Tranny flush bid

[madjack]

"There's no way for everybody to win in this deal right off the bat, there may have to be some inconvenience and hardship for some folks on both sides for awhile"

All mergers/acquisitions suck!!

 

[Capn Butthead]

It is in SL10 that we will open a new base. The strong (and from somewhat reliable sources ) that the new bases will be TPA and LAX. That's why their is MCO domicile protection in sl10 saying that mco will not shrink because of TPA opening. In fact I think it's safe to say mco will grow by quite a bit due to all of the Airtran flights out of here with not a lot of overlap. Lax will open as an Etops base for future Hawaii flights. Phx will also be a Etops base and the Etops mx base. I also believe there will be a little growth in mdw base and also quite a bit in Bwi due to a lot of flights on the Airtran side. Just my opinion....

 

[SWA Bubba]

Couldn't SW management minimize this problem by opening up a new, good quality base or two like Denver? Would that draw senior people and create openings at the other bases in the system? All the AT 737 people who are getting pushed out of ATL, MKE and MCO will have to go somewhere, I would think that maybe SW will need a new base to absorb the refugees created by this. Maybe when the transition starts that would be a good time to open it. I don't understand the SW basing model so maybe this wouldn't help, I don't know. Also keep in mind that the majority of the AT pilots will be on the 717 in ATL and another base that has yet to be announced. These pilots will be locked into this plane and it's (two) bases (and AT 717 rates until 2015 even after they cross the fence and are SW pilots) so they will be unable to exercise their system seniority. SW pilots will not be affected by them until into 2015 when they are free as their locks expire. By then the only SW pilots who should be affected will most likely be people who are not even on the property at either company now and are junior to everybody involved in this deal.

I can see the point of the SW FO's and that would not make me happy either but plenty of junior AT FO's will be forced out of their home bases, their aircraft and will become commuters with no access to the SW bases. For these folks their QOL will go way down in many cases with no compensation increase to offset this until 2015. There's no way for everybody to win in this deal right off the bat, there may have to be some inconvenience and hardship for some folks on both sides for awhile.

Actually the new deal (at least SL-10, our version) does contain a commitment to open a new crew base in 2012, apparently in addition to the obvious in ATL. There's even a thread on the Southwest section of pprune where everyone's speculating on its location. Top vote getters are TPA, LAX, SMF, BNA and a few others. Surprisingly, DEN seems to be thought of as a non-starter (for whatever reason).

Also, I think the posters with concerns about being forced out of their domiciles probably have their fears a little overblown (my opinion; don't flame me). We generally have a vacancy bid every month as the planners continually massage the schedule. There's always numbers movement between bases, and generally there's always pilots who WANT to move between bases. The overwhelming majority of pilots moving are doing so voluntarily. There's only a few 'D's (displacements) from a base, and that's only every several vacancy bids. And that only happens with no growth. With pilots added, you almost never see a 'D' on a vacancy award.

With new pilots coming in (the Airtran guys), the bases will grow. It's not like 100 Airtran guys will bid into BWI and MCO and knock 100 junior SWA guys out--there has to be 100 new slots for those guys coming in. If Airtran flying is concentrated in the East, then it'll most likely be the east SWA bases that have the slots added in the first place.

Regardless, relax. No one will know for sure until it is figured out. Have a drink. Get laid. Chill. It'll all be okay in the end.

Bubba

 

[General Lee]

Back to the original post: this is the biggest sticking point for the SWA F.O.s. If SWA moves +10 vacancies into BWI,MCO or any other east coast base then 10 AAI senior dudes take those slots. Then the next month the vacancy becomes -10 due to seasonal downgrades, our 10 most junior domicile F.O.s just got displaced to the west coast. These are the guys that just spent 3 years commuting west. With no right of return to the domicile these guys will never see a east coast base again until well after all AAI folks are on property.

Most would have been happy to stay in ATL, but nope, IT'S BUSINESS. OOOOPS.


Bye Bye---General Lee

 

[Tripower455]

"There's no way for everybody to win in this deal right off the bat, there may have to be some inconvenience and hardship for some folks on both sides for awhile"

All mergers/acquisitions suck!!

End of thread......

 

[scoreboardII]

DEN is a non starter cause everyone from head shed says "it won't be DEN".

Just like they said about LAS, MCO, BWI, MDW....

The circle of life all over again.

 

[GuppyWN]

LAX?

First time I've hear that!

But, as we Ppruners say..........

Wifey like!

 

[Capn Butthead]

I've heard LAX from several swapa people...take that for what it's worth but it will be the jumping off point for Hawaii. They said it's even being opened in spite of all of the crazy labor laws in California.

 

[fam62c]

I've heard LAX from several swapa people...take that for what it's worth but it will be the jumping off point for Hawaii. They said it's even being opened in spite of all of the crazy labor laws in California.

It would be cool if they could add a few bases like DEN, LAX, BNA, STL, MKE, TPA, etc. Almost everybody could find a base they like and more people could live at home which would have to be good for morale. For junior SW pilots it's going to be a mighty long trip up the seniority list even with growth, the more that seniority list can be broken up (within reason) the better. 20+ years in the right seat of a 737 would be better if you could be based at home. It seems like this might be something to go for in the next contract because more money might be tough to come by in this economy. QOL is a huge selling point and mini-bases might be in innovative feature that other carriers don't have, it could work once SW gets back to one fleet type....just a thought. We'll have to see what the future brings, hopefully good things.

 

[chris69]

Since nobody is discussing the content of GK's letter, the rumors from a strategic standpoint "heard from those in the know" as always, that are probably pure fantasy - but seem somewhat verified by GK's letter - if SL10 is voted in by all parties, are as follows:
-3rd A/C type.
-9k pilots - once economy gets on track (it has to first).
-TPA/MCO joint base.
-ATL base - obviously.
-No DEN for previous problems noted - which means it will probably happen like the others that had problems noted prior.
-Alaska, HI, Caribbean, Mexico, S. America.
-50% DAL growth once new term and Wright A. is gone.
-LAX regional base (highly probable) w/ETOPS -similar to TPA/MCO, or
-SAN (low probable) can only wish.

Point is, growth, retirements, movement, optimism and hope all solve many problems caused by low moral on both sides due to SLI. Seems to be GK's solution to forced marriage.