The goal of LUV - SWA

[FlyBoeingJets]

I say stay were you are. Do you want to fly the man or the people working for the man? Do you want to fly dal sat dal aus dal hou sat....all in one day?
Or do you want to fly to London once in a while. Do you want to keep flying the sweet equipment you fly now. Or do you want to fly a 737 with funny instruments, no auto-brakes and without autothrottles? When the hedges are gone, look for paycuts too.

Good point. One must consider the possibility of pay cut or lower growth. "the Man"? I think corporate guys deal with that too. Funny instruments are my specialty. I don't miss the autothrottles unless I have to fight mountain wave over the Rockies.

But the Texas Two step?? No way. I don't do it. You have to voluntarily bid those. I don't and don't do them. If I get one, I trade out of it. But I wouldn't mind it. Lots of long haul out of MDW, BWI, OAK and MCO.

 

[slaquer5]

LTF

it sounds to me like you could not get hired by a major so in your case its a good idea to stay where you are at.As for me I will take my own advise and not run for president of the USA.

 

[LakeTahoeFlyer]

"it sounds to me like you could not get hired by a major" Wrong! I work at SWA! I just don't drink the Kool-aid

 

[slaquer5]

O sorry,

So you work on the ramp and get to fly (well watch) part time,Your a good source for advising someone what to do for there future.

 

[FlyBoeingJets]

At the request of a PM, I will give MHO.


The airline business is not safe. But I believe the growth at SWA is safe thru 2007 with good prospects for growth in 2008 and beyond. You simply can't look beyond that with any credibility. I don't think there will be a paycut and that is both good and bad. No pay cut, even temporary, will hurt growth in 2008 and beyond. Once you raise the pay, its extremely tough to lower it again with organized labor. This gives JetBlue a clear advantage, but their debt weakens it. Airtran has a good cost advantage and low debt. As does Alaska.

SWAPA, the pilot's association, would have to see a clear threat before compensation cuts are an option. But, fortunately, a percentage of SWA pilot compensation is profit sharing and will flex if necessary.

The "hourly" wage conversion on www.airlinepilotcentral.com is a good guess at our compensation. You can fly as much as you want at SWA (90-95 hrs) in a cash crunch. First year extra fly is variable but pays at second years rates. To be clear, everyone can fly up to 95 hrs as an FO if they want thru trip trade/give away with Lance Captains that want to give away their FO line and pickup CA pairings. The first year "Extra Fly" option is the part that is variable. It's like Junior available and you may not get the call when you need it. Everyone anticipates cost of living increases with a new contract.

I don't know how good a good corporate job could be. With what you told me, I would probably stay corporate for financial security. AA, UAL, CAL and majors coming out of bankruptcy will keep the competitive landscape dangerous for all players in pax. Not to mention the danger to your company's well being from your own employee group and other employee groups. Executives at the airlines will run their employees pay and benefits into the ground to keep their compensation packages on par with peers in other industries(except SWA). The pay is getting so low, without snap back provisions, at SWA's competitors that serious competition will hit SWA in the future. The only question is when. While some at SWA can "relax" and talk about how debt is too high at other airlines, is that advantage going to last 5-10 years?? Maybe. How about 10-20 years?? I assume you don't have to worry about that at your company.

If I think of more, I will post again. Got to go now.

 

[want2bluvd]

Guys --

We are all on the same team and have the same vision -- let's not lose our sense of direction here and turn this post into a bash fest... I want to fly the TX two step -- I love the G550, ut again, it is not SWA where the LUV is... I know, I know, it sounds corny, but I think it is true -- our dept. is filled with discontent and pissed of pilots and I would rather be a part of a cohesive group flying SHORT legs...

 

[SWA/FO]

I say stay were you are. Do you want to fly the man or the people working for the man? Do you want to fly dal sat dal aus dal hou sat....all in one day?
Or do you want to fly to London once in a while. Do you want to keep flying the sweet equipment you fly now. Or do you want to fly a 737 with funny instruments, no auto-brakes and without autothrottles? When the hedges are gone, look for paycuts too.

Hey twin cessna driver.. Sorry you weren't able to use that 737 type. You can re-apply in a year. Just because your boss made you take a paycut doesn't mean everybody else will. You don't know what your talking about. Go to a skiing message board or something. Don't bring that weak game here.

the SWA/FO
imp:

 

[PunchTheClown]

Yes your nuts! Why would you buy a job? Do you enjoy looking at white trash all the time?

 

[SWA/FO]

Picking on one race is not fair.

Honestly, I'm thankful "whoever shows up" in the back. They pay me dumba$$ - getting paid to fly is usually the goal of a professional pilot.

 

[mdf]

Okay, I will bite on this one. I spent my whole prior SWA life flying corporate. I flew for big, and small companies. Some printed money, some made no money. They all had one thing in common. They did not need airplanes to make money. Every CEO change puts you on the chopping block whether your making money or not. While the equipment, and pay was good. I would not consider it a viable long term career unless I was single. That doesn't mean you won't make it until retirement at your current gig, but I can't think of too many guys who have retired out of one corp. flight dept. On the other hand I have never been treated better than SWA. Right now things are great, but I know it could all be over in the blink of an eye. The only comfort is the airplanes will be the last thing to go, not the first. Pick your spot on the wheel.