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.