Who gets in the last April SWA class?

[SpeedRacer]

Just wondering with the "rumor" that the 25 April class will be the last for SWA until late summer, WHO gets in??

Also, is the SWA pool first in and first out??

Thanks,
Speedy

 

[T1bubba]

Check the "SWA April 25th Class" thread to see who's in so far. Hopefully some more folks will get the call this week.

The pool is first in first out based on the later of your interview date or type rating date. Military folks that aren't available when their time comes remain at the top of the list until they're available. Check the SWA Pool List link at the top of the page to see how things are going.

T1bubba
still swimming...

 

[qxeplt]

Who you ask???

I guess that's the million dollar question we will all probably find out about this week. I would like to think I'm on the edge of going but for some reason I don't feel the LUV coming my way anytime soon. I guess it will get here when it does, till then business as usual. However, I am very happy I'm in the poole and can't wait to be part of something so great as SWA but the wait is pretty unbearable at times. I still think the two months of waiting to find out if I was hired or not was so much harder though. So like everyone else I'll kick back and wait for my shining moment and hope it's not too much in the distant future.


Hang in there folks our time is coming...
Praying they make money this time around...

 

[RJones]

I traveled on Southwest this weekend and had the opportunity to talk to a Southwest pilot on his way to training. The conversation was uplifting and gave me a glimmer of hope that all of us in the pool keeping our heads above water will be drying off sooner than later.

"The flood gates are about to open." Too many retirements over the next three years to stop training new pilots.

"Planes are being pulled out of the desert." Just flew one the other day.

"Big expansion plans." Baltimore and Orlando are getting more gates.

"Vegas to be a new domicile." I guess plans are underway to have Vegas as a base.

"If your in the pool you'll be in a class very soon."

His conclusion was that too much is going on, expansion, retirements, more planes, and certain cities getting more gates to not hire additional pilots.

A personal observation...the planes were PACKED. Standby passengers were being bumped flight after flight, some waiting the whole day. The loads were really good.

RJ (jetpltrich)

 

[Slug]

more rumors

Okay, being in the semi shallow end I called a friend of mine to help find out waaas up. He got back to me yesterday with these added rumors. He talked with a chief pilot who told him the temporary freeze is probably just that. The CP said he forsees classes being added back as the summer heats up (bad pun). Probably one a month starting in June, but possibly May and maybe more than one a month.

Keep up the spirits, the calls will start again soon.

slug

 

[qxeplt]

That'good news

Slug,

Well that's best news I've heard in a while. Thanks for sharing and good luck on the call this week. Rest easy I think you got this one in the bank...

 

[Pondscum]

Thanks Guys!

Thanks to all of you for the positive words. My sources also confirm a positive outlook "sooner than later".
For those of us still awaiting the almighty interview, a glimmer of hope is always better than no hope at all.

 

[Shooter38]

A friend from my type class got the call from the MCO CP for the APR 25th class. The CP told him the following...

- Class of only 16

- A high percentage of military pilots who recently received their stop/loss waivers (ie they have senior pool dates, but could not get out till the waiver was approved). Now that they have their waivers, they are at the top of the list (ie friend w/ 17 Sep date).

This may explain why they are not getting very far down our pool list. Another pilot at our base confirmed this as he has a 25 Oct pool date, and JM told that it did not look good as there were several stop/loss approved waivers in front of him, and that they sometimes take other factors into account in addition to pool date...

In the past it has been speculated that other factors may be if the person had the type before interview (commitment), or demographic management (spread out age group so class does not all retire at once).

 

[HPaul3]

In the past it has been speculated that other factors may be if the person had the type before interview (commitment), or demographic management (spread out age group so class does not all retire at once).

The demographic management factor I would believe. The type before interview factor is, I think, a stretch. I don't think SWA would have ever changed their policy with respect to interviewing without the type rating if they were going to play that way. And if they did have that policy, and word got around, I think that would lead to a feeling of bad faith among those who were hired without the type, and would be self-defeating to SWA's wish to attract more people to their interview process...admittedly a factor which no longer exists in this hiring climate.

All that said, however, these are different times. Jet Blue, Alaska, and SWA are the only passenger games in town right now, and if SWA really wanted to dig deep into their new-hire management bag of tricks, they could do whatever they want. I just don't think that policy would match the corporate culture at SWA. Witness the handful of new poolies who met the March board and were added to the pool without the type...correct me if I'm wrong, but the threads on the recent decision boards indicated that. I think they want to get the guys out of the pool as much as the poolies want to shed the water wingies.

The military stop-loss guys going to the top of the pool is the right thing to do. They had the misfortune to watch "their" class dates come and go, and, if it's possible, that was probably more frustrating for them than this recent turn of events is to the poolies now at the top of the list. In any case, I will keep the faith and plod through another three or four months (much more if stop-loss ends completely in the fall as the rumor mill has indicated) of being a full-time-part-time reservist and sometimes dad and husband. I need to get a set of those flashcards, or go back to Higher Power in Dallas to get a 737 tuneup...

Cheers! Chin up.

 

[ivauir]

importance of type

Just a note: no one is in the pool until they have they type; guys from my interveiw class who had the type have been on property since 28 Feb and I am still months (years?) away from gettin any LUV.
My guess is the type does not play into when people leave the pool, unless it is a tie breaker. This seems true of "other demographic" factors as well. Some people get to DAL a couple classes earlier than the norm, but nothing too dramatic - everyone is in long enough to get pruned up. I am basing this theory on the pool list, I have all of the old data and it supports this theory.

 

[HPaul3]

Re: importance of type

Just a note: no one is in the pool until they have they type; guys from my interveiw class who had the type have been on property since 28 Feb and I am still months (years?) away from gettin any LUV.
My guess is the type does not play into when people leave the pool, unless it is a tie breaker.

Sounds entirely reasonable to me. And I was wrong about the March DB guys "entering the pool" without the type--clearly that won't happen, but at least they have been given the six-month opportunity to obtain the type, same as I had, which is a very good sign that SWA continues to do business with a strong desire to cultivate a positive relationship with their employees. Even those who are just "potential" employees at this time. Thanks for straightening me out! Time to go practice the back stroke...

Cheers!