SWA starting its INTERNATIONAL FOOTPRINT

[c9skytrain]

Just pointing out the realities of flying int'l.

 

[737tanker]

What anecdotal evidence from the company do you have that they are on track for int'l by Aug of this year?

How about the fact that all the pilots and F/As are going through international, overwater, and Class II training. Everyone is projected to be trained by Aug.

 

[humveedriver]

How about the fact that all the pilots and F/As are going through international, overwater, and Class II training. Everyone is projected to be trained by Aug.

This thread is way off track. The things you just listed are the easiest low hanging fruit parts of SWA of taking over the intl ops. It will happen. It's at least 12 months out before SWA does their first intl flight. AirTran is going to run 32 A/c operation for mostly intl ops for the next 18 months minimum. Having said all that. Who cares? The next 18 months is all about shutting AT down. That's it. So yeah, I hope they have the worker bees trained so that when they decide to throw the switch, they can actually do it. 18 months is not alot of time.

 

[scoreboardII]

Dude, or should I say negative Nelly, every pilot will be International Trained by Sep this year, every FA will be raft overwater certified Aug this year. Flying down South is not rocket science.

 

[redflyer65]

Would coudln't possibly get ETOPS or WATRS approved down the road, not at Southwest!

Guys it's coming. Like wave said, who really cares what the timeframe is from a pilot prespective. One, two years....does it matter?

 

[Ty Webb]

Dude, or should I say negative Nelly, every pilot will be International Trained by Sep this year, every FA will be raft overwater certified Aug this year. Flying down South is not rocket science.

The laws of aerodynamics don't change going South, but everything else does. :laugh:

Seriously, most of the work that has to be done is Company-wide; sitting through a day of classroom training is the easiest part of it, as I think Humvee mentioned a few pages back.

Your Maintenance Planning will have to be updated, to get the right planes with the right equipment in place for the flights they'll be needed for. They will have to have Maintenance agreements in place for destinations and alternates, and have them approved. Dispatch software will have to be upgraded, as will your reservations system. Dispatchers and Gate Agents will have to be trained on the new procedures, as well . . . There will have to be proving runs, the Check airmen will have to get Route qualified, and finally, the Pilots will have to get route qualified for some destinations . . . in other words, mountains of paperwork still have to be climbed.

You, as a line pilot, actually want this to take a while. The worst thing they could do would be to give you one day of training in recurrent, then pat you on the back, and send you out to figure it out through trial, error, and certificate action (or worse).

It will happen, but 2014 is much more likely than 2013. I guess we'll see.

Regds,
Ty

 

[Ty Webb]

From an article published yesterday in CAPA:

"Southwest is also replacing its reservations system, and expects to complete the first phase, which will support international itineraries, in 2014".

 

[scoreboardII]

Ty, trust us, we don't want to be first in the barrel going South. It doesn't change the fact, this ain't no big thing, specially having the ground AT folks who already do it on payroll.

 

[SKC]

Dispatch is completely ready to roll for intl. Can't blame us.

The only thing we can't currently do is ETOPS.