him about all of his "glider" time.

 

[ivauir]

ivauir has a lot more glider time that "hoot" and no one asked me about it ... glider pilots feel free to apply to SWA - non discrimination!

 

[Tejas-Jet]

A 737 must seem like an overloaded c-150 on a hot day in COS after flying the shuttle.

MAybe so....but let's remember that a shuttle flight comes once every few years...so it's not like it's an everyday thing. They maintain their currency in the T-38....so I guess it would be no different than any other T-38 pilot making the transition to the B-737

Tejas