NEO, Bluesuiter, et al. (long post alert)
As others have said, you have a "big problem."
As usual Albie has some great words of advice in his post. I too have a friend in the AF (retirement eligible) who also has to make the same decision. Right now his biggest problem is trying to get the AF to release him from stop loss. But that another story.
Anyway, SWA is the undisputed king in airline success and consistent profitability. If we all had been lucky enough to get hired there before 1978, we would all have done extremely well financially (equal to, or better than all the majors), and the journey would have been incredible, in terms of watching the airline grow, and having a lot of fun.
By all means, this success was not pre-ordained, and SWA almost never got out of the starting gate. Those who did throw their hats in the SWA corner (either by choice, or fate) took on a huge amount of risk to stay with the airline when it was just a young, unproven intra-state carrier. Their reward has been equally as great. That is how the risk-reward relationship works. It is one of the immutable truths of business.
However, pilots who are lucky enough to gain employment with SWA today will never be able to reap the same level of rewards as the early "pioneers" did. Now listen, I'm not saying that SWA will not reward you well financially. They just won't be able to at the same magnitude as the "pioneers." What you give up in rewards though, is made back in job security. With SWA, you can't ask for anything better in this area.
Now, JB (IMO) represents the best opportunity, since SWA, for us to hook our wagons to the same star . Heck, even if JB could only achieve 50% of SWA's success, it will be one heck of a ride!
When I applied to JB I had spent a lot of time doing my due diligence beforehand. Because of my background as an MBA grad. I had the chance to study a lot of airline start-up failures, and believe me there was abundant material to read.
Using that as a backdrop, I evaluated JB using my own criteria from these other multiple failures. I won't go into an exhaustive SWOT analysis on this, but suffice it to say JB was (and still is) a very unique and capable start-up airline. The final factor for me in considering JB, was their exceptional senior management team.
This is probably the single biggest factor in why airline start-ups fail (not to mention lack of sufficient capital).
I was shocked when JB called me for an interview in the fall of 2000, and quickly accepted their job offer two months later. I have never looked back from that day with a single regret. This airline has far exceed my expectations in just about every way imaginable. The future looks great and with my relative seniority (<150), I've got to wear shades!
Now I have to wait and see if time makes me a genius or a bum.
All kidding aside, the bottomline to all this is based on personal preference, and risk tolerance. I accepted a greater level of perceived risk. I didn't do it blindly, but with careful consideration (and a lot of praying!) So far, it has been the right choice.
Again IMO, JB represents the chance "to grab the brass ring" financially speaking, but also to get some extremely good seniority that I could never get at any other airline (I'm 40). This will equate into excellent lifestyle benefits throughout my career.
Yes, SWA has the potential to double in size in the next decade. But at the same time, JB has the opportunity to triple or quadruple in size (see pending airplane orders). I believe that anyone who can get onboard JB within the next three years will be able to grab the brass ring, and be rewarded extremely well for their choice.
(SIDE NOTE)
1. Each new class that is hired is given a stock option strike price that is based on the relative book value of the airline. This means that each class that enters training will pay a higher strike price to exercise their options than the class ahead of them. "Full vesting" will take seven years at a rate of 10%/year in the first five years, then 25%/year in the last two years after the company goes public.
2. Seniority for new hires is based on your age in the class.
3. Yes Martha, you can commute from the west coast. I've done it, but I'm really looking forward to a western hub. It just means that you'll give up more days away from home commuting. I used to fly business/first class on UAL almost all the time from LAX to JFK (right into T6!). UAL's F/As took EXCELLENT care of me. I think I was able to benefit from the windfall of JB's liberal policy for F/A jumseating, but I still tell everybody it was because of my charming personality! THANKS UAL!
If you're not as convinced about JB's prospects and want to take a more secure path, then SWA is probably your cup of tea. Only you can make that choice in the final moment. Either way, for those of us who can get on with either of these fine airlines today, we will look back many years from now and pinch ourselves!:
