Ups Vs Swa

[capt. megadeth]

I'm glad that there are pilots like you who think this way- it makes room for those of us who know better! Thanks! :beer:

Amen sista!

 

[atpcliff]

Hi!

SWA is a PAX airline with lots of competition, so your chances of a furlough, bankruptcy, merger, or Chapter 7 liquidation is much higher.

With UPS you mostly just have to worry about getting laid off by a computer (UPS UAV aircraft).

Unless you REALLY want to fly PAX, get travel benefits for your family, or live in a SWA base without a commute, UPS is much better financially.

Flying at night? In many ways, it's a lot easier.

Not much traffic so you can get direct everywhere and not have to worry about VOR navigation and/or programming your GPS/FMS wrong. Uncontrolled fields have much less traffic, so less chance of getting killed by GA idiots. Airports are easier to spot at night, especially the little ones (as long as the lights work!!!). You're not going to jacked all over the place by approach/departure because of the less traffic. If you fly to Mexico or some other mountainous location, it's less scary because it's all black and you can't see the moutains. There's no big blinding round thing shining in your cockpit (unless you're on NVGs with a full moon).

Good luck!

cliff
LRD

 

[bohnzai]

UPS, no brainer.

I jumpsat on SWA last month and the crew was on leg number 4 of 6 that day. It took them 6 legs to fly from BWI to the west coast!

That multiple day stuff is not for me, they can have it. Give me one leg to the bar in some foreign land.

 

[FO 4 Life]

How's Shanghai? Give me a call again. Your number came up unknown instead of the normal skype 000-123-4567.

 

[Whistlin' Dan]

If you were offered both SWA and UPS , groundschool starting same day, which would you take??

Only your "friend" can answer that. There are a lot of things to consider. For example;

1) Domicile-Living in yours improves QOL considerably.

2) Day vs night flying-working "normal" hours improves QOL on your off days as well.

3) Work enviornment-If your "friend" is a people-person and enjoys frequent contact with the public, he'd probably be happier at SW. If he's more of a loner-type and enjoys relative solitude, air frieght will be more to his liking.

4) Future growth-The last 10 years have seen explosive growth in air freight, and shrinking margins for pax carriers. True, UPS made good money during that time, but so did their competitors. As that business matures, growth will slow. Something to consider is that Southwest was making money when their competitors weren't.

4) Corporate culture-This is often overlooked when choosing an employer. How does the company feel about their employees? Do they like them, and truly see them as assets, responsible for the success of the company? Or do they follow them around with stopwatches and rulebooks, looking for violations? The relationship between UPS and it's pilots has always been rather contentious, while that of SW and theirs seems almost paternal. Does your friend want to spend the next 30 years in an armed standoff with his bosses, or working with them towards building a better organization?

No matter which company he chooses, there's at leats a 50/50 chance that in ten years, he'll wish he'd chosen the other one.

 

[FLYfishin]

3) Work enviornment-If your "friend" is a people-person and enjoys frequent contact with the public, he'd probably be happier at SW. If he's more of a loner-type and enjoys relative solitude, air frieght will be more to his liking.

Are you serious? Loner-type? Solitude? Boy are your perceptions warped. No loners here. Maybe some solitude in $4billion profit a year but definately no loners.

 

[Whistlin' Dan]

Are you serious? Loner-type? Solitude? Boy are your perceptions warped. No loners here. Maybe some solitude in $4billion profit a year but definately no loners.

Yea, I'm serious. I didn't say that freight pilots were "loners" in a clinical sense, only that they tend to be people who don't need constant interaction with a lot of other people to be happy at their jobs. I'm surprised that you weren't asked about your feelings about working "away from the public eye" at your UPS interview...I know I was.

Flying pax involves a fair amount of contact with the public. Flying boxes involves a fair amount of contact with...boxes. I've done both, and prefer boxes, but I have friends who feel just the opposite. One isn't "better" than the other, just a little different, that's all.

What UPS the company makes each year doesn't necessarily translate into what UPS pilots make. There's no question that it's a very solid company, but so is SWA.

As I see it, especially in the first 6 years, the SWA pilot will work a little harder, fly more legs, and have more interaction with what's behind the cockpit door than the UPS pilot. In exchange for that, he'll do a lot more of his flying on the "front side of the clock" and probably make a little more money in the process.

It's really about preference, that's all.

 

[FLYfishin]

Yea, I'm serious. I didn't say that freight pilots were "loners" in a clinical sense, only that they tend to be people who don't need constant interaction with a lot of other people to be happy at their jobs. I'm surprised that you weren't asked about your feelings about working "away from the public eye" at your UPS interview...I know I was.

Flying pax involves a fair amount of contact with the public. Flying boxes involves a fair amount of contact with...boxes. I've done both, and prefer boxes, but I have friends who feel just the opposite. One isn't "better" than the other, just a little different, that's all.

What UPS the company makes each year doesn't necessarily translate into what UPS pilots make. There's no question that it's a very solid company, but so is SWA.

As I see it, especially in the first 6 years, the SWA pilot will work a little harder, fly more legs, and have more interaction with what's behind the cockpit door than the UPS pilot. In exchange for that, he'll do a lot more of his flying on the "front side of the clock" and probably make a little more money in the process.

It's really about preference, that's all.

Under the old contract maybe. Under the new contract not even close.

 

[capt. megadeth]

Does your friend want to spend the next 30 years in an armed standoff with his bosses, or working with them towards building a better organization?

Oh the drama! Crap! I need to get the body armor on for my next trip in case I have a standoff with my boss. I AM going through SDF after all.

An "armed standoff"? UPS isn't all peaches and cream but that's a little too dramatic.

 

[FLYfishin]

Oh the drama! Crap! I need to get the body armor on for my next trip in case I have a standoff with my boss. I AM going through SDF after all.

An "armed standoff"? UPS isn't all peaches and cream but that's a little too dramatic.

Shut up Loner, I'm looking for solitude.

 

[Big Beer Belly]

3) Work enviornment-If your "friend" is a people-person and enjoys frequent contact with the public, he'd probably be happier at SW. If he's more of a loner-type and enjoys relative solitude, air frieght will be more to his liking.

LOL! That is one of the funniest things I've read. :laugh:

If by "people-person" you mean the quality daily interaction a SWA pilot has with the local TSA rent-a-cop sniffing his morning breath in hopes of catching another Smirnoff chugger... well then I agree.

With the possible exception of his contact with the Big Mac order taker or the thrilling conversation with Bubba the Cessna know-it-all on his walk through the terminal, the SWA guy and the loner freight psycho have about the same human interaction on the job. Hint: there's a big metal door they now close during flight.

BBB

 

[FLYfishin]

BBB,

Good points. Calling UPS pilots 'loner-types' is like us saying that Whistling Dan flies passengers around to boost his fragile ego. I bet he loves walking through the terminal in his uniform. 'Look at me, I'm a pilot!'

 

[Whistlin' Dan]

Shut up Loner, I'm looking for solitude.

When I'm lookin' for solitude, I hop in my boat and go fishin'.

'Course, that wouldn't apply to you...

 

[FLYfishin]

What?

 

[capt. megadeth]

LOL! That is one of the funniest things I've read. :laugh:

If by "people-person" you mean the quality daily interaction a SWA pilot has with the local TSA rent-a-cop sniffing his morning breath in hopes of catching another Smirnoff chugger... well then I agree.

With the possible exception of his contact with the Big Mac order taker or the thrilling conversation with Bubba the Cessna know-it-all on his walk through the terminal, the SWA guy and the loner freight psycho have about the same human interaction on the job. Hint: there's a big metal door they now close during flight.

BBB

:laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

That's some funny shiite right there!